US3685805A

US3685805A - Research blender

Info

Publication number: US3685805A
Application number: US132116A
Authority: US
Inventors: John J Fischer; John W Sibley
Original assignee: PATTERSON KELLEY CO
Current assignee: HARSCH Corp (HARSCO)
Priority date: 1971-04-07
Filing date: 1971-04-07
Publication date: 1972-08-22
Anticipated expiration: 1989-08-22

Abstract

A blender particularly adapted for conducting experiments in blending particulate materials, wherein the blender includes an axially shallow drum-like container formed of a transparent material. The container is mounted for adjustable swinging movement between substantially horizontal loading-unloading and substantially vertical blending positions. The container and an internal agitating device therefor are independently supported for rotation about a common drive axis; the container being further attitude-adjustable relative to the drive axis to provide for both axial and radial blending performance observations.

Description

United States Patent Fischer et al.

[151 3,685,805 [451 Aug. 22, 1972 [541 RESEARCH BLENDER [72] Inventors: John J. Fischer; John W. Sibley,

' both of East Stroudsburg, Pa.

73 Assignee: The Patterson-Kelley Co., Inc., East Stroudsburg, Pa.

[22 Filed: April 7, 1971 21 Appl.No.: 132,116

52 us. Cl ..259/851 [51] Int. Cl. ..B0li 9/08 [58] Field of Search ..259/81, 84, 85, 89, 82, 83, 259/90, 75, 78, 3, 14, 15, 16, 30, 31, 32, 33,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,841,370 7/1958 Cosmetto ..259/89 3,208,593 9/1965 Dietert ..259/ 81 R Opie ..259/81' R Evans ..259/85 Primary Examiner-Robert W; Jenkins Att0rneyBean & Bean 7] ABSTRACT A blender particularly adapted-for conducting experiments in blending particulate materials, wherein the blender includes an axially shallow drum-like con-, tainer formed of a transparent material. The container is mounted for adjustable swinging movement between substantially horizontal loading-unloading and substantially vertical blending positions. The container and an internal agitating device therefor are independently supported for rotation about a common drive axis; the container being furtherattitude-adjustable relative to the drive axis to provide for both axial and radial blending performance observations.

7 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTEDwszz m2 SHEET 1 BF 2 @m fiw A TTORNEYS PATENTEDMMZ I972 v 3.685.805

I sum 2 BF 2 40 I4 36 I8 38 r7 77"7/ INVEN'IORS JOHN J. F/S CHER JOHN W S/QLEY ATTORNEYS RESEARCH BLENDER SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is particularly directed to a research blender permitting visual observation and study of the mechanics of blending.

The present blender is in the form of a compact, selfcontained and inexpensive unit, which is readily adjustable to provide for absolute control over the primary blending mechanisms to be observed, as well as to permit investigation of of the effects on the blending mechanisms of internally induced agitations, liquidsolids contact and drying. Moreover, the present blender permits accurate control of the positioning of material within the blending container prior to blending and the removal of samples of the blended material without disturbing adjacent areas thereof.

More specifically, the blender of the present invention features an axially shallow drum-like blending container having one end cover or top removable to afford access to substantially the entire blending area. The blending container is supported by joining its closed end cover to a drive shaft, which is in turn tiltable to orient the axis of the blending container selectively in either a substantially horizontal blending position or vertical filling-sample extracting position. At least the removable end cover of the blending container and preferably the entire container is formed of a transparent material in order to pennit visual observation or photographic study of the various blending operations to be performed.

In a preferred form of the invention, an agitating or agitating-liquid dispersion head is supported for independent driven rotation within the blending container by a drive shaft mounted concentrically within the container drive shaft. In an alternative form of the invention, the effects of drying and/or gas contact in the blending operation may be observed by re-placing the agitating device with a gas-vacuum treating device contoured so as to introduce minimum turbulence within the material being blended.

By means of the present invention, there is provided a convenient experimental blender, which permits an observer to visually study all aspects of blending phenomena within a short period of time and with the use of only relatively small quantities of materials to be blended.

DRAWINGS The nature and mode of the present invention will now be more fully described in the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of the blender of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the blender shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the blender shown in FIG.'l; and

FIGS. 4A-4C are sectional views taken generally along line 4--4 of FIG. 1 and showing alternative blending arrangements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION A preferred form of the blender of the present invention is generally designated as 10 in FIGS. 1-3 and shown as including a support assembly 12, which serves to mount a blending container 14 and associated drive 16; an agitating device 18 and associated drive 20; and a control console 22. I

Support assembly 12 is best shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 as including a generally U-shaped stand 24 and an inverted generally U-shaped supporting bracket 26; the

lapping leg portions of stand 24 and bracket 26 being pivotally connected by axially aligned

pivot shafts

28 and 29. As will be apparent from viewing FIG. 3, bracket 26 may be manually rotated relative to stand 24 about a horizontal axis defined by

pivot shafts

28 and 29 and be releasably, and frictionally locked in a desired position by operation of a knob 32, having a shaft, not shown, which is threadable into the stand and slid'eably received within an arcuate slot 34 provided in the bracket.

Blending container 14 is shown in the drawings as being in the form of an axially shallow, drum-like container having a main or body portion 36 and a removably mounted end portion or top 38. While containers having a diameter of about 6 inches and an axial thickness or depth of about I V; inches have been used with success, it is anticipated that containers of varying dimensions may be employed providing that the diameter is maintained substantially larger. than the axial length. Also, while top 38 is shown as including an annular flange portion 40 for the purpose of permitting the top to be slip-friction fitted onto body portion 36, it will be understood that any other suitable mounting or attaching arrangement may be employed. Preferably, all of container 14 is formed of a transparent plastic material, thereby to permit visual and/or photographic observation of blending phenomena occurring therewithin.

Container drive 16 is shown in FIGS. 1-4A as including a drive shaft 50, which is journaled within bearing supports 52 and 5.4; a shaft mounted pulley 56; an electric motor 58 including a drive pulley 60; and a flexible drive 62 for drivingly connecting

pulleys

56 and 60. Bearing supports 52 and 54, as well as motor 58, are rigidly affixed for movement with supporting bracket connecting plate portion 26.

Drive shaft 50 is suitably fixed to container 14, as by the provision of a set screw 64 carried by a mounted hub 66, which is in turn suitably affixed, as by adhesive bonding, to container body end portion 68. Both hub 66 and end portion 68 are shown in FIG. 4A as being provided with an axially extending stepped through bore opening 70 for the purpose of accommodating blending-treating attachments to be hereinafter described and associated shaft sealing glands 72. However, it will be understood that only hub 66 need be provided with a bore opening to accommodate drive shaft 50, when none of the several attachments are to be employed during any particular blending experiment.

In its preferred form, agitating devicel8 includes a pair of plate portions and 82, which are clampingly secured together by bolt fastener devices 84, the latter, if desired, additionally serving to mount generally L- shaped agitating blades or fingers 86. Agitating device 18 may also be employed as a liquid dispersion head. To this end,-

plates

80 and 82 cooperate to define a liquid reservoir or cavity 88, and suitable spacers, not shown, are arranged between abutting surfaces of the plates so as to define an annularly extending liquid discharge slot 90. As will be apparent, the amount of liquid discharged radially through slot 90 will depend primarily upon the width of the slot and the rotational speedofdevice 18, r v

Desired rotations may be imparted to device 18 by drive 20; which includes a hollow drive shaft 92, suitably afi'ixed to plate portion 82'and supported concentrically within container drive shaft 50 by sleeve 'bearing'94; a shaft mounted pulley 96; an electric motor 98 having a drive pulley 100; and a flexible drive belt 102 for drivingly connecting

pulleys

96 and 100.

Y Motor 98 is, as best shown in FIG. 1, fixedly carried f Q {beneath connecting plate portion 26'.

j It will be understood that the direction of rotation of I device 18 and/or its speed of rotation relative to con- 'tainer 14 may be varied depending upon the blending experiment being performed. To this end, control console 22 is provided with

knobs

104 and 106 for the purpose of adjustably controlling energization of

motors

98 and 58, respectively.

Liquid to be dispersed within container 14 by operationtof device 18 may be fed through drive shaft 92.

However, in that such an arrangement would require the provision of a rotary union, it is preferable to prol 4A and 4B require that two separate blendingcon- In this arrangement, the axis of blending container I4 is arranged at an acute angle relative to the rotational axis of drive shaft 50, such angle corresponding to substantially one-half of the acute angle a which is formed by one of the container end portions, such as cover 38,

and a line 109 drawn diagonally between comers of a rectangle formed by taking an axially extending sectional viewof the blending chamber, such as is viewed in FIG. 4B. The mounting of blendingcontainer 14- in this manner may be achieved by forming the forwardly facing surface of hub 66, such that it lies within a plane making an angle of 01/2 with the rotational axis drive shaft 50. While theconstructions illustrated in FIGS.

tainers be provided, it will be apparent that onlya single container need be employed if hub 66 were to be formed with a pair of cooperating cam or wedge plates,

. which are relatively rotatable about the axis of drive vide'a stationary liquid feed tube 108, which is arranged concentrically within drive shaft 92 and fluid sealed relative thereto by suitable shaft seal devices, not shown. When employing this latter construction, a flexible tube, also not shown, would be attached to the outwardly extending 'end' of tube 104 in order to facilitate pivotal movements of bracket 26 relative to t d. 2 y

In the construction thus far described, material may be loaded into or unloaded from container 14 by rotating bracket 26 to position the container in its phantom line position shown in FIG. 3, and removing top 40. In this position, the rotationalaxes of container 14 and drive shaft 50 are in alignment and substantially vertically disposed. Since container 14 is axially shallow and the removal of top 40 completely exposes the full crosssection of the blending chamber, different materials to be blended may be accurately positioned within the chamber as desired. For example, materials may be placed in layers for the purpose of examining axial blending phenomena, that is, movement or migrations of materials axially of the blending chamber; and/or in different radial quadrants of the chamber for the purpose of examining the radial blending phenomena, that is, movements or migrations of materials radially of the shaft 50 for the purpose of varying the inclination of the axis of container 14 relative thereto. l

FIG. 4C shows a gas treating device 110, which may be employed in place of agitating device 18. Device 110 includes a pair of

plate portions

112 and 114, which are clampingly secured together .by screw devices 116, and cooperate to form an open ended cavity 118. Cavity 118 may be closed by screen plate 120, which additionally serves to support a tube 122 arranged concentrically inwardly of device mounting shaft 124. In the arrangement shown, a treating gm or air may be introduced into container 14 via tube 122 and such gases and/or vapors subsequently exhausted through screen plate 120 and a passageway 126 defined by tube 122 and shaft 124. As will be apparent, shaft 124 may or may not be rotated depending upon the treating process to be .performed.

Plate portions

112 and 114 are shown as being smoothly contoured in order to subject the material to be blended to minimum. perturbations. However, it will be understood that, if desired, material agitations may be maximized during a gas treating operation by employing agitating blades of the type discussed with reference to device 18 and providing for powered rotations of shafi 124.

If it is desired to observe blending phenomena without the use of

devices

18 and 110, the latter may be removed by first removing pulley 96 and top 38 and thereafter pulling

device

18 or 110 and

itsshaft

92 or 124 outwardly through the blending jchamber. If

commercial blending operations by merely scaling-up the blending container and the associated elements heretofore described. In this respect, experiments with a laboratory sized unit indicated that vastly improved axial blending efficiencies may be achieved as compared to present commercial apparatus by utilizing an axially shallow blending container tilted in the manner suggested in FIG. 4B.

I claim: 1. A blending apparatus comprising in combination: a blending container defining a generally cylindrical blending chamber having opposing end portions, at least one of said end portions being removable to permit blending material loading-unloading access to said chamber, said blending chamber being characterized as having a diameter substantially greater than an axial dimension measured between said end portions;

means for supporting said blending container for.

rotation about a first axis arranged to intersect said end portions; driving means for rotating said blending container about said first axis to effect blending of material therewithin; and means mounting said support means for movement about a substantially horizontal axis whereby to alternately position said first axis in substantially horizontal and substantially vertical orientations, said blending container when said first axis is in said horizontal orientation being in a normal blending position and when said first axis is in said vertical orientation being in a normal blending material loading-unloading position. 2. A blending apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least said one end portion is formed of a transparent material.

and means to pivotally support said mounting bracket on said support stand for vertical pivotal movement about said substantially horizontally disposed axis.

5. A blending apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said apparatus additionally includes in combination an agitating device, a drive shaft joumaled concentrically inwardly of said blending container drive shaft for supporting said agitating device within said blender chamber, a second motor fixed to said mounting bracket, and means connecting said second motor to said agitating device drive shaft.

6. A blending apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said blending chamber is arranged coaxially with said first axis.

7. A blending apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said axis of said blending chamber is arranged at an acute angle relative to said firstaxis which corresponds to substantially one-half of the acute angle formed by one of said end portions and a line drawn diagonally between comers of a rectangle formed by an axial sectional view of said blending chamber.

Claims

1. A blending apparatus comprising in combination: a blending container defining a generally cylindrical blending chamber having opposing end portions, at least one of said end portions being removable to permit blending material loadingunloading access to said chamber, said blending chamber being characterized as having a diameter substantially greater than an axial dimension measured between said end portions; means for supporting said blending container for rotation about a first axis arranged to intersect said end portions; driving means for rotating said blending container about said first axis to effect blending of material therewithin; and means mounting said support means for movement about a substantially horizontal axis whereby to alternately position said first axis in substantially horizontal and substantially vertical orientations, said blending container when said first axis is in said horizontal orientation being in a normal blending position and when said first axis is in said vertical orientation being in a normal blending material loadingunloading position.

2. A blending apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least said one end portion is formed of a transparent material.

3. A blending apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said blending container is formed substantially of a transparent material.

4. A blending apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said support means includes a drive shaft coupled to said blending container, a mounting bracket and means for journaling said shaft on said mounting bracket; said drive means includes a first motor mounted on said mounting bracket and transmission means connecting said motor to said drive shaft; anD said support mounting means includes a support stand and means to pivotally support said mounting bracket on said support stand for vertical pivotal movement about said substantially horizontally disposed axis.

5. A blending apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said apparatus additionally includes in combination an agitating device, a drive shaft journaled concentrically inwardly of said blending container drive shaft for supporting said agitating device within said blender chamber, a second motor fixed to said mounting bracket, and means connecting said second motor to said agitating device drive shaft.

6. A blending apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said blending chamber is arranged co-axially with said first axis.

7. A blending apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said axis of said blending chamber is arranged at an acute angle relative to said first axis which corresponds to substantially one-half of the acute angle formed by one of said end portions and a line drawn diagonally between corners of a rectangle formed by an axial sectional view of said blending chamber.