A repetitive combustion system for coating a work piece with particulate material is disclosed which utilizes an encapsulating tape having a plurality of discrete capsules each containing a predetermined quantity of the particulate coating material. The capsules are sequentially fed into a stripping chamber where the tape is clamped between inlet and outlet manifolds which provide a circumferential seal around the respective capsules so that pressure can be applied to an inlet face of the capsule. The inlet face is so configured as to admit air into the interior of the capsule which then swells and bursts the outlet face or otherwise passes through the outlet faces. The air pressure then injects the particulate material into the combustion chamber while the pressure in the combustion chamber is near the peak produced by combustion. A number of different tape configurations are disclosed and also a number of different stripping stations designed to enhance scavenging of all of the particulate material from the capsules without entraining any of the material forming the capsules and to position the capsules to the station at a high rate. The coating apparatus includes a sequencing means which feeds the tape at a continuous rate through the stripping station and initiates introduction of a fuel-air mixture to the combustion chamber, ignition of the fuel-air mixture, and injection of the particulate material from the stripping station in the proper sequence. High speed rotary manifold systems for positioning these capsules at the stripping station are also disclosed.
Rosser B. Melton; Elbert M. Hubbard