GB2228688A

GB2228688A - Mixing apparatus

Info

Publication number: GB2228688A
Application number: GB8904617A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Shih-Hsiung Hsu
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1989-03-01
Filing date: 1989-03-01
Publication date: 1990-09-05
Also published as: GB8904617D0

Abstract

A mixing apparatus for dyeing plastics material includes a frame 3 pivotally supporting a chamber 4 which is provided with a discharge opening 47 and with a rotatable shaft provided with paddles 51-56 arranged to move the material away from the ends of the chamber 4. <IMAGE>

Description

Title: Mixing Apparatus DESCRIPTION This invention relates to a mixing apparatus, and more particularly to a mixing apparatus for dyeing plastics material.

Usually plastics material has to be dyed to give a desired colour before moulding or extruding into products.

A conventional mixing apparatus for dyeing plastics material, as shown in Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings generally comprises a barrel-shaped rotor 1 for accomodating plastics material and dyestuff. The rotor 1 has a convergent circular side wall 10 with an opening 12 for loading the plastic material and dyestuff before treatment or unloading dyed plastics material after treatment, and is rotatably mounted on a frame (not shown). A plurality of radial, evenly spaced baffle plates 11 are located on the inner side wall of the rotor 1. The plastics material and dyestuff loaded therein are mixed as the rotor 1 rotates. The defects of the mixing rotor are as follows: 1. At most 1/3 of the inner space of the rotor 1 can be loaded with the plastics material and dyestuff to facilitate rotational mixing.

2. It is inconvenient to load or unload materials through the single opening 12.

3. The rotor so constructed is inconvenient for inner cleaning.

4. It is time consuming in dyeing treatment as at least 10 minutes are needed for each treatment process.

Another conventional mixing apparatus for dyeing plastics material, as shown in Figure 3 of the accompanying drawings, comprises a substantially V-shaped container 2 rotatably mounted on a frame 24.

Two lids 21, 22 are provided for covering open tops, respectively, and a lid 23 is provided for covering an open bottom of the container 2. The defects of this mixing container are as follows: 1. At most 1/3 of the inner space of the container 2 can be loaded with plastics material and dyestuff to facilitate rotational mixing 2. The dyeing process is not thorough, as the materials are separated in the two inclined tubes.

3. It is also time consuming in dyeing treatment as at least 10 minutes are needed for each treatment process.

4. It is inconvenient for withdrawal of dyed material as once the lid 23 is opened, al the dyed material tends to drop out.

An object of this invention is to provide and improved mixing apparatus for dyeing plastics material to overcome the drawbacks of known apparatus.

The present invention provides a mixing apparatus for dyeing plastics material which can diminish the disadvantages of the conventional apparatus.

According to the present invention, a mixing apparatus for dyeing plastics material comprises a frame having a series of aligned vertical standards and a series of aligned upper horizontal beams and lower horizontal beams rigidly connected to the standards, a pair of bearing members mounted on the upper horizontal beams of the frame a conveyor having a longitudinal shaft with two ends rotatably mounted on the bearing members and a plurality of arcuate segment paddles circumferentially oriented about the shaft, a vessel having a chamber for accommodating materials and a discharge opening formed in a front side wall thereof, swingably mounted on the shaft and housing the paddles of the conveyor in the chamber, a cover hingedly connected to the vessel to be operated between an open position and a closed position over an open top of the vessel, lock members provided on an edge portion of the cover for locking it in the closed position, a door slidably mounted on the front side wall for closing the discharge opening of the vessel and a drive means drivably connected to the shaft of the conveyor for rotating the conveyor in a manner to mix materials in the chamber.

The present invention will now be further described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a side elevational view illustrating a known mixing rotor; Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the mixing rotor shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a side elevational view illustrating another known mixing apparatus; Figure 4 is a perspective view showing a preferred embodiment according to this invention; Figure 5 is a side elevational view of the mixing apparatus shown in Figure 4; Figure 6 is a perspective view showing a conveyor installed in a vessel of this invention; Figure 7 is an enlarged perspective view of the conveyor shown in Figure 6; and Figure 8 is a perspective view of the mixing apparatus which is in use.

Referring now to Figures 4 and 5 of the accompanying drawings there is shown a mixing apparatus for dyeing plastics material wherein a vessel 4 having a concave bottom wall 40 and a chamber 41 for accommodating the plastics material and the dyestuff to be mixed is swingably mounted on a frame 3 which has four legs 301, 302 on a stationary floor or ground through a shaft 50 which is rotatably mounted on bearings 46 spacedly mounted on two sides of the frame 3 and is to be described in more detail hereinafter. A cover 42 is connected to the vessel 4 by a hinge member which allows the cover 42 to be operated between an open position and a closed position over the open top of the vessel 4 by means of a lever assembly. The lever assembly consists of a rod 430 transversely secured to the top of the cover 42 with a protruding end rotatably connected to a front end of a lever 43.

Lock members 421 are provided on an edge portion of the cover 42 for locking the cover 42 in closed position.

The front side wall of the vessel 4 has a central discharge opening 47. A bracket 44 surrounding the opening 47 is attached to the front side wall. A movable door 441 slidably mounted on the front side wall is used to close the opening 47 during the mixing process. A bar 442 located under a lower horizontal plate of the bracket 44 below the opening 47 for retaining an open mouth of a packaging bag or the like is connected to the lower ends of a pair of spaced tension springs 443 of which the other ends are secured to an upper portion of the front side wall.

A wheel 45 is firmly mounted on the shaft 50 between a lateral side wall and one of the bearings 46.

A hand-wheel assembly rotatably mounted on one side of the frame 3 beside the lateral side wall of the vessel 4 consists of a horizontal rod, a hand-operated wheel 35 attached to the front end and a worm gear 451 attached to the rear end of the horizontal rod for adjusting the vessel 4 between an unloading position and a working position. The worm gear 451 is located under the wheel 45 with spiral teeth adapted to engage with the gears of the wheel 45.

The shaft 50 is drivably connected to a power transmission unit generally indicated at 32 including a control box 33, a drive motor 31 and a shut-off switch 34.

Referring to Figures 6 and 7, the vessel 4 has a conveyor 5 extended along the concave bottom 40 of the vessel. The conveyor 5 consists of the longitudinal shaft 50 and a plurality of arcuate segment paddles divided into a first series A of paddles 51 to 53 and a second series B of paddles 54 to 56. The first series of paddles 51, 52 and 53 having forward surfaces that extend in a helical angle are circumferentially orientated about the first half of the shaft 50 and spaced at 120 degree intervals and follow an interrupted helical path. The plastics material and dyestuff are conveyed, as the conveyor 5 rotates, in a general horizontal direction as shown by the arrow A'.

The second series of the paddles 54, 55 and 56 having forward surfaces that extend in a helical angle are circumferentially oriented about the second half of the shaft 50 and spaced at 120 degree intervals and follow an interrupted helical path having a turn opposite to that of the helical path followed by the first series of the paddles 51 to 53. The plastics and dyestuff are conveyed, as the conveyor 5 rotates, in a general horizontal direction as shown by the arrow B'. It should be noted that the adjacent paddles 53, 54 of the first series A and the second series B are secured to the shaft 50 on opposite sides with a suitable distance in between.

In operation, suitable amounts of plastics material and dyestuff are loaded in the chamber 41 of the vessel 4. Then the cover 42 is locked and drive motor 31 started to cause the conveyor 5 to rotate.

The first series of paddles A move the plastic material and dyestuff in a direction opposite to that of the movements of the plastics material and the dyestuff by the second series of paddles B. The mixing is achieved by the movements of the plastics material and the dyestuff in a general loop-like longitudinal path established by the conveyor 5.

The dyed plastics material can be poured out into a bag 6, as shown in Figure 8, through the discharge opening 47 and bracket 44 as the vessel 4 is adjusted to its inclined unloading position by means of the hand-wheel assembly.

As the cover 42 is opened for loading plastics material and dyestuff, the lower end of the lever 43 actuates the shut-off switch to keep off the power source of the power transmission unit 32 that prevents the conveyor 5 from being caused to rotate.

Claims

1. A mixing apparatus comprising a chamber and conveyor means within the chamber for moving materials to be mixed in opposite directions from opposite ends of the chamber.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said conveyor comprises a shaft having two sets of oppositely orientated blades each at an opposite end of the shaft.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein the chamber has separate loading and unloading openings.

4. A mixing apparatus comprising: a frame means; a pair of bearing members mounted on two sides of the frame means; a conveyor means having a shaft with two ends rotatably mounted on the bearing members and a plurality of arcuate segment paddles circumferentially oriented about the shaft; a vessel means having a chamber for accommodating materials and a discharge opening formed in a front side wall, swingably mounted on the shaft and housing the paddles of the conveyor means in the chamber; a cover means hingedly connected to the vessel means to be operated between an open position and a closed position over an open top of the vessel means; lock means secured to an edge portion of the cover means for locking the cover means in closed position; a door slidably mounted on the front side wall for closing the discharge opening of the vessel means; and a drive means including a drive motor and a power transmission means connecting the drive motor and the conveyor means for rotating the conveyor means in a manner to mix materials in the chamber.

5. A mixing apparatus as claimed in claim 4 wherein the paddles of the conveyor means are divided into a first series of the paddles having forward surfaces extending in a helical angle and circumferentially spaced at 120 degree intervals on a first half of the shaft and a second series of the paddles having forward surfaces in a direction opposite to that of the surfaces of the first paddles, extending in a helical angle and circumferentially spaced at 120 degree intervals on a second half of the shaft.

6. A mixing apparatus as claimed in claim 5 wherein adjacent paddles of the first series and the second series are secured to the shaft in opposite sides with a distance in between.

7. A mixing apparatus as claimed in claim 4, 5 or 6 wherein a geared wheel is provided on the shaft of the conveyor means between a lateral side wall of the vessel means and a bearing member, and a hand-wheel assembly consisting of a horizontal shaft, a hand-operated wheel attached to a front end of the horizontal shaft and a worm gear attached to a rear end of the horizontal shaft and adapted to engage with gears of the geared wheel.

8. A mixing apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 4 to 7 wherein the vessel means further comprising: a bracket member surrounding the discharge opening and attached to the front side wall thereof; a bar located under a lower horizontal plate of the bracket member below the opening; and a pair of tension spring members with lower ends connected to the bar and upper ends connected to an upper portion of the vessel means.

9. A mixing apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 4 to 8 of the accompanying drawings.