US1013612A - Mixing apparatus. - Google Patents

Description

M. C. PETERS.

MIXING APPARATUS.

APPLIoATIoN FILED H325', 1911.

M c. BETBRS. MIXING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 25, 1911.

1,013,612. Patented Jan.,2,1912.Y

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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MILTON C. BETERS, OE OMHA, NEBRASKA.

MIXING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed February 25, 1911.

Patented Jan. 2,1912.

Serial No. 610,734.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MILTON C. PETERS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Omaha, in the county of Douglas and State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mixing Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an apparatus designed for mixing two or more materials so that they become thoroughly incorporated and intermingled; it is primarily designed for the mixing of cattle feed composed of ground particles of alfalfa or other hay, with an admixture of molasses or other sweetening substance.

The invention also comprehends means for the drying of the material to relieve it of any excess of moisture whereby a damp product may be practically kiln-dried during its passage through the machine.

The object of the invention is to provide a simple and effective mechanism for mixing hay products, with or without molasses or like material, and heating and substantially kiln-drying the material, and thereby relieving it of any excess of moisture so that when the material is delivered from the machine it is in a dry condition ready to feed to cattle and other stock.

In the accompanying drawing forming part of this specification and in which similar reference characters indicate like parts in the several views; Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view of a mixing apparatus embodying the salient features of my invention. Fig. 2 is an end view showing part of the machine in section.

vIn carrying out my invention I prefer to use a two-stack mixing machine, but it will be obvious that the height of the machine may be increased so as to provide for any additional number of stacks, or superposed chambers, in which the mixing and drying operations, hereinafter mentioned, are carried out. In the type of apparatus shown I employ two similar chambers with feeding devices for advancing the material therealong and delivering the same thorougly mixed through a nal outlet. This machine includes a suitable casing or inclosing frame, 10, which consists of substantially similar parts forming inclosing chambers in which the feeding devices are contained. The upper and lower sections, 11 and 12, of the casing are substantially oblong in cross section and have curved sides, 8, and are provided with corresponding flanges, 18, and the sections are separated from each other by a horizontal apertured partition or plate, 14, the edges of which are confined between the flanges, 13, of the aforesaid sections, as shown in Fig. 1. The casing is formed integral with the horizontal plates, 16 and 17 which plates extend into the casing from one end to a point short of the other end, as shown in Fig. 1, so as to provide a passage, 18, between the upper and lower chambers of the casing and through which passage, and the aperture in the plate, 14, the material is delivered into the other chamber to be advanced therethrough in a direction opposite to its travel through the preceding chamber.

The inner end of the plate, 16, is shown as provided with the thickened lug, 16, and the upper surface of this end of the plate is curved upwardly as at 15, to constitute in conjunction with vthe similar thickened portion, 19, on the inner surface of the top of the casing, a contracted throat, 20, and an intermediate curved or upwardly inclined surface, 20, over and through which the material is delivered to the passage, 18, connecting with the two chambers. The other plate, 17, has a thickened inner end 0r lug, 21, and suitable bolts, 22, are passed through the lugs or thickened inner ends of the plates, 16 and 17, and through the intermediate partition or plate, 14, whereby these parts are securely fastened together; the portion of the plate, 18, opposite to this point of connection is thickened to form the rib, 23, which corresponds to a corresponding rib, 24, on the bottom 25, of the casing to form a. contracted throat, with curved or inclined walls leading thereto, through which throat the material is discharged under more or less restraint into the outlet, 26.

At the upper portion at or near one end of the casing is an inlet opening, 2, through which may be passed the ground or other material to be mixed, together with such proportion of molasses or other sweetening matter as it may be necessary to combine with the hay product to form a desirable feed for cattle or stock. At opposite ends, the casing is provided with suitable removable heads, 27, having bearings, 27, with lubricating caps, 28, for lubricating the journals of suitable horizontal parallel shafts, 29 and 30, one of these bearings at each end of the machine being recessed at 31, to house a stop or nut, 32, which I will hereinafter mention.

It will be observed that the casing is not only divided at its center, but that it is double-Walled circumferentially to provide a jacket into which steam may be admitted for the purpose of heating the chambers and thereby keeping the product in a heated state as it passes through the machine, in which case the machine acts as a drier as well as a mixer; experiments have shown that a damp product can be passed through the machine and practically kiln dried at the same time that its constituent parts are being intimately mixed. AThis allows me to mix a product which may contain an excess of moisture or which may be damp or not suiiiciently cured for the intended purposes. It will be observed that the plates, 16 and 17, are spaced from the division plate, 14, to thus form a part of the jacket, through which .the steam passes for the purposes before mentioned, a tight joint being effected between the plates by means of a rubber gasket, 7.

The feeding devices may be of any appro priate character, but I prefer to employ for the purpose t-he devices shown in Fig. l. These devices comprise suitable collars having outwardly extending blades set at an appropriate angle. rIhe feeding devices of the upper chamber have their collars 31 provided with many-sided openings and each of these collars is supplied with a suitable blade, 32. I' prefer that the openings through the hubs shall be square in cross section and that the shaft, 30, shall be correspondingly shaped in cross section so that the blades maybe set quai-tering around the shaft, and the collars will be held without danger of turning, although they may be slipped endwise on the shaft in assembling the parts as I will presently describe, said shaft being journaled in the bearings hereinbefore mentioned.

On the shaft at a point near and substantially within the contracted throat at the inner end of the chamber and through which throat the material is delivered into the chamber below, the shaft is provided with a fixed nut, 35', which forms an abutment for the end collar of the feeding devices for this chamber.

In placing the collars upon the shaft, I prefer to slip the first collar endwise on the shaft with its blade extending vertically upward and substantially perpendicular to the shaft, this initial collar being forced along the shaft until it contacts with the abutment formed by the nut, 35. The next collar is placed on the shaft with its blade in a horizontal position; the third collar is positioned with its blade vertically downward; and the fourth'collar is placed so that its blade ex- The collars, 31, for the feeding devices of the lower chamber are preferably each provided with two radially extending diametrically opposite blades and they are set so that the blades of one collar will project substantially at right angles to the blades of the succeeding collar. Each of the collars, 31, has a square or other manysided opening and the shaft, 30, conforms in crosssection to the opening in the collar, and said shaft is appropriately j ournaled in the bearings, 27 and carries at a point near the disf charge opening and substantially within the contracted throat leading thereto, the fixed nut or abutment, 35, against which the first collar of the second set of feeding devices will abut, as shown in Fig. 1. The collars of the second feeding devices are assembled on the shaft, side by side, and when so positioned they may be firmly secured to each other by means of the nut, 32, threaded on said shaft, and housed or contained within the recess, 31 formed in the inner end of one of the bearings of the shaft, 30, as shown in Fig. 1. A similar nut, 32, housed within the recessed end of the bearing, 27, serves to clamp or confine the collars of the ppper feeding devices, as shown in said T ig. l.

The bearings in which the shafts are our# naled may be formed integral with removable heads of the casing so that upon the removal of a head the shaft and its attached hubs and clamping and stop nuts may be removed endwise from the casing; likewise the hubs may be assembled on the shaft and clamped to each other and inserted into the chamber of the casing through the opening left by the removal of the head, after which the head may be slipped over the end of the shaft and secured in any suitable manner.

'Ihe casing is supported upon a suitable base, 40, having vertical standards, 41 and 42, the standard, 42, having bearings for the outer ends of the shafts, 29 and 30, and said shafts carrying gear wheels, 43, which are engaged by an intermediate gear, 44, on the end of a power shaft, 45, said power shaft, being appropriately journaled in bearings 46 and 47, in the standards, 41 and 42. The casing may also be provided at suitable points with man-holes controlled by suitable covers, 48, and through these man-holes access may be had at any time to the interior of the casing. If desired, the casing and in fact the entire machine, heretofore described, including its operating gearings, may be contained within an exterior casing, 49, of sheet metal or like material having angleiron strengthening pieces, 50, at the corner portions.

The machine described may be termed a two-stack combined mixer and drier, and in operation the materals to form the mixture are fed into the inlet opening, 2, and the mass is then engaged by the blades of the first feeding devices and advanced through the upper chamber until they come to the curved walls leading into the contracted throat; these walls serve to hold back the body of the material being mixed and to somewhat retard or restrain the movement of said material at this point, thereby facilitating the intimate admixture of said material. The material is delivered through the discharge throat of the upper chamber and drops through the passage, 18, into the lower chamber where it is immediately taken up by the blades of the lower chamber and conducted through this chamber in a direction opposite to its travel through the upper chamber and is finally delivered under some retardant action or restraint through the contracted outlet of the second chamber into the nal discharge passage. During the passage of the material through these chambers, the heat genera-ted in the chambers by the steam jacket of the casing, serves to drive out any excess of moisture, or the moisture from a damp product so that when the material is delivered from the machine it is in condition for use as a cattle or stock food, and during the passage through the chambers, the molasses or other sweetening matter which has been added to the material, is caused to be more perfectly absorbed and intimately mixed with the hay products, so that the final product is composed of particles of alfalfa or other hay sweetened by the addition of the molasses.

While the machine is primarily intended for use in mixing alfalfa and other hay and molasses, it will be manifest that its use is not limited to these products for the machine will be found of value in the mixing of materials of any character,l and particularly materials from which moisture should be driven during the mixing operation.

I-Iaving thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is l. A mixing apparatus having a plurality of superposed chambers of greater horizontal width than height, connecting with each other at one end, one of said chambers having an inlet for the material to be mixed, and the other chamber having an outlet for said material, means for advancing the material through said chambers, said means including opposed co-acting mixing and conveying elements in said chambers, and means whereby the material may be heated during its passage through the chambers.

2. A mixing apparatus comprising superposed chambers having a substantially oblong form in cross section, one of said chambers having an inlet opening and the other having an outlet opening, said chambers communicating with each other at a point between said inlet and outlet, and said chambers having inwardly inclining walls forming contracted throats located in advance of the outlets from the chambers, through which throats the material is delivered to the outlets to be discharged from one chamber to the other and from the final chamber.

3. In a mixing apparatus, a horizontally disposed mixing chamber having an inlet at one end and a discharge opening at the other end, said chamber having inwardly extending walls at a point proximate the inlet end of the discharge opening forming a contracted throat, through which the material is delivered substantially under restraint into the inlet end of the discharge opening, and feeding devices within the chamber for advancing the material from the inlet to and through the contracted throat.

Ll. In a mixing apparatus, a casing having an inlet at one end and a discharge at the opposite portion, said casing having inwardly projecting flanges at a point near the discharge end said flanges having curved walls over which the material is advanced, a shaft extending through the chamber, and blades on said shaft and adapted to advance the material through the chamber and through the contracted throat thereof, the curved walls of said flanges serving substantially to retard the travel of the material through the throat.

5. `A mixing apparatus comprising a casing having an inlet at one portion and outlet at another portion, said casing having inwardly extending flanges reducing the inner diameter of the casing adjoining the discharge opening and forming a contracted throat through which the material is discharged substantially under restraint, said casing being of substantially oblong form in cross section and having` curved side walls, horizontal, parallel shafts within the casing each having angularly arranged blades for engaging and advancing the material through the cylinder, said blades acting to stir and intermingle said material, and means for operating the shafts.

6. A mixing apparatus comprising a casing having an inlet at one portion and outlet at another portion, said casing having inwardly extending flanges reducing the inner diameter of the casing adjoining the discharge opening and forming a contracted throat through which the material is discharged substantially under restraint, said casing beingwof substantially oblong form in cross section and having curved side walls, horizontal, parallel shafts within the casing each having angularly arranged blades for engaging and advancing the material through the cylinder, said blades acting to stir and intermingle said material, and means for operating the shafts, said casing being double-walled to form a heating jacket whereby the material is heated during its progress through the chamber.

7. A mixing apparatus comprising a casing having an inlet at one portion and an outlet at another portion, said casing having inwardly extending flanges reducing the inner diameter of the casing near the dis charge opening and forming a contracted throat through which the material is discharged substantially under restraint, said casing being of substantially oblong form in cross section and having curved side walls, horizontal, parallel shafts within the casing each having angularly arranged blades for engaging and advancing the material through the cylinder, said blades acting to stir and intermingle said material, and

means for operating the shafts, said casing having removable end heads in which the shafts are journaled.

8. A mixing apparatus comprising a casing having an inlet at one portion and an outlet at another portion, said casing having inwardly extending ianges reducing the inner diameter of the casing near the discharge opening and forming a contracted throat through which the material is discharged substantially under restraint, said casing being of substantially oblong form in cross section and having curved side walls, horizontal, parallel shafts within'the casing each having angularly arranged blades for engaging and advancing the material through the cylinder, said blades acting to stir and intermingle said material, and means for operating the shafts, said casing having removable end heads in which the shafts are journaled, and having manholes with removable covers giving access to the interior of the chambers.

9. In a mixing apparatus, the combination of a casing divided horizontally into two sections, a horizontal partition fixed between the sections of the casing, each section of the casing comprising a chamber the walls of which near one end are formed with inwardlly projecting flanges having curved walls and forming a contracted throat through which the material is passed, one of said sections having an inlet opening and the other having a discharge opening, said sections communicating with each other at a point between said inlet and discharge, and being double-walled to form a heating jacket circumferentially inclosing the chambers, and means for advancing the material through said chambers in opposite directions.

10. In a mixing apparatus, the combination of a casing divided horizontally into two sections, a horizontal partition xed between the sections of the casing, each section of the casing comprising a chamber, the walls of which near one end are formed with inwardly projecting flanges having curved walls and forming a contracted throat through which the material is passed, one of said sections having an inlet opening and the other having a discharge opening, said sections communicating with each other at a point between said inlet and discharge, and being double-walled to form a heating jacket circumferentially inclosing the chambers, said sections being substantially oblong in cross section each having horizontal parallel shafts with blades for engaging and advancing the material through the chamber, and means for operating the shafts of each chamber in opposite directions.

11. In a mixing apparatus, the combination with a casing having a chamber and an inlet and outlet, of means for feeding material through said chamber, said means comprising a horizontal shaft, collars arranged thereon side by side having ou`twardly projectingblades, a stop fixed to the shaft near the discharge opening, and a nut upon the outer portion of the shaft for clamping the collars against each other and against the said stop.

12. In a mixing apparatus, the combina-V tion with a casing having a chamber and an inlet and outlet, of means for feeding material through said chamber, said means comprising a horizontal shaft, collars arranged thereon side by side having out wardly projecting blades, a stop fixed to the shaft near the discharge opening, and a nut upon the outer portion of the shaft for clamping the collars against each other and against the said stop,.said collars having many-sided openings and said shaft having a corresponding cross-section whereby the collars may be set so that their blades extend at different angles, and removable end heads for the cylinder, one of said heads having a recessed portion for receiving and housing said clamping nut.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

MILTON C. PETERS. lVitnesses:

W. T. BURNS, IFI. D. KINLEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G.

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