GB2097270A

GB2097270A - A building yard mixer-puddler apparatus, particularly for cements, mortars and inert materials

Info

Publication number: GB2097270A
Application number: GB8205155A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1981-02-26
Filing date: 1982-02-22
Publication date: 1982-11-03
Also published as: FR2500359A1; DE3206772A1; GR74747B; ES509888A0; PT74485B; PT74485A; ES8302521A1; NL8200674A

Abstract

The apparatus comprises a container 3 mounted on a frame 11 and, within the container 3, a unit or assembly 14 provided with one or more elements 16 designed to act upon the materials to be mixed which are introduced into the container 3. A motor 22 is provided for causing relative rotary motion between the unit or assembly 14 and the container 3, and the configuration of the or each element 16 is such as to impart vertical and horizontal components of movement to the materials in the container 3 in operation. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A building yard mixer-puddler apparatus, particularly for cements, mortars and inert materials This invention is concerned with a building yard mixer-puddler apparatus, particularly for cements, mortars and inert materials.

As well known, there is the trend to reach the building yard area by motor vehicles for transport of prefabricated concretes prepared in proper concrete mixing equipments, to which the taks is allotted of preparing, metering and mixing the concrete.

The use on building yard is also known of machines assigned to the preparation of small or middle amounts of product, machines which are referred to as "building yard concrete mixers" or "cup concrete mixers".

Such machines are essentially divided into two types, that is: -Auto- and not loading reversible cup concrete mixers.

-Cup concrete mixers having only one direction of rotation.

The primary peculiarity distinguishing a reversible concrete mixer consists in that the cup, holding the products to be mixed, should not be overturned to unload the mixed concrete but, on rotating in one direction on its horizontal axis, by a series of blades applied to the inner surface of the cup, causes the mixing of the product, while on rotating in the opposite direction causes the unloading thereof.

The above mentioned machine could also be provided with devices for water metering and mechanical loading of the product to be mixed.

The second mentioned and more widely used type of concrete mixer is above all distinguished by the simpler and accordingly less expensive constructive laying.

Thus, for example, said type of concrete mixer, which will be better explained in the following description, essentially comprises a base supporting an arm which in turn forms a cup support. Said arm is rotable relative to the base about a horizontal geometrical axis, and said cup is rotable about its own geometrical axis, perpendicular to said axis about which said arm is rotable.

A motor, also supported or carried by the base, actuates said cup by suitable driving means, so as to cause it to rotate about its own axis.

A suitable manually operated handwheel is provided for the rotation of said arm. The mixing of the components within the cup is effected by a series of blades integral with the cup which provide for puddling the components as said cup rotates.

As better explained in the following, said type of concrete mixer has some disadvantages.

Particularly, a considerable disadvantage is that the cup should rotate by a quite reduced angular velocity. Thus, should the speed at which the cup rotates be quite high, or exceed a certain limit, due to the centrifugal force those components of higher density would be cast or projected onto the inner wall of the cup and thus seperated from the remainder of the components.

It should also be pointed out the fact of mixing highly dry concrete commonly used in preparing pavement foundations.

Thus, this type of concrete is usually mixed by hand, the building yard concrete mixer not suceeding in amalgamating the single components due to the low r.p.m. of the cup and low percentage of water needed for the production of such a concrete.

In order to eliminate the above mentioned disadvantages and also provide further considerable advantages, as it will become apparent from the following description, a puddlermixer apparatus according to the present invention has been provided, which is essentially characterized by comprising a container for holding the various materials to be mixed, a unit or assembly within the container, which unit or assembly includes one or more shaped elements for acting upon the materials, and means for causing a relative rotary motion between said unit or assembly and container, the configuration being such as to cause, during said relative rotary motion between said unit or assembly and container, movements of the materials with vertical and horizontal components.

To better illustrate the features and advantages of the apparatus according to the present invention, a known type of concrete mixer and an exemplary embodiment of the puddler-mixer according to the present invention will now be described with reference to the schematic accmpanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is an elevantional view of a known type of concrete mixer; Figure 2 is an elevational, partly sectional view of an apparatus according to the present invention; Figure 3 is an elevational view showing an essential part of the apparatus according to the invention as shown in Fig. 2, and comprising a container shown in sectional view according to a plane through the geometrical axis, and a rotating unit or assembly located within said container; Figure 4 shows that part of Fig. 3 shown in plan view; and Figure 5 is a view of a detail representing a variant.

The known type of concrete mixer shown in Fig. 1 comprises a base designated at 1 which supports various parts to be described in the following.

An arm 2 is carried by the base 1 to rotate relatively of the latter about a horizontal geometrical axis designated at A.

Reference numeral 3 designates a container or "cup" carried by arm 2, so as to rotate relatively to said arm 2 about its own geometrical axis designated at B.

For the rotation of said arm 2 a handwheel 4 is provided, manually operable by the operator. Said handwheel can be integral with said arm 2, but can also drive the same through gears or other means.

A motor 5 is provided for the rotation of cup 3 about the axis B, which motor operates through a belt 6 a pulley 7. The latter is through a shaft integral with a pinion meshing with a crown or ring gear 8 integral with said cup 3. This motor 5 is integral with base 1.

Reference numeral 9 designates the beltmotor guard cab.

Loading in the loading filler or mouth 10 is usually manually carried out. Both for loading of the components and mixing of the latter, said cup 3 should be also before hand rotated on its axis A at an inclination of about 45 Mixing of the components is carried out by a series of blades integral with said cup 3, which provide for puddling the components during rotation on the axis B of cup 3. The unloading of the finished product occurs by hand overturning said cup 3 through the handwheel 4.

The above described concrete mixer of known type, as shown in Fig. 1, has the above mentioned disadvantages, particularly such as said cup 3 should turn at quite reduced speed to avoid those disadvantages which, as above discussed, would occur due to the centrifugal force, and also that, as above mentioned, such a concrete mixer is substantially unsuitable for mixing highly dry concrete.

With reference to Figs. 2, 3. 4 and 5, an exemplary embodiment of the apparatus according to the present invention will now be described.

In an apparatus according to the present invention, shown by way of example in Figs.

2, 3 and 4, a base of frame 11 is provided, as supporting the various parts to be described in the following.

The apparatus comprises a particularly suitable type of bucket contaner 1 2 attached or fixed to the frame 11, or integral with the latter. At the bottom said container 1 2 is provided with an unloading outlet 1 3 which is closed by a tight sealing lock. Within said container 12 and coaxial therewith a rotating unit or assembly is provided and designated as a whole at 14, comprising in the example shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4 a central body of conical or frustoconical shape designted at 15, and an element of conical spiral shape, designated at 1 6 and integral with said body 15.

Said assembly 14, comprising said body 1 5 and element 16 integral with each other, is integral with a shaft 1 7 carried by said frame 11, so as to rotate about its own geometrical axis Z, which is the geometrical axis of said conical body 15.

In other terms, the above described unit or assembly 14 is rotable relatively of the container 1 2 and the rotation occurs about the vertical geometrical axis Z, which is also the geometrical axis for said container 1 2.

For the rotation of said unit or assembly 14 a motor 22 is provided as secured to the frame 11 and rotably driving said unit or assembly 14 by a pulley 1 8 integral with the drive shaft, belts 1 9 and a pulley 20 integral with the shaft 17, that is with said unit or assembly 14.

The inventive apparatus is also provided with wheels, such as that shown at 21, for the displacements of the apparatus on the ground.

The container 1 2 is loaded through the loading inlet or mouth of the container, which is open at the top, that is the components to be mixed are introduced into the container 1 2 from the top, as shown by the arrow F.

For carrying out the mixing operation, said unit or assembly 14 is rotated by the above described means comprising said motor 22, pulleys 18 and 20 and belts 19.

The operation of the puddler-miwer shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4 is substantially as follows.

Assume that the unit or assembly 1 4 is rotating, while the container 1 2 is stationary as integral with the frame 11, the conical spiral shaped element 1 6 moves the mass or volume of materials accomodated in said container 12.

The movement of the materials is schematically shown in Figs.3 and 4, where such a movement is substantially shown by the arrows.

Substantially, by being of conical or frustoconical shape and conveniently inclined relative to the vertical axis Z, causes the transport or movement of the components to be mixed from bottom to top, as shown by the arrows of Fig. 3. Then, the components move downwards again by gravity, and thus at the bottom of the container 12, and then the cycle is started again, and so on.

Thus, the components are amalgamated with one another, while the centrifugation thereof is thus avoided by the inclination of spiral 1 6 relative to the axis of rotation Z.

Mixing is also emphasized in that, as shown by the arrows of Fig. 4, in addition to an upward thrust the components are subjected to slow rotary motion, or rotation about the geometrical axis Z.

That the moving masses are subjected to the two above described motions, particularly upward transport and rotary motion, aids in homogeneity of the yielded product and ac cordingly an improved yield-time ratio.

Thus, good results are obtained with the contribution that the speed of rotation of said unit or assembly 14 can be quite high and in any case higher than that of a conventional concrete mixer.

At the end of the process, the operator provides for unloading, or the final product is caused to move out of the container 1 2 by the opearator himself who causes the opening of the gate or lock, so that the product emerges through the unloading or exhaust outlet 13.

The product unloading is promoted by the shaped of the spiral element 1 6 which at unloading step substantially acts as a shove or blade, so as to guide the mixed product in the unloading or exhast outlet 1 3.

When desiring to unload the product in shorter times, the rotary motion of the puddler unit or assembly 14 can be reversed.

Among the possible variants, the case shown in Fig. 5 is of particular interest, that is a unit or assembly designated as a whole at 1 4A to cause the movements of the components to be mixed within the container 1 2.

Such a unit or assembly 1 4A also comprises a conical spiral element, designated at 1 6 A, integral with a body shown at 1 so, the latter being different from the above described body 15, and particularly has a cylindrical shape.

The conical spiral elements may be continuous, such as those above described, indicated at 1 5 and 1 5A, and may also be ous or imtermittent. Thus, for example, instead of a continuous element, a series could be provided of conveniently shaped blades and such as also to cause the desired movements of the material.

The unloading or exhaust outlet 1 3 can be provided with a further flow-cutter gate or lock to further agevolate the unloading operation by dividing it into a plurality of rounds.

Further means can be provided such as, for example, a geared motor for motion drive; manual or mechanized magazines for the filling of the container 12; as well as members, particularly cocks or faucets, can be added for water supply and metering, and water tanks, and so on.

The rotating element for acting upon the materials for mixing of the latter may be in the form of a spiral or Archimedian screw, the helix of which may be continuous or interrupted.

By the above described apparatus according to the present invention particularly advantageous results are obtained and the above described disadvantages of conventional concrete mixers are avoided.

Furthermore, since the container 1 2 is integral with the base 11, the arm supporting the cup in conventional concrete mixers is dispensed with and accordingly the associated operations for its rotation (loading and unloading) are not required, to the operator's benefit.

Claims

1. A puddler-mixer apparatus, particularly for cements, mortars and other components, characterized by comprising a container for accomodating the various materials to be mixed, a unit or assembly within the container, which unit or assembly includes one or more shaped elements for acting on the materials, and means for causing a relative rotational movement between said unit or assembly and container, the configuration of said unit or assembly being such as to cause, during the relative rotational movement between said unit or assembly and container, movements of the materials with vertical and horizontal components.

2. A puddler-mixer apparatus according to Claim 1, wherein said unit or assembly comprises a central body and an element substantially in the form of conveniently shaped conical spiral, so as to impart to the materials both an upward motion, whereby such materials then downward move to move upward again and so one, and a slow rotary motion about the geometrical axis of said conical spiral.

3. A puddler-mixer apparatus according to Claim 1, wherein said unit or assembly comprises a central body and a discontinuous or intermittent element essentially comprising a series of blades or fins succesively arranged along a conical spiral, which are conveniently shaped to impart to the materials both an upward movement, so that the materials move down again and move upward again and so on, and a slow rotary motion about the geometrical axis of said conical spiral.

4. A puddler-mixer apparatus according to Claim 2 or Claim 3, wherein said container (12) is integral with the apparatus frame (11), whereas said assembly within the container is rotably supported with respect to the frame as well as the container (12) about its own geometrical axis.

5. A puddler-mixer apparatus according to Claim 4, wherein said container (12) is provided at the bottom with a side unloading outlet for emptying said container.

6. A puddler-mixer apparatus according to Claim 5, wherein said continuous or discontinuous conical spiral element can provide for unloading the product obtained by the mixture through said side unloading outlet.

7. A puddler-mixer apparatus according to Claim 4, comprising a motor carried by the apparatus frame and suitable connecting means between said motor and assembly for the drive from the motor to the assembly.

8. An apparatus according to Claim 2 or Claim 3, wherein said central body (15) is of conical shape.

9. An apparatus according to Claim 2 or Claim 3, wherein said central body (1 5A) is of cylindrical shape.

10. An apparatus according to Claim 2 or Claim 3, wherein the element for acting upon the material is made as a spiral or Archimedian screw.

11. Puddler-mixer apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.