GB2493768A

GB2493768A - A mixing machine

Info

Publication number: GB2493768A
Application number: GB1114271.8A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Stanley Jun Mah
Original assignee: ISLINGTON ASIA Ltd
Current assignee: ISLINGTON ASIA Ltd
Priority date: 2011-08-19
Filing date: 2011-08-19
Publication date: 2013-02-20
Anticipated expiration: 2031-08-19
Also published as: GB2493768B; GB201114271D0

Abstract

A mixing machine 1 for mixing contents of a container 22 comprising base 31 which supports non-rotating shaft 7 and motor 5 attached to a pinion 3, a first non-rotating bevel gear 2 attached to the non-rotating shaft 7, carousel 11 with a gear ring 10 that rotates about the non-rotating shaft 7 and is driven by the meshing of the gear ring 10 with the pinion 3, and chuck assembly 33 for securely holding the container wherein the chuck assembly is connected to a second bevel gear 14 so that the chuck assembly rotates at an angle relative to the carousel by the interaction of the second bevel gear 14 with the first non rotating bevel gear 2. In use, the motor rotates pinion 3 which interacts with the gear ring 10 causing the carousel to rotate. The rotating carousel causes the bevel gears to interact which rotate the chuck assembly. The container is subjected to planetary or orbital motion. The machine may include germicidal ultraviolet sterilisation lamps to sterilize the liquid and a magnetic field to aid mixing of magnetorheological constituents.

Description

MIXING MACHINE

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a machine used for mixing a base liquid with one or more additives that can be in liquid and/or powder form.

Depending on an individual's skin and skincare regime, they may find themselves suffering with skin dryness, greasiness, flaking, itching, enlarged pores, pimples, discoloured pores, acne, dehydration, wrinkles, puffiness, redness and other common skin ailments. Finding a helpful skincare product on the shelves of a store can be matter of trial an error as the different additives in each lotion may sooth one condition and exacerbate another. Some lotions will have been formulated to help with a particular skin condition but it is also difficult for the individual to identify which skin condition they suffer from and what the underlying cause is.

In order to enable an individual to identify the skin ailments they suffer with it is possible for a skin expert to analyse the skin with a microscope using normal light and also infra red light and identify skin conditions that can be treated. The skin care expert can then identify a combination of a base moisturising liquid and one or more liquid or powdered additives that can be blended together to provide a customised skin lotion for the individual to use.

As it is imperative that the base liquid and additives are thoroughly and reliably blended together a mixing machine is used. It is also important that the resultant lotion is sterile.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention describes a mixing machine that mixes the various constituents together and also defoams the mixture to minimise entrained air. The mixing machine includes a germicidal ultraviolet sterilisation system to sterilize the liquid as the mixing takes place in a sealed container. The machine further radiates a magnetic field through the constituents whilst the mixing takes place which ensures that any magnetorheological additives are thoroughly mixed as well as aiding the mixing and defoaming of the other constituents.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Novel features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art from a reading of the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying detailed drawings wherein similar reference characters refer to similar parts and in which: Figure 1 is a half section view of a mixing machine showing a sealed container mounted in place.

Figure 2 is a view from above the box with the lid removed.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the carousel, counterweights and turntable.

Figure 4 is a view from above of the chuck assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to the drawings, Fig 1 shows a mixing machine 1 comprising a housing 27 with a base 31 and a removable lid 25. The base 31 has motor webs 4 to support motor 5 and shaft webs 6 to securely hold non-rotating shaft 7. Shaft 7 is connected to non-rotating large bevel gear 2. Carousel 11 rotates around shaft 7 on upper shaft bearing 9 and lower shaft bearing 8. Projecting from the lower surface of carousel 11 is a ring gear 10 that is driven by motor pinion 3. Mounted to carousel 11 is a chuck assembly 33 that is used to hold a preferably transparent container 22 with a sealed lid 23. The chuck assembly 33 comprises a turntable 17 connected to a small bevel gear 14 via connector 12. A key 13 ensures that small bevel gear 12 does not turn relative to connector. A support bracket 32, connected to carousel 11 by brackets 50 and 51 and support brackets 54 and 55 shown later, contains upper connector bearing 16 and lower connector bearing 15 that allow connector 12 and turntable 17 to turn freely as small bevel gear 14 rotates around large bevel gear 2, driven by carousel 11 via motor pinion 5 and ring gear 10. A first clamp 20 and second clamp 24 are connected to turntable 17 via block 52 shown later. Threaded bar 19, with a left hand thread portion and a right hand thread portion at opposite ends, is threaded through first clamp 20 and second clamp 24 and as it is turned by first knob 18 or second knob 34, first clamp 20 and second clamp 24 either move towards each other to clamp and hold container 22 or apart from each other to release container 22, depending on direction of turning. Connector 12 is set at an angle to carousel shaft 7 so that the chuck assembly 33 holds container 22 at an angle with sealed lid 23 towards the centre of carousel 11.

Also shown in Fig. 1 is a first ultra violet lamp 21, a first fixed counterweight 26, and an adjustable counterweight 28 that can be turned so that that it moves along threaded rod 29. Finally, cover 30 hides some of the components on carousel 11 from view when lid 25 is removed.

Fig 2 shows the mixing machine 1 with lid 25 removed. Second ultraviolet lamp 40 as well as first magnet holder 37 (containing a removable first magnet 43) and second magnet holder 39 (containing second removable magnet 41) can now be seen attached to platform 42. Top surface 38 of turntable 17 can also be seen as well as the large expanse of cover 30. Second fixed counterweight 35 is shown with inner cavity 36 into which a further weight can be added (not shown).

Fig 3 shows carousel 11 with container 22, sealed lid 23 and cover 30 removed.

Bearing sleeve 53 can be seen housing upper shaft bearing 9 and lower shaft bearing 8 and first bracket 50 is shown connected to support bracket 32 via first bracket connector 54. Second bracket 51 is also shown connected to support bracket 32 via second bracket connector 55. First clamp 20 and second clamp 24 are more clearly shown and first fixed counterweight 27 and second fixed counterweight 35 are seen in their entirety, attached to carousel 11. First adjustable counterweight bracket 56 can be seen supporting adjustable counterweight 28 via threaded rod 29.

Figure 4 shows chuck assembly 33 with threaded bar 19 having a left hand thread portion 61 threaded through second clamp 24 threaded and a right hand thread portion 62 threaded through first clamp 20. When threaded bar 19 is turned by first knob 18 or second knob 34 the first clamp 20 and second clamp 24 will move towards each other or away from each other depending on the direction of rotation.

Block 52 is attached to turntable 17 and threaded bar 19 is maintained in a centralised location by retaining clips 63 and 64 and able to freely turn within block 52.

To mix liquids or liquids and powders, the contents are placed into container 22 until almost all air has been excluded and then sealed with lid seal 23. Container 22 is then placed between clamps 20, 24 and held in place by turning first or second knobs 18 or 34 until the container 22 is securely gripped. Depending on the weight of the container and contents, the adjustable counterweight 28 is adjusted to a predetermined position to balance the weight of container 22 and its contents.

With the lid 25 replaced for safety, power may be applied from a power supply 70 (not shown) to the motor 5 so that the carousel 11 beings to turn. As it does so, stationary large bevel gear 2 drives small bevel gear 14 so that the chuck assembly 33 turns within support bracket 32. Therefore the container 22 and its contents rotate in two compound directions, firstly about shaft 7 and secondly about connector 12.

This compound spinning induces centrifugal forces within the contents of container 22 and the contents move and mix as a result. The centrifugal action within the sealed container from which most air has been excluded results in the contents being thoroughly mixed whilst minimising the amount of air that becomes entrained within the mixture. The compound rotation further ensures that any entrained bubbles of air are regularly returned to the top surface of the liquid where the bubbles are able to pop. Therefore the combined rotation both thoroughly mixes and defoams the mixture at the same time. By utilising a container 22 with transparent walls, ultraviolet light from ultraviolet lamps 21 and 40 is able to shine through the transparent walls onto the container 22 contents and by using an ultraviolet wavelength of between and 300 nanometres, the germicidal effect of ultraviolet sterilisation will kill bacteria in the container contents as they pass near the container wall during mixing.

Further benefits are obtained by the use of magnets 41 and 43 which are arranged so that a magnetic field extends across the carousel. As the container spins within the magnetic field, magnetorheological additives in the container will be advantageously mixed and any beneficial effects of the magnetic field on the contents of container 22 will be realized. The magnetorheological additives will also aid ri the mixing arid defoaming of the contents by resisting the centrifugal forces due to the forces applied to them by the varying magnetic field as they rotate close to and far from the magnets.

By varying the rotational speed of the carousel 11, different mixing and defoaming speeds can be realised and a power supply 70 (not shown) can be programmed to deliver a fast rotational speed (for example 2000 rpm) for a first period (for example seconds) which is advantageous for mixing, followed by a slower rotational speed (for example 100 rpm) for a second period (for example 30 seconds) which is advantageous for defoaming.

Depending on the contents of the container, the mixing machine may be used with or without the ultraviolet lamps and with or without the magnets 41, 43 which slide out of their respective magnet holders 39, 37.

The materials used to construct the components of the mixing machine will advantageously be non-magnetic and non-conductive to avoid affecting the magnetic field and avoid generating eddy currents as the mixing machine is used.

Claims

<claim-text>CLAIMS1. A mixing machine for mixing the contents of a container comprising; a. A base supporting a motor with attached pinion and a non-rotating shaft to which is attached a first non-rotating bevel gear; b. A carousel that rotates around the shaft and is driven by the pinion via a gear ring on the carousel; c. A chuck assembly which can securely hold the container and which is able to rotate at an angle relative to the carousel shaft, driven by a second bevel gear that is engaged with the first bevel gear; so that as the motor pinion rotates the carousel around the shaft, the bevel gears interact to simultaneously rotate the chuck assembly relative to the carousel.</claim-text> <claim-text>2. The mixing machine of claim 1 in which at least one adjustable counterweight is attached to the carousel.</claim-text> <claim-text>3. The mixing machine of claim 2 in which the adjustable counterweight is a mass that can be moved closer or further from the axis of rotation of the carousel.</claim-text> <claim-text>4. The mixing machine of claim 1 in which at least one germicidal ultraviolet light lamp is placed so that the ultraviolet light rays pass through the container wall as it rotates.</claim-text> <claim-text>5. The mixing machine of claim 1 in which at least one non-rotating magnet is placed to create a field through which the container passes as it spins.</claim-text> <claim-text>6. The mixing machine of claim 5 in which the at least one magnet is removable when not required.</claim-text> <claim-text>7. The process of mixing at least one liquid with at least a second liquid or at least a second powder, in which the constituents to be mixed are placed into a sealed container and then spun simultaneously about two, different, rotational axes.</claim-text> <claim-text>8. The process of claim 7 in which at least one germicidal ultraviolet light lamp sterilizes the container contents by shining through the container wall as it spins and mixes the contents.9. The process of either claim 7 or claim 8 in which at least one non-rotating magnet creates a magnetic field through which the container spins so that the contents of the container are exposed to a varying magnetic field as they spin.1O.The process of claim 9 in which a magnetorheological additive is placed into the container to aid the mixing process as the container spins inside themagnetic field.</claim-text>