US3861599A

US3861599A - Insulation spray apparatus

Info

Publication number: US3861599A
Application number: US387264A
Authority: US
Inventors: Robert A Waggoner
Original assignee: U S FIBER CORP
Current assignee: U S FIBER CORP
Priority date: 1973-08-10
Filing date: 1973-08-10
Publication date: 1975-01-21
Anticipated expiration: 1992-01-21
Also published as: CA1010426A

Abstract

Disclosed herein is an improved insulation spray apparatus for use primarily with dry pulverized cellulosic insulation. The apparatus is capable of dry-blowing such insulation into wall cavities or attics for thermal and/or sound insulation as well as being used to blow such insulation together with a liquid adhesive against a substrate to produce an insulative coating. To facilitate this latter usage, apparatus is provided including a paddle agitator mounted for rotation within a tubular conduit. This apparatus is connected to a material hopper. The apparatus breaks up and completely smoothes out the flow of commercially available dry cellulose insulation. Slide plates or valves are provided for adjusting the flow rate and air mixture of the insulation material discharged from the apparatus.

Description

United States Patent [191 [111 3,861,599 Waggoner Jan. 21, 1975 [54] INSULATION SPRAY APPARATUS Primary Examinen-Lloyd L. King Assistant Examiner-Michael Mar [75] Inventor gg g Waggoner Spencervllle Attorney, Agent, or FirmRichard D. Emch; Thomas M. Freiburger [73] Assignee: U.S. Fiber Corporation, Delphos,

57 ABSTRACT [22] Flled: 1973 Disclosed herein is an improved insulation spray appa- 2 APPL 3 7 2 4 ratus for use primarily with dry pulverized cellulosic insulation. The apparatus is capable of dry-blowing such insulation into wall cavities or attics for thermal [52] US. Cl 239/654, 222/193, 302/2 A, sound insulation as We" as being used to blow 302/51 such insulation together with a liquid adhesive against [51] Int. Cl. B65g 53/16 a Substrate to produce an insuiative coating To f i]i [58] held of Search 239/142 676; tate this latter usage, apparatus is provided including a 222/193; 302/2 58 paddle agitator mounted for rotation within a tubular conduit. This apparatus is connected to a material [56] References C'ted hopper. The apparatus breaks up and completely UNITED STATES PATENTS smoothes out the flow of commercially available dry 2,194,487 3/1940 Thompson H 302/2 A cellulose insulation. Slide plates or valves are provided 2,355,358 8/1944 Anderson... 302/2 A for adjusting the flow rate and air mixture of the insu- 2,4l9,4l0 4/1947 Maurer 302/58 X lation material discharged from the apparatus. 3,380,782 4/1968 Labbe 302/51 13 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTED JANZI 5975 SHEET 10F 3 PATENTEU JANZ I I975 SHEET 2 OF 3 INSULATION SPRAY APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to apparatus for breaking up and blowing insulation material. More particularly, the invention relates to an improved insulation blowing apparatus capable of dry-blowing insulation into wall cavities as well as being used to spray such insulation together with a liquid adhesive against a substrate, producing an insulative coating.

Apparatus for blowing dry insulation into wall cavities, for example, is well known in the art. Normally such a machine employs a hopper for receiving and holding the dry insulation material, with at least one rotational agitator mounted within the hopper. The agitator is motor driven and is used for agitating, breaking up and keeping loose the dry insulation material which is often sold in compressed form. Thus, material of 7 to lbs./cu.ft. is often loaded into a hopper and must be broken up for blowing.

The rotational hopper agitators break up large lumps or chunks present in the dry material and provide a supply of broken up dry material at the hopper bottom. In the prior art apparatus, directly off the hopper bottom is anopening which leads into the intake connection of a centrifugal blower. This blower helps agitate the dry material in the hopper bottom by drawing air through it, but its primary purpose is to accelerate the dry material, discharging it into a hose which conveys it to a nozzle held by an operator. The operator may be, for example, filling wall cavities or creating a blanket of sound or thermal insulation in an attic space.

Another type insulation application in increasing use is the coating of surfaces such as walls, beams, pipes and other substrates with an adhesively bound layer of insulation. Dry pulverized cellulosic insulation is suitable for such use and can be applied by spraying if it can be adequately wetted with a liquid adhesive during application. The typical dry insulation blowing apparatus described above cannot practicably be used with commercially available compacted dry cellulose insulation for substrate coating insulation because too much pulsation is present in the flow of dry insulation material from the hose or nozzle. As the pulses of material are discharged in an irregular stream through the nozzle, liquid adhesive sprayed into the stream cannot adequately coat or mix with the dry material. This results in a non-uniformly coated material. Consequently, an excessively high rate of drop off from the substrate is experienced and the insulation that does remain on the substrate often is insufficiently adhered to itself and to the substrate.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides an insulation spray apparatus capable of ingesting compacted dry insulation material and dry-blowing it into wall cavities or blowing it nearly saturated with a liquid adhesive against a substrate to produce a thermal and sound insulative coating.

The present apparatus provides an opening in the bottom of the hopper and an additional opening in the sidewall of the hopper. Mounted across the bottom opening is a sliding gate which can be opened to an unlimited number of different positions. With the sidewall hole in the hopper closed, the dry material drops through the open slide gate down a short rectangular chute into one end of a cylindrical horizontal conduit tube mounted below. Within this tube and coupled for rotation with a hopper agitator motor is a unique paddle agitator. Rows of angled paddle blades and other appendages on the agitator shaft comb and sift through the dry material from the hopper, breaking up lumps and evening out the flow of the dry material. The agitator also acts as a conveyor within the conduit tube, propelling dry material toward an exit end of the tube. From here the dry material enters the intake of a blower. The blower of the present invention may be selectively adjusted for communication with either the exit end of the conduit tube for adhesive coating blowing, or the sidewall opening in the hopper itself for dry blowing.

Air drawn by the blower is allowed to bleed into the dry material conduit tube through holes at the upstream end of the tube and through an adjustable opening near the downstream end of the tube. Thus the special paddle agitator combined with agitating air drawn by the blower provides a smooth even flow of dry material that has had virtually all lumps or chunks completely dissipated into an air flow.

The smooth regular flow of material out of the blower and through the hose allows atomized liquid adhesives evenly sprayed into the flow to thoroughly intermingle with the dry material, thus providing a nonpulsating saturated stream of material for adhesion to a substrate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of insulation spray apparatus according to the invention including a liquid supply system and a spray gun for wetting of the dry insulation material with the liquid;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the apparatus of the invention, shown with a novel paddle agitator removed;

FIG. 3 is a partially sectioned elevational view of the apparatus taken along the line 33 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings, apparatus according to the invention is illustrated in FIG. 1 and generally indicated by the reference number 10. The apparatus I0 is shown in connection with a liquid supply means 11 and a spray gun 12 which are employed to mix a liquid with the dry material discharged from the apparatus I0. The spray gun 12 may be of the type disclosed in my copending application.

The liquid supply means 11 includes a supply reservoir 21 and a motor driven pump unit 22. The discharge of the pump unit 22 is operatively connected to the spray gun 12, whereby liquid adhesive is delivered to the spray gun l2.

Included in the spray apparatus 10 is a hopper 13 having upper and

lower portions

14 and 15. A sidewall exit opening 16 is provided in the lower hopper portion 15, but it is shown covered with a cap 17 in FIG. I of this embodiment. An air control opening 31 is also provided in the lower hopper portion 15 adjacent the exit opening 16.

Below the hopper 15 is a paddle agitator unit I8 having casters 19 for easy portability. A centrifugal blower 20 is shown mounted on the unit 18, but as discussed below, the blower in this embodiment is movable from the position shown to a position over the hopper sidewall exit opening 16. The cap 17 must of course first be removed to make this change.

The blower 20 includes a blower exhaust 23 which connects to a removable hose 24. At the end of this hose 24 is the removably coupled spray gun 12, which is used for liquid mixing in adhesive coating insulation blowing.

In FIG. 2 the apparatus is shown from a rearward angle with some of its parts disassembled. A motor 25, coupled preferably through pulleys 26 and belts 27, drives upper and lower

hopper agitator shafts

28 and 29. Each shaft forms the center of rotation of a hopper agitator. The upper hopper agitator is not shown, but the lower hopper agitator 30 may be seen in FIGS. 3 and 4. As indicated by the drive means shown in FIG. 2, the upper hopper agitator shaft 28 is driven more slowly than the lower shaft 29, so that the upper agitator has sufficient power to initially break up compacted bales of dry insulation material loaded into the upper hopper portion 14.

The lower hopper agitator 30 rotates at higher speed to further break up the dry material in the hopper 13. Dry material thus falls to the bottom of the lower hopper portion 15.

From the lower hopper portion 15, the dry material may be conducted through one of two paths. For dryblowing insulation material without adhesive into wall cavities, for example, the material would be drawn through the sidewall exit hole 16 shown in FIG. 4. The blower 20 would be coupled to the lower hopper portion 15 over the hole 16 to draw in air and insulation material and exhaust them through the blower exhaust 23 into the hose 24. The air control opening 31 would be opened and adjusted for the proper amount of make-up air. Screws, bolts, a releasable latch or other mounting means are used to couple the blower 20 over the exit hole 16 or in its alternate position shown in FIGS. 1, 3, and 4.

For wet-blowing insulation material with liquid adhesive against surfaces to produce an insulative coating, the paddle agitator unit 18 becomes operative. Dry material falling to the bottom of the lower hopper portion 15 reaches an opening 33 across which is a sliding gate 34, as seen in FIGS. 3 and 4. The gate 34 is operable by an attached adjustment rod 35 and may be set at any position from fully closed (as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4) to fully open. For wet-blowing, the slide gate 34 must be opened so that dry material flows down through a short rectangular chute 36 and into a tubular conduit 37.

Within the tubular conduit 37 is mounted a rotational paddle agitator 38 for further breaking up dry material, eliminating any remaining lumps, whipping the material up in air, and producing a smooth, even flow. As best seen in FIG. 3, the paddle agitator 38 has a shaft 39 driven preferably by a sprocket 40 which is operatively connected by a chain 41 to a sprocket 42 on the motor-driven shaft 29.

In this wet-blowing mode of the apparatus 10, the blower 20 is mounted on the end of the paddle agitator unit 18 to draw air and dry material from the conduit 37. This helps agitate and suspend in air the dry material flowing from the lower hopper portion 15 into and through the conduit tube 37 containing the paddle agitator 38. The blower 20 then accelerates the air and dry material particles through its blower exhaust 23 and into the hose 24. At this stage the flow of the dry material has been rendered smooth enough to be sprayblended with liquid adhesive for application to a substrate. The present apparatus I0 eliminates the pulsating problem found in some prior art apparatus.

Although for changing modes in this embodiment the blower 20 is movable from the tubular conduit 37 to a position over the exit hole 16 in the lower hopper portion 15, this invention alternatively embraces the use of piping or ducting (not shown) to accomplish the same purpose. The blower would be permanently affixed in one of the two positions with a duct leading to the other opening. Duct valves would enable the blower to selectively draw intake from either the hopper exit hole 16 or the tubular conduit 37.

The action of the paddle agitator 38 and centrifugal blower 20 is further aided by a slidably adjustable air opening 44 provided near the exit of the conduit 37. This opening, manually adjustable by means of a slidable rod 45, admits additional make-up air into the blower 20 so that the blower 20 is not starved" for air as it draws dry material from the hopper 13 through the opening 33. Auxiliary air bleeder holes 46 are provided toward the rear of the conduit 37 for additional air intake and air-suspension of the material. Thus. the material begins to become suspended in air toward the rear of the conduit 37 and the paddle agitator 38 further aids this process while smoothing the flow. Additional make-up and agitating air enters through the opening 44. The proper settings for the material slide gate 34 and the adjustable air opening 44 must be determined on the job. They depend upon air humidity and temperature as well as the length of hose 24 used and the height of the work above the apparatus 10.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the paddle agitator 38 is shown removed from the paddle agitator unit 18. A bearing end 47 supports the agitator shaft 39 for rotation. Connected to the bearing end 47 is a mounting plate 48 for mounting to a rear end 49 of the paddle agitator unit 18, preferably by a bolted connection.

Mounted on the agitator shaft 39 are a plurality of paddle blades 50 diagrammatically shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. These uniformly spaced, uniformly angled blades 50 are arranged in two rows which extend in diametrically opposed directions from the shaft 39. The angled configuration of the blades 50 is best seen in FIG. 2. Viewed as seen in FIG. 2, agitator shaft 39 rotates in a clockwise direction. The paddle agitator 38 therefore acts as a material flow conveyor as it combs and sifts through the dry material. The blades 50 extend along the shaft 39 as indicated by the dashed lines in FIG. 2.

On a front free-standing end 51 of the agitator shaft 39 are a plurality of perpendicularly mounted agitator rods 52. The rods 52 are preferably arranged as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

It is not clearly understood why the specific paddle agitator and air intake structure described and shown results in a very satisfactory flow of dry material out the blower exhaust 23 for blending with a liquid adhesive. The structure was determined through experimentation and no explanation thus far advanced as to the reasons for its efficiency has been substantiated.

An electrical panel 53 is shown mounted on the hopper 13 in FIGS. 1 and 2. The panel 53 provides switches (not shown) and distributes current to the electric motor 25 and the electric centrifugal blower 20. Both of these, as well as the liquid supply means 11, preferably operate on standard house current for maximum versatility. The drive motor 25 is preferably capacitor start, one-half H.P., while the centrifugal blower 20 should have a motor rated at about 1% HP. at 11,000 RPM.

The above described preferred embodiment provides a spray apparatus capable of ingesting a compressed or otherwise lumpy dry material, completely breaking it up, finely dividing it, mixing and suspending it in air, and discharging it in a smooth even flow. Used with a compressed dry cellulosic insulation material the apparatus facilitates the use of one machine to accomplish two similar but different functions. However, the utility of the apparatus is not limited to insulation materials. The apparatus can be used in any situation where a lumpy dry material capable of blow-application should be finely broken up and smoothed out before blowing. Various other embodiments and modifications of this preferred embodiment will be apparent to those skilled in the art and may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for spraying dry material mixed with a liquid against a substrate, comprising a hopper for containing the dry material, said hopper having an upper portion and a lower portion,

hopper agitating means within said hopper for initially breaking up and agitating the compacted dry material,

motor means for rotating said hopper means,

a dry material conduit having an inlet in flowing communication with said hopper and having an effluent end,

means adjacent said conduit and said hopper for regulating the flow of dry material into and through said conduit,

a paddle agitator operationally mounted within said conduit, comprising a rotatable shaft, drive means connected to said shaft, and paddle agitator means on said shaft for breaking, agitating and smoothing the dry material into a smooth even flow, said paddle agitator means comprising a plurality of paddle blades and stirring rods mounted for rotation with said shaft in said conduit, said paddle blades being angularly and uniformly mounted on said shaft, whereby said paddle agitator acts as a conveyor within said conduit as well as a smoothing agitator of the dry material,

blower means operatively connected to said effluent end for delivering the dry material,

hose means in communication with said blower means for conducting the dry material,

means for supplying a liquid for mixing with the effluent dry material from said hose means, and

spray nozzle means operatively connected to said liquid supplying means and said hose means.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said drive means of said paddle agitator comprises a rotational coupling from said shaft to said motor means.

3. Apparatus for spraying dry material mixed with a liquid against a substrate, comprising a hopper for containing the dry material, said hopper having an upper portion and a lower portion,

hopper agitating means within said hopper for initially breaking up and agitating the compacted dry material, I

motor means for rotating said hopper means,

means adjacent said conduit and said hopper for regulating the flow of dry material into and through said conduit, said flow regulating means comprising an opening between said lower portion of said hopper and said inlet of said conduit, a material feed slide gate on said opening, said gate being infinitely adjustable from a fully closed position to a fully open position, and an adjustable air control opening adjacent said effluent end of said dry material conduit for controlling the flow rate of atmospheric air mixing with the dry material at said effluent end,

a paddle agitator operationally mounted within said conduit, comprising a rotatable shaft, drive means connected to said shaft, and paddle agitator means on said shaft for breaking, agitating and smoothing the dry material into a smooth even flow,

4. The apparatus of claim 3 which further includes a plurality of bleeder air holes defined in said conduit adjacent said inlet of said conduit.

5. The apparatus of claim 3, which further includes auxiliary air intake means defined in said conduit.

6. In a dry insulation blowing apparatus including a hopper, a hopper agitator within the hopper for breaking up compacted insulation material, motor means coupled to the hopper agitator, exit means downstream of the hopper agitator, and a blower for agitating and blowing insulation material through the exit means of the hopper into a hose for delivery to the work, the improvement comprising a dry insulation conduit having an inlet in adjustable flowing communication with said hopper and having an effluent end,

means between said hopper and said conduit for admitting and regulating the flow of dry insulation material into and through said conduit,

a paddle agitator operationally mounted within said conduit, comprising a rotatable shaft, drive means connected to said shaft, and agitator means on said shaft for breaking, agitating and smoothing the flow of the dry material,

means for selectively engaging the blower for delivering insulation material from either the exit means of the hopper or said effluent end of said conduit to the hose, and v means for optionally supplying a liquid adhesive and mixing it with the effluent dry insulation material from the hose,

whereby the dry insulation blowing apparatus may be employed either for dry blowing insulation material into a cavity or for spraying such material mixed with liquid adhesive against a substrate to form a coating layer.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein said agitator means on said paddle agitator shaft comprises a plurality of paddle blades and stirring rods mounted for rotation with said shaft in said conduit.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein said paddle blades are angularly and uniformly mounted on said shaft, whereby said paddle agitator acts as a conveyor within said conduit and as a smoothing agitator of the dry material.

9. Apparatus for supplying dry cellulosic insulation material to a hose, comprising, in combination,

a hopper for containing the insulation material, said hopper having a lower discharge opening, agitating means within said hopper for agitating the insulation material,

a conduit positioned below said hopper and having an ingress opening in communication with such lower discharge opening,

regulating means for regulating the flow of dry material into said conduit,

a paddle agitator mounted for rotation within said conduit,

blower means operatively connected to said conduit for receiving dry mate rial and discharging such dry material to the hose, and a second discharge opening in direct communication with said hopper, means for operatively connecting said blower means to such second opening for receiving dry material and discharging such dry material to the hose, and means adjacent said second opening for admitting and controlling a flow of air into said blower means.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 which further includes means for discontinuing the flow of dry material from said conduit to said blower means.

11. Apparatus for supplying dry cellulosic insulation material to a hose, comprising, in combination,

regulating means for regulating the flow ofdry material into said conduit,

a paddle agitator mounted for rotation within said conduit, said paddle agitator comprising a rotatable shaft, drive means connected to said shaft, and a plurality of paddle blades and stirring rods mounted for rotation with said shaft in said conduit, said paddle blades angularly and uniformly extending from said shaft such that said paddle agitator acts as a conveyor as well as a smoothing agitator of the dry material, and

blower means operatively connected to said conduit for receiving dry material and discharging such dry material to the hose.

12. Apparatus for supplying dry cellulosic insulation material to a hose, comprising, in combination,

a hopper for containing the insulation material. said hopper having a lower discharge opening,

agitating means within said hopper for agitating the insulation material,

regulating means for regulating the flow of dry material into said conduit, said regulating means comprising an adjustable material feed slide gate mounted between said lower hopper discharge opening and said conduit ingress opening, and an adjustable air control opening in said conduit for controlling the flow of atmospheric air mixing with the dry material in said conduit,

a paddle agitator mounted for rotation within said conduit, and

13. The apparatus of claim 12 which further includes a plurality of bleeder air holes defined in said conduit adjacent said ingress opening.

Claims

1. Apparatus for spraying dry material mixed with a liquid against a substrate, comprising a hopper for containing the dry material, said hopper having an upper portion and a lower portion, hopper agitating means within said hopper for initially breaking up and agitating the compacted dry material, motor means for rotating said hopper means, a dry material conduit having an inlet in flowing communication with said hopper and having an effluent end, means adjacent said conduit and said hopper for regulating the flow of dry material into and through said conduit, a paddle agitator operationally mounted within said conduit, comprising a rotatable shaft, drive means connected to said shaft, and paddle agitator means on said shaft for breaking, agitating and smoothing the dry material into a smooth even flow, said paddle agitator means comprising a plurality of paddle blades and stirring rods mounted for rotation with said shaft in said conduit, said paddle blades being angularly and uniformly mounted on said shaft, whereby said paddle agitator acts as a conveyor within said conduit as well as a smoothing agitator of the dry material, blower means operatively connected to said effluent end for delivering the dry material, hose means in communication with said blower means for conducting the dry material, means for supplying a liquid for mixing with the effluent dry material from said hose means, and spray nozzle means operatively connected to said liquid supplying means and said hose means.

3. Apparatus for spraying dry material mixed with a liquid against a substrate, comprising a hopper for containing the dry material, said hopper having an upper portion and a lower portion, hopper agitating means within said hopper for initially breaking up and agitating the compacted dry material, motor means for rotating said hopper means, a dry material conduit having an inlet in flowing communication with said hopper and having an effluent end, means adjacent said conduit and said hopper for regulating the flow of dry material into and through said conduit, said flow regulating means comprising an opening between said lower portion of said hopper and said inlet of said conduit, a material feed slide gate on said opening, said gate being infinitely adjustable from a fully closed position to a fully open position, and an adjustable air control opening adjacent said effluent end of said dry material conduit for controlling the flow rate of atmospheric air mixing with the dry material at said effluent end, a paddle agitator operationally mounted within said conduit, comprising a rotatable shaft, drive means connected to said shaft, and paddle agitator means on said shaft for breaking, agitating and smoothing the dry material into a smooth even flow, blower means operatively connected to said effluent end for delivering the dry material, hose means in communication with said blower means for conducting the dry material, means for supplying a liquid for mixing with the effluent dry material from said hose means, and spray nozzle means operatively connected to said liquid supplying means and said hose means.

6. In a dry insulation blowing apparatus including a hopper, a hopper agitator within the hopper for breaking up compacted insulation material, motor means coupled to the hopper agitator, exit means downstream of the hopper agitator, and a blower for agitating and blowing insulation material through the exit means of the hopper into a hose for delivery to the wOrk, the improvement comprising a dry insulation conduit having an inlet in adjustable flowing communication with said hopper and having an effluent end, means between said hopper and said conduit for admitting and regulating the flow of dry insulation material into and through said conduit, a paddle agitator operationally mounted within said conduit, comprising a rotatable shaft, drive means connected to said shaft, and agitator means on said shaft for breaking, agitating and smoothing the flow of the dry material, means for selectively engaging the blower for delivering insulation material from either the exit means of the hopper or said effluent end of said conduit to the hose, and means for optionally supplying a liquid adhesive and mixing it with the effluent dry insulation material from the hose, whereby the dry insulation blowing apparatus may be employed either for dry blowing insulation material into a cavity or for spraying such material mixed with liquid adhesive against a substrate to form a coating layer.

9. Apparatus for supplying dry cellulosic insulation material to a hose, comprising, in combination, a hopper for containing the insulation material, said hopper having a lower discharge opening, agitating means within said hopper for agitating the insulation material, a conduit positioned below said hopper and having an ingress opening in communication with such lower discharge opening, regulating means for regulating the flow of dry material into said conduit, a paddle agitator mounted for rotation within said conduit, blower means operatively connected to said conduit for receiving dry material and discharging such dry material to the hose, and a second discharge opening in direct communication with said hopper, means for operatively connecting said blower means to such second opening for receiving dry material and discharging such dry material to the hose, and means adjacent said second opening for admitting and controlling a flow of air into said blower means.

11. Apparatus for supplying dry cellulosic insulation material to a hose, comprising, in combination, a hopper for containing the insulation material, said hopper having a lower discharge opening, agitating means within said hopper for agitating the insulation material, a conduit positioned below said hopper and having an ingress opening in communication with such lower discharge opening, regulating means for regulating the flow of dry material into said conduit, a paddle agitator mounted for rotation within said conduit, said paddle agitator comprising a rotatable shaft, drive means connected to said shaft, and a plurality of paddle blades and stirring rods mounted for rotation with said shaft in said conduit, said paddle blades angularly and uniformly extending from said shaft such that said paddle agitator acts as a conveyor as well as a smoothing agitator of the dry material, and blower means operatively connected to said conduit for receiving dry material and discharging such dry material to the hose.

12. Apparatus for supplying dry cellulosic insulation material to a hose, comprising, in combination, a hopper for containing the insulation material, said hopper having a lower discharge opening, agitating means within said hopper for agitating the insulation material, a conduit positioned below said hopper and having an ingress opening in communication with such lower discharge opening, regulating means for regulating the flow of dry material into said conduit, said regulating means comprising an adjustable material feed slide gate mounted between said lower hopper discharge opening and said conduit ingress opening, and an adjustable air control opening in said conduit for controlling the flow of atmospheric air mixing with the dry material in said conduit, a paddle agitator mounted for rotation within said conduit, and blower means operatively connected to said conduit for receiving dry material and discharging such dry material to the hose.