US PATENT CLASS 406
Class Notes
Current as of: June, 1999
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DEFINITION
Classification: 406/
Apparatus and methods for conveying solid material or articles which are guided or supported to travel along a path by means of or with the assistance of a fluid current.
REFERENCES TO OTHER CLASSES
SEE OR SEARCH CLASS
15, Brushing, Scrubbing, and General Cleaning,
3.5+, for means to pass a solid cleaning agent and a fluid carrier through tubular work; and subclasses 300.1+ for means to remove foreign material by air blast or suction. Class 406 takes devices which are specifically adapted to transport material from a pile or stack on a surface or in a receptacle to another location.
19, Textiles: Fiber Preparation,
97.5, 105, and 205 for fiber preparation apparatus combined with a fluid current conveyor for feeding the fiber.
34, Drying and Gas or Vapor Contact With Solids, appropriate subclasses for subject matter relating to the removal of liquids from solids by drying and for contacting of solids with gases or vapors for purposes other than or in addition to conveying. See particularly
359, and 576+ for fluid current conveyors for conveying the treated solids. 37, Excavating,
202, 209+, 242+, and 244+ for snow blowers; and subclasses 307+ for dredgers.
43, Fishing, Trapping, and Vermin Destroying,
6.5, for a fish gathering or catching apparatus combined with a fluid current conveyor to the boat.
56, Harvesters,
12.8+, and 30+ for harvesters having pneumatic conveyors. Claims reciting only the conveying structure with no additional treatment are properly classified in Class 406.
75, Specialized Metallurgical Processes, Compositions for Use Therein, Consolidated Metal Powder Compositions, and Loose Metal Particulate Mixtures, appropriate subclasses for processes of treating ores wherein the ore undergoing treatment is conveyed by or suspended in a gaseous medium.
83, Cutting,
402, for cutting apparatus having fluid current means to convey work relative to the cutting station.
89, Ordnance,
46, for an ordnance loader including a fluid lift. 95, Gas Separation: Processes, for processes of gas separation involving steps resulting in separation of a gas and solid particles entrained therein. Fluid current conveyor methods which include a step for separating the solids from the fluid at the point of delivery are classified in Class 406.
96, Gas Separation: Apparatus, for apparatus used in separation of a gas and solid particles entrained therein. Fluid current conveyors which include a device for separating the solids from the fluid at the point of delivery are classified in Class 406.
99, Food and Beverages: Apparatus,
406, for apparatus which convey food by a current of cooling liquid.
104, Railways,
138.1, for tubular conduits having tracks adapted to be engaged by wheels on a carrier; and subclasses 154 and 155+ for hydraulic and pneumatic car propulsion systems, respectively, which comprise structure located along the trackway.
105, Railway Rolling Stock, appropriate subclasses for
carriers having wheels with grooves or similar structure adapted to cooperate with track to guide the carrier.
110, Furnaces,
104+, for furnace structure combined with means for feeding solid fuel to a furnace using an entraining fluid current. Class 406 provides for the feeding device, per se, or the feeding device and a nominally recited furnace (no structure recited).
114, Ships,
183+, for a device for expelling ash or other refuse from a ship by entraining the ash or refuse in a fluid current. 118, Coating Apparatus,
308+, for coating apparatus which propel a solid particulate material by fluid current to apply the material to a base.
119, Animal Husbandry,
844, for fluid current conveyors specifically adapted to convey livestock.
123, Internal-Combustion Engines,
23, and 24 for engines having means for feeding solid fuel by means of a fluid current.
124, Mechanical Guns and Projectors,
56+, for projectile throwing or propelling apparatus which utilize a working fluid to transmit force to the projectile.
131, Tobacco,
110, for a cigar or cigarette machine provided with a suction device to assist the feeding operation.
134, Cleaning and Liquid Contact With Solids, appropriate subclasses for subject matter relating to the contact of solids with liquids for various purposes other than conveying (e.g., cleaning).
137, Fluid Handling, appropriate subclasses for apparatus and processes relating to fluid handling (Class 137 is residual). See especially 268, for fluid handling devices which include a member for holding and bringing a fluid and a material to be dissolved or entrained into contact (no conveying involved).
138, Pipes and Tubular Conduits, appropriate subclasses for conduits in general and conveyor conduits having no claimed structure peculiar to fluid current conveying of solids.
141, Fluent Material Handling, With Receiver or Receiver Coacting Means,
67+, for a fluid current conveyor claimed in combination with a separable receiver or structure associated with a separable receiver (e.g., means to feed bags past the conveyor outlet).
144, Woodworking,
252, for a woodworking machine having a dust conveyor.
164, Metal Founding,
200+, for apparatus having a fluid current conveyor for projecting mold forming material against a shaping surface.
175, Boring or Penetrating the Earth, appropriate subclasses for a method or apparatus for forming or enlarging an elongated hole in the earth and including a step or means for conveying material from the hole by a fluid current.
198, Conveyors: Power-Driven,
380, for power-driven conveyors having pressurized fluid means for changing the attitude of the load articles; subclass 434 for air blast or suction diverters for arranging or rearranging streams of load articles on a conveyor; and subclass 493 for conveyors utilizing impinging fluid to feed, shift, or discharge the load, or to clean, sterilize, or lubricate the conveyor. Class 406 takes all other combinations of a fluid current conveyor and a power-driven conveyor. 208, Mineral Oils: Processes and Products,
46+, 146+, and 400+ for a method or apparatus for recovering or treating naturally occurring mineral oil wherein a solid material is elevated by a gaseous fluid current. Patents claiming such solids elevating structure and only nominally reciting the chemical process or apparatus (e.g., "a catalytic converter comprising...") have been classified in Class 406.
209, Classifying, Separating, and Assorting Solids, appropriate subclasses for a method or apparatus for separating solid materials and assorting or segregating them in grades or classes according to physical characteristics. Class 406 takes subject matter relating to the control of the destination of the load in a fluid current conveyor having a plurality of paths, where the controlling code or characteristic is placed or formed on the load specifically for the purpose of controlling the destination thereof.
210, Liquid Purification or Separation, appropriate subclasses for processes and apparatus for separating a solid
from a solid-liquid mixture. Fluid current conveyors which include means for separating the solids from a liquid carrier at the point of delivery are classified in Class 406.
221, Article Dispensing,
278, for an apparatus which separates a discrete article from a source of supply of such articles and utilizes a fluid under pressure to separate or to move each article from the supply source toward a point of egress.
222, Dispensing,
61+, for automatically controlled dispensers with fluid pressure discharge assistance; subclass 617 for ambulant dispensers utilizing a fluid flow to discharge a material; subclass 630+ for other dispensers utilizing a fluid flow to discharge a material from a supply; and subclass 195 for dispensers having means to agitate the contents by gas. Class 222 takes the following: separating and dispensing a predetermined quantity or charge of material from a supply on demand (e.g., those devices wherein flow of discharging fluid is created by a reciprocating hand pump, squeezable bulb, etc.); pressurized aerosol containers having a discharge-controlling valve; discharging material from a receptacle by pressurized fluid acting on the top of the material to force the same through a discharge outlet (with no fluid current conveying claimed after the outlet); discharging material from a receptacle by a stream of fluid which entrains the material and carries the same through a discharge outlet (no conduit or other guiding or supporting structure subsequent to the outlet being disclosed); gas agitation of material in a receptacle to allow the material to flow through a discharge outlet (Class 406 will take a well-defined fluid current conveyor inside of a receptacle, and which may move material through a discharge outlet, e.g., an inclined permeable member at the bottom of a receptacle); dispensing of a nonsolid substance.
226, Advancing Material of Indeterminate Length,
7, for a method of or subclasses 97.1+ for an apparatus to advance material of indeterminate length by means of a fluid current.
239, Fluid Sprinkling, Spraying, and Diffusing, 77+, for orchard-type mobile distributors which discharge material by means of a gaseous fluid current; and subclasses 654+ for apparatus for scattering solid material which include means generating a gaseous mixing current. Patents claiming specific nozzle structure or orientation whereby the material is sprayed or scattered in the air or over an extended surface area are properly classified in Class 239, except when discharge is to a localized pile or a receptacle. See the class definition for Class 239 for further distinctions between that class and Class 406.
241, Solid Material Comminution or Disintegration,
15+, and 38+ for method or apparatus including a step or means for comminuting solid material combined with fluid current conveying of the material. See the Class 241 main definition, Lines With Other Classes and Within This Class, for statement of the line between Classes 241 and 406.
242, Winding, Tensioning, or Guiding, for more than a nominal supply or take-up coil structure (e.g., a support for such a coil, a cooperative relationship between a tension or exhaust detector and reel driving or reel stopping means, etc.);
615.11+, a residual locus for a material fluid suspension guide or guard.
251, Valves and Valve Actuation, appropriate subclasses for a valve in general. Class 406 provides for valves when claimed structure is recited which is specific to fluid current conveying of solids.
254, Implements or Apparatus for Applying Pushing or Pulling Force,
134.4, for a device for placing a wire or strand in a conduit by connecting a vane or similar fixture to the wire or strand and moving it through the conduit by a fluid current therein.
264, Plastic and Nonmetallic Article Shaping or Treating: Processes,
121, for conveying and projecting particulate material by means of a fluid current onto a collecting surface to form an article.
266, Metallurgical Apparatus, 182, for apparatus which employ a fluid current to move solid material through a heating zone.
271, Sheet Feeding or Delivering,
194+, for a pneumatic conveyor for individual flexible sheets.
291, Track Sanders,
3+, for fluid current conveying of sand or like material to vehicle wheel treads or vehicle tracks.
299, Mining or In Situ Disintegration of Hard Material,
18, and 64+ for fluid current conveying of mined material.
366, Agitating,
3+, 10+, and 101+ for agitation of material in a receptacle by the introduction of a gas under pressure, with no discharge outlet being claimed. See also the search note to Class 222, Dispensing, for the distinction between agitating of that class and this class (406).
405, Hydraulic and Earth Engineering,
80+, for a method or structure for modifying or directing the flow of a river, stream, etc., to transport articles or vessels thereon. See specifically subclasses 119+ for flumes without specific structure which recognizes the conveying of solids. 414, Material or Article Handling,
795.5, for removing articles from a stack by fluid blast; subclass 221 for apparatus for moving material between zones of different pressure separated by an air lock; subclasses 288+ for a static receptacle and means for charging or discharging or facilitating the charging or discharging of the receptacle; and subclass 676 for supporting an article by air or moving the article by mechanical or manual means. Class 406 takes ambulant fluid current conveyors which would otherwise be classifiable in Class 414.
415, Rotary Kinetic Fluid Motors or Pumps, appropriate subclasses for rotary kinetic fluid pumps in general. Class 406 provides for similar pumps which include structure which recognizes a solid material entrained in the fluid (e.g., an attached solids receptacle or a separate opening in the casing for entry of the solid material)
416, Fluid Reaction Surfaces (i.e., Impellers), appropriate subclasses for specific impeller structure for a fluid pump.
417, Pumps, appropriate subclasses for general subject matter relating to the pumping of fluids. Class 417 provides for subject matter relating to the pumping of slurries, fluent solids, and the like if handled in a manner not inconsistent with the handling of fluids. Patents claiming specific structure or steps indicating conveying of solids in a fluid current (e.g., "means for controlling the input of solids into a fluid stream in response to pump speed...") should be considered for Class 406.
418, Rotary Expansible Chamber Devices, appropriate subclasses for rotary expansible chamber pumps in general.
425, Plastic Article or Earthenware Shaping or Treating: Apparatus,
80.1+, for apparatus including means for depositing particles on a shaping surface from a gaseous suspension.
432, Heating,
14+, and 58+ for a method or apparatus, respectively, which includes a step or means for conveying or agitating solid material with a heating gas.
451, Abrading, 38+, and 75+ for a sandblasting process or machine. Mere conveying of sand by fluid current with an incidental disclosure of sandblasting is properly classified in this class (406).
604, Surgery,
58, for powder dispensers.
GLOSSARY:
CARRIER
An auxiliary device for use in a fluid current conveyor comprising a container for carrying material or articles while being conveyed through the fluid current conveyor.
FLUID CURRENT CONVEYOR
Structure which guides or supports the load from the fluid conveyor inlet* to the fluid conveyor outlet* and wherein the fluid current acts upon the load from the inlet* to the outlet*.
FLUID CONVEYOR INLET
The point at which the load is first guided or supported and is acted upon by the fluid current. The inlet must also be subsequent to any structure (e.g., terminal, receptacle) for statically supporting the load at the entrance to the conveyor.
FLUID CONVEYOR OUTLET
The point at which the load is either no longer guided or supported, or is no longer acted upon by the fluid current. The outlet must also be prior to any structure (e.g., terminal, receptacle) for statically supporting the load at the exit from the conveyor. RECEPTACLE
A hopper or similar container for holding a quantity of load material or articles and having a discharge or intake opening therein.
TERMINAL
Structure at or adjacent the outlet or inlet of a fluid current conveyor for either (a) effecting intake or discharge
or load articles individually into or from the conveyor, or (b) for accepting load articles as they are discharged individually from the conveyor.