US1771321A

US1771321A - Emulsifier, mixer, and the like

Info

Publication number: US1771321A
Application number: US316548A
Authority: US
Inventors: Snow Charles Stewart Hastings
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1927-11-10
Filing date: 1928-11-01
Publication date: 1930-07-22
Anticipated expiration: 1947-07-22

Description

EMULSIFIER, MIXER, AND THE LIKE f/ l @f c. '5. H. SNQW l 1,571,32

INVENTQR;

July `22, 1930.h

C. S. H. SNOW EMULSIFIER, MIX-ER, AND THE LIKE Filed Nov. l, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 :NVENTQR: a, @hb/M L fw Attorney. v

y This invention relates to Patented July 22,

PA'rENr CHARLES STEWART HASTINGS SNUW, 0l' CROYDON, ENGLND.

EmULsrrIEn, nr'xatr., AND' THE LIKE Application led- November 1, 1928, Serial No. 316,548, and in Great Britain November 10, 1927.

emulsifiers, mixers andthe like, and according thereto the device comprises an emulsifyin or mixing head having relatively rotatab e members provided with co-acting circular projections' and grooves, one or more of the said relatively rotatable members having a central aperture to allow free access of the mixture to the centre of the emulsifyingor mixing head, the said emulsifying or mixing head being arranged in a container to receive a charge of the mixture to be treated and the arran ement being such that the mixture is lngrorfmixing head and so on.

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cause by centrifugal force to follow a sinuous path through the head in the form of a thin film passing out at the peri hery of the head into the body of the charge rom whence .it passes back to the centre of the emulsifyath traversed by the film may be of non-un1form Vthickness as hereinafter described and means may be provided whereby freshairL the amount of which maybe 'regulated, is automatically drawn into the container during the operation. Further, means may be provided whereby, instead ofjdrawing fresh air into the container, the air supply mayk be cut oli:` and the air in the contamer arranged to circulate.

The rotating member; may, if desired, be provided with impeller blades to force the mixture between the relatively rotatable members.4

In order that this invention may be the more clearly' understood and readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the same with reference to the not of limitation one vention.

accompanying drawings, which illustrate by way of example and convenient constructional formof this invention, and in which Figurexl is substantially a central vertical section of an emulsifier according'to this in- Fgure 2 is asection on line. 2.-2'of Fig- .pan View @f the rotor, and plan view of the lower half 0f the stator- AReferring tothe drawings, the emulsilier v 'illustrated therein comprises a container a manner conveniently which is mounted on feet b and is provided with a cover plate c which carries the whole of the operating mechanism.

The cover plate c' is held in position on the container in any suitable wa such, for example, as by means of clamping bolts, but I have found one very convenient means to be that shown in Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings. In this form I provide a rubber or like resilient ring d having three of any other suitable number of inwardly projecting tabs d1 through which ass bolts d2 carried by projections d8 on an -shaped annular ringd* which is thus adapted to take around two sides of the rubber ring d. The bolts d2 pass through holes in the cover plate c and are provided at their free ends with -Wing nuts d". The ring d* is of slightly less 'diameter than the neck of the container a soV that it may be readily placed therein. It will be obvious that by screwing up the wing nuts d the annular ring d* will be caused to approach, thus compressing the rubber ring d and causing the same to expand against the inside of the container a whereb the cover plate is 4firmly held in position. n order to remove the cover plate, 1t is, of course, merely necessary to slacken oil the wing nuts d* when the rubber ring d will contract and the cover` plate may be readily removed. The cover, plate is adapted to carry the whole of the operating mechanism, as previously stated, andto this end is provided at its centre with a sleeve c which screws into the same and rejects downwardly into the container a w en the device' is assembled.

Withinthis sleeve is arranged the main operatin shaft e. A The shaft e is driven b any suitab e mechanism at a hi h speed. Y drawings -I have illustrate an electric motor e2' for driving theshaft e. The motor e* is mounted on the cover plate c in any suitable `by being secured to ay plate e which is spaced above the -cover plate c by means of spacers e and bolts e'.

The sleeve c is open tothe air at its upper end and in order to prevent any oil, dirt, dust, etc., from entering the container throughthesleeve o', a disc c is secured to y the spindle e just above the mouth of the 100 the n,

sleeve c2 in order to throw all oil or thelike away from the mouth of the sleeve c2 on to the cover c, due to the centrifugal force. The cover c is, as shown, sloped away from the mouth of the sleeve in order to drain all oil, etc., away from the mouth ofthe sleeve c2.

To the lower end of the shaft e is secured the rotor which is shown in section in Figure 1 and in plan in Figure 3. This rotor comprises a metal plate f provided at its centre4 Witha boss f1 internally screw-threaded so that it can be screwed on to the reduced portion c1 of the shaft e and clamped in position by a nut e as shown. The plate f is provided near its centre with four, or any other suitable number, curved impeller blades f2, the shape of which wilt be readily a preciated from Figures 1, 2 and 3. Outsi e the impeller blades are arranged the concentric annular projections f3 and grooves f4, these projections, as well as the impeller blades, being arranged on both sides of the plate f as will readily be appreciated on reference to Figure 1. Y

Above and below the rotor are arranged the two stator plates g, gl which are of identical form and are. dished slightly at their centres to receive they impeller blades f2 and are provided outside this dished portion with a plurality of concentric projections `g,1 and grooves g? to co-act with the grooves' f* and the projections f3 respectively, as will be seen from'Figure 1. The upper plate g is fixed to the lower end of the sleeve c2 which is apertured as at e3 to allow free. access to the l emulsifying head. To the lower plate g is secured a tube g3 in order that mixture may be fed to the bottom of the yemulsiier headv and this tube'g3 is provided with a transverse web g* t'o form a bearing for the reduced end of the spindle e. The lipper and lower plates g, g? are secured together by means of bolts is such that there is a fine cle .tween the 4stator and the rotor, say,of the g5 and wing nuts g", spacing sleeves g being arranged around the bolts g5 in order to'space the stator plates at the required distance apart. The length of the spa ing sleeves g7 rance left beorder often to twenty thousandths of av inch.

It will be obvious that due to the c -acting projections and grooves themixture in passing through the fine clearance provided will be caused to ollowa somewhat sinuous path.

By adjusting the len th of the sleeves g7 the thickness of the pat which the mixture follows can rbe varied. In the embodiment shown the path is of equalthicknessthroughout, but` by slightly reducing the length of the sleeves, the tops of the projections canv be made to approach more closely to thebottom of the co-acting grooves so -that the'clearance between the sidesof the coacting projections and grooves is greater than the clearance between the top of the 'one part and the bottom of t rojection. on'. e groove ont` the other part. Thus, by means of the vco'nstruction according to this invention, not only will a slight inaccurac in the bearings be allowable, but in additlon, by adjusting the length of the sleeves g', as above described, the mixture ma be subjected to alternate compression an expansion invits passage through the emulsifier head.

Delector wings or plates 7' are provided above the emulsiier head as and for the purpose hereinafter explained.

The container a may be provided with handles a1 whereby the same may be lifted, and is also provided-with an outlet a2 near the bottom controlled by a'cock a3. The

upper portion of the container is further provided with an air outlet a* closed by .a cap a5. -If it is desired to draw fresh air into the mixture to be emulsified, the cap a*s is unscrewed and then air will be drawn down the sleeve c2- and after passage through the emulsifier head will pass out of the a1r outlet a. On the other hand, if it is desired to obtain a circulation of air in the container, the cap a5 is screwed on and a sleeve c* operated. This sleeve c* is arranged around the sleeve c2 and is provided with apertures c5, so that by rotating the sleeve c3 by means of a knurled ring c8 provided thereon, the apertures c5 may be madeto register or not with apertures c" on the sleeve c2 on the hit-and miss principle. If the apertures cls do not register with the-'apertures c", then air will bedrawn down the sleeve c2 and after passing through the emulsiier head, will pass out of the air outlet a* as will be readily undergive a final product of the desired consistency j.,

andl cream content. The cover plateis then "ns replaced, whereby the emulsier head becomes immersed in the material. When the impeller is rotated at high speed either by the motor or by the hand gear, as the case may b, the substance is churned u by the rotor, anddue to the rotation, wi form a whirlpool at the centre whereby air will be sucked in throu h the tube.V Of course, a similar whirlpoo will be formed at the-bottom of the impeller so that the material Vis continuously sucked into the centre of thel impellet above yand below, Here it is met .by the rapidy rotating blades f1 and thoroughl mixed. he mixture is thus Aforced throug the ne'cleara'nce between the rotor and the 130 ,a stat1onarydi'scs'g,g and is'subjectedto a' great l las- , treated whereby eiiicient emulsifcation is obtained.

The mixture after passing through the line j space passes out to the container and swirls such size and soto l around the outside of the emulsifier head. If

the s eed of rotation of the mixture approac es the speed of rotation of the impeller, mixture may not be fed to the centre ofthe impeller. In order to' avoid any chance of this happening, I provide means for interrupting the` orbital action of the mixture expelled from the emulsifier head. Such means may comprise the two or more deflector plates to interrupt the swirling motion of the mixture, and these deilector lates may, if desired, be arranged to de ect the streamof mixture to the'centre of the impeller.

The constant feeding of the mixture into lthe centre of the impeller above and below and the high turbulence of the mixture together with the thorough aeration due to the sucking of the air into the container through the sleeve c2 results in a thorough and even4 emulsification of themixture and also allA chance of local emulsilication is avoided.

The sleeve c forms a valve to control the How .of air down the sleeve c.

' If desired more than one emulsifier head may be .provided in the container.

A ain, the emulsifier head may comprise one isc cofacting with a plate corresponding to the surface. of the impeller.

' It is preferred to make the container' a of head that the emulsi er head is arranged at about the centre ofthe material to be emulsified or mixed. v

If desired, the container a maybe pro` vided .with a lip instead of the cock a, by

-means of which the contents thereof may be the mixture to be treated and the arrangement being s uch that the mixture is caused by .centrifugal force to follow a sinuous path through the head inthe form of a thin film passing out at the periphery of the head into the body of the charge from whence it passes back to the centre of the emulsifying or mixing head and Aso on, substantially as described. A l 2. An emulsilier, mixer or the like, according to claim 1, in which the path traversed by the film is ofnonuni form thickness, substantially as described. l

3. An emulsiier, mixerv or the like, as claimed in claim 1, including impeller blades to assist in forcing the mixture between the relatively rotatable members, substantially as described. i

4. An emulsiier, mixer or the like, as claimed in claim 1, including means for automatically drawing a regulated amount of fresh air into the container during the op-A eration and for the purpose specified.

5. An emulsifier, mixer or the like, as claimed in claim 1, including means for interrupting the orbital action\of`the mixture `expelled from the emulsifying or mixing head.

In testimony whereof Il have -signed my name to this specification.

CHARLES STEWART IIASTINGS SNO'.

osition the emulsiferf A Accordingy to a modification, one of the .contiguous ces'between which the material passes maebe plain. f. 1 j y It will a preciated that th'eabove described emulsiger 'will only emulsify a 'given' quantity of material at one time, but, 1f desined, it may be arranged as a` continuousv emulsier by continuously feedingthe ma-v terial thereto.

'Iclaimz- 1. An emulsilier, mixer or the like, comprisin an emulsifyin or mixing head hav- 1n re atively rotatab e members each prov i ed with'co-acting circular projections and grooves', oneor..more ofthe said relatively vrotatable'members having a central a rture to allow free access of theinixtnre' tot 'e cen? tre of the emulsifying or had, the." 1

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