PRESSURIZED FEED SHOE APPARATUS AND PROCESS FOR PRECOMPACTING POWDERED MATERIALS

摘要

A pressurized feed shoe (10) for delivering particulate materials to fill a die cavity (26) is provided. The feed shoe (10) includes a feed shoe body (11) comprising a vessel for receiving a quantity of particulate material. The feed shoe body (11) has at least one bottom egress opening (37) for registering with the die cavity (26) and a top ingress opening (36) for receiving particulate material. A pressure generator for generating supra-atmospheric pressures within the vessel and the die cavity is also provided. The pressure generator communicates with the vessel via a conduit (13) sealingly engaged thereto. A shuttle selectively moves the feed shoe body (11) to and from a position whereby the bottom egress opening (37) registers with the die cavity (26).