Method of packing particles into vessels and apparatus therefor

Abstract

A particle packing apparatus which includes a particle distributor capable of forming a concave-conical packed surface upon scattering of particles in a steady state and having a parameter with which to control the size of the cone and a packing monitor capable of continuously detecting the entire packed surface condition is provided. A concave-conical packed surface of the particles scattered in a steady state is formed by the distributor while the packing monitor is continuously detecting the formation of the packed surface and intermittently or continuously the parameter of the particle distributor is controlled to reduce the cone size gradually and form and deposit, on the inner side of the concave-conical packed surface, successively smaller packed surfaces at predetermined intervals or uninterruptedly, whereby a flat, smooth packed surface is formed. When scanning the deposit surface with laser light, detecting the reflected light, and measuring the deposit height by trigonometry, it is image-processed. A suitable particle distributor has an outside cover, a hopper supported inside the cover and open at the lower end, a motor mounted on the hopper and coupled to a rotating shaft extending downwardly through the center of the hopper and beyond its lower opening, and a uniaxial spheroidal rotating disc fixed to the lower end of the motor rotating shaft so as to receive the particles falling from the hopper. The rotating disc has shaped slits formed to discharge particles.