The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 18, 2001
Filed:
Dec. 20, 2000
W. John Gillette, Millersville, MD (US);
Paul M. Frank, Bowie, MD (US);
Novatec, Inc., Baltimore, MD (US);
Abstract
An apparatus and method for control of moisture content of material such as thermoplastic pellets (,) in a hopper (,) is controlled by supplying dehumidified air from a dessicant bed (,) to the hopper (,) and returning air from the hopper (,) to the dessicant bed (,). A dew point sensor (,) in the return air path determines the moisture content of the material (,) in the hopper (,), and when the dew point drops to a pre-set level, a diverter (,) causes the return air flow to bypass the dessicant bed (,) and to be re-supplied to the hopper (,) without dehumidification. Two dessicant beds are provided, one of which is on-process while the dessicant in the other is regenerated.