APPARATUS FOR CONDITIONING PELLETS

摘要

A conditioner is for conditioning plastic pellets prior to passing the pellets to a plastic forming machine. The conditioner (10) comprises a main body (12) defining a main chamber (16) having an inlet (19) and a discharge (20) to receive and discharge pellets respectively. A plurality of fins (28) extend longitudinally of the main body from the inlet to the discharge. A heater (55, 63) located within the fins (28) heats the fins generally uniformly to avoid local "hot spots", thus avoiding fouling of the conditioner. An air conduit (34) has an inlet portion (36) to receive air, a pre-heating portion (50) communicating with the inlet portion, an extraction portion (42) communicating the pre-heating portion with the main chamber (16) and an outlet portion (37) communicating with the extraction portion to discharge air from the conduit. The extraction portion (42) has a perforated side wall to draw air from the pellets within the chamber and the pre-heating portion (50) comprises a longitudinal extending passage provided within each fin (28) and exposed to heat from the heater. Preferably, the heater comprises a primary heat source (57) and an axially extending heat tube (63) within each fin, the heat tubes containing a working fluid to accept heat from the primary heat source and to emit heat selectively along the axis of the tube.