US2668694A - Apparatus for agitating materials - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 9, 1954 w. A. KLINE ET AL 2,668,694

APPARATUS FOR AGITATING MATERIALS Filed July 21, 1951 Win -.1

IN VEN TORS W/llI/JM ASHZEYKL/NE JOHN ALEXANDER MON/CK BY EL/O EL/AK/M TARIKA ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 9, 1954 Teaneck, and: Elio' Eliakim fie; N. J assignors tocolgate- PahnoIiVe Peet ompany Jersey City, N; J., a

corporation. of; Delaware alililic tiqn J $1, 5 SpriaLNafiBllt 2Glaims (c1. asset-9e):

he es nt er ntiiqni relates to alasxams. f agitating'materials and has particular reference to a aratus eiiee i elt mi ng b en n prp i a, a mate ia s. v heav enemidal 1 are saensie i i eav liquid: e ic s seb s e memimisr are t 2 s we lm re ti s 32 ni xina ad ne. s aq.-. 2; ear n tc- 11. ma e al to pi ly smagma nd n -f m r i ribute ny Sol ds. th h a hi v or mbeenequsly m x. flu d Q varied-"specific gravity or viscosity e d e i hj t e er sepi inv i t ere. s P es noveli ae er t s er mi i mate.- rials which'comprises a suitable chamber, prefer-l ably of cylindrical shape, adapted t q hold. a mass of; t r er eq i d. desir s said; chamber may beof} suflicientstrength to withstand high pressure and itmay be provided with-means'to' heat or-coo1-it external l3 A rotat able shaft is; axial-1y mounted within saidchamber upon which a plurality of impellers are; mpnnteg; Means are provided within and; near one endqfi saidchamber' adapted to cooperate: with one off said: impellers to effectively shear; the materials being: agitated:

The apparatusimparts turbulent motion to sures thoroug-h mixing and blending of materials" the mass;

In order-to indicateeven more fully the ad--- vantages and; capabilities; of the; present inven tien, reference ismade tothe follrjwinedescr-ipaim; takenin conjunction-- with the accompanyme drawing-which bywayof illustration shows a. preferred: embodiment: of the novel apparatus. It will be understood thatother embodiments; of

the invention employing the same orequivalentpr-inciples may be used andthatstructural' 5 0 2;. changes may be made as; desired without: depart;- ing from the: present invention; and the purview of the appended, claims; In the drawing; similar reference characters; are; used" to designate cor responding parts ineach; of the several figures;

In t e. d a a Fig. 1 is a view in vertical sectional'elevation of an apparatus in accordance. with, a preferred embodiment of the present invention and Big. 2 is a, sectional view of the apparatus" as taken along line 22 oi Fig; 1;, looking in, the direction of the arrows.

Referring first; to Fig 1; of the, drawing the apparatus comprises a. generally" cylindrical; chamber 8 having; a cylindrical side wall $9, a domed bottom wall- I 2 and a, cover plate- Mgjthe; latter being; provided with one or more material le o enin s it (one wn. a sieh nel s -8,: and a manhole 20. Chamber 8 is provi'dechwith; a jacket 22 avinga in1 t 24, and an outlet 26 for heating; r-cooling fluid. Bottom wall" I2; is provided with a suitable material; outlet openinge. g flush; valve 28'. A thermo well; 30 isl'ocateglat any convenient position, in side wallf l0;

A rotatable, shait 32: comprising a rotatable longitudinallg' extending interior m mber 34' and a rotatable exteriorlsg. surrounding sleeve mem; ber 36, the latter being; of; somewhat shorter xtensi n and: ad pted; j ate a a p i lferent, from the, former, passes axially through chamber 8. Interior member 34' is journaledin; bottom wall' l2 ofsaidf chamber in a suitable bearing; (18 adaptedsto bear the-thrust of the shaft; Sleeve member 36 is". journaled in a bearing-401 which is axially mounted" within cover plate M d: which apted.- to bear. e thrust f-saidv sleeve member; Both bearings 38; and 4B: are; constructed: so; as to resist leakage of liquids; underoperating pressures; Member 34 is providedwith; a: longitudinally extending key 44; the function of which" will be described more fully hereinafter. Members 34 and 8610f shaft-32 may be driven in any suitable manner: Forexalnple, inthe preferred embodiment of the invention; I interior" member 34 is driven through spur gearsdfi -bya motor 48- mounted on; a bracketsecured tochamber-8 Exterior member 3 fiisdriventh-rough: bevel gears 52 bya motor idimounted ona bracl'eeti 5G secured"to chamber ti As shown-on thedraw within a gear box 58 mounted on a bracket 59 secured to chamber 8.

A stator 60 is mounted within chamber 8 near the domed bottom wall l2 thereof by a plurality of brackets 62 secured to side wall I 2 of said chamber. As shown more clearly in Fig. 2 stator 60 comprises an annular member 64 provided with a plurality of vertically projecting baflle members or vanes 66.

An impeller 68 is positioned within the opening defined by annular member 64 and vanes 66 of stator 60 and is mounted on interior member 34 of shaft 32 for rotation therewith. Said impeller is provided with an integrally formed collar 10 having a locking member, e. g., a set screw 12, adapted to engage keyM on interior member 34 to prevent longitudinal movement of the impeller along said member. Impeller 68 is further provided with a plurality of generally radially extending blades 14 which are preferably of,

sufficient length whereby the same may rotate freely within the opening defined by vanes 66 of stator 60 with only slight clearance to effect a shearing action of the materials being agitated. As indicated on the drawing, blades 14 preferably are curved in a direction opposite to their direction of rotation. If desired, however, said blades may be substantially non-curved or straight.

A second impeller 76 is mounted on interior member 34 of shaft 32 for rotation therewith at any convenient position above impeller 68. Impeller I6 is provided with an integrally formed collar 18 having a locking member, e. g., a set screw 89, adapted to engage key 44 on member 3 to prevent longitudinal movement of the im peller along said member. Key 44 is further adapted to cooperate with slots or grooves (not shown) in impellers 68 and 16 to inhibit relative rotative movement of the same upon member 34.

Impeller 16 is further provided with a plurality of generally radially extending blades at which may be disposed in a plane parallel to that of wall II! of chamber 8 or in any plane not greater than about 45 from the plane defined by said wall. A third impeller 82, similar in structure to impeller H3, is secured to the end of sleeve member 36 of shaft 32.

In using the novel apparatus herein described the materials which are to be mixed, blended, processed, etc., are introduced into chamber 8 through material inlet openings I6 located in cover plate l4. Motors 48 and 54 then are started to cause members 34 and 36 of shaft 32 and impellers 68, "I6 and 82 to rotate.

A portion of the mass of materials being agitated by impeller 68 is caught between the baffles 66 of stator 60 and the ends of blades 14 of the impeller where the same is subjected to a shearing action whereby contiguous parts of the mass are caused to slide relative to one another to become mixed. Another portion of the mass is thrown against bafiies 65 with an impact force sufiicient to effectively break up any large lumps 4 ture may be withdrawn conveniently through flush valve 28.

As indicated hereinbefore, the novel apparatus of the present invention is capable of widespread application in mixing, blending, processing, etc., various materials possessing similar or different physical characteristics. The apparatus herein described may be used extensively for forming homogeneous intimate blends or mixtures of any of the various kinds and types of materials used in the detergent, textile, cosmetic, dye, p1astic, leather, et'c., industries. In the detergent industry alone, for xample, the apparatus may be used to thoroughly mix soap and/or synthetic detergent slurries during as well as after formulation, to obtain adequate mixing of viscous soap and/or detergent slurries; to allow for the incorporation of powdered solids into slurries without lump formation due to hydration; etc.

While there has been described what is considered at present to be the preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be understood, of course, that man modifications and changes a d substitutions may be made therein without departing from the true scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for agitating materials comprising in combination, a chamber adapted to contain a mass of material, said chamber having a generally cylindrical side wall and a bottom wall, a longitudinally extending shaft movably mounted within said chamber, said shaft having an interior member andanexteriorly surrounding sleeve member, the sleeve member being of shorter extension than the interior member, means for rotating the sleeve member in the same direction as and at a slower speed than said interior member, at least one impeller mounted on each. of said members, said impellers being,

spaced apart a substantial distance and having a plurality of blades extending outwardly fromsaid shaft, each impeller being adapted to permit the materials being agitated to pass through the,

chamber between the blades of each impeller, and means mounted near the bottomwall of said chamber adjacent to one of said impellers adapted to cooperate with the rotating blades of said adjacent impeller to shear thematerials beng agitated, said means comprising an annular member and a plurality of vertically projecting, radially extending baflle members, said annular member being secured to the upper edges of said baffl members and being of a width suflicient to cover only said bafilemembers, leavingthe blades of said adjacent impeller uncovered.

2. An apparatus for mixing materials comprising in combination, a chamber adapted to contain a mass of material,said chamber having a generally cylindrical side wall and a domed bottom wall, a pair of concentric mixer shafts axially mounted within said chamber, the inner shaft being of longer extension than the outer shaft, means for rotating said shafts in the same direction at different speeds, at least, one im.

peller mounted on each of said shafts, said impellers being spaced aparta substantial distance and being provided with a plurality of blades extending radially outwardly from-said shaft,- each impeller being adapted to permit the materials being agitated to pass through the chamber between the blades of each impeller, and an an-' 5 said disc having a, plurality of vertically projecting, radially extending baffle members secured to its lower surface and being of a width sufficient to cover only said baffle members, leaving the blades of said adjacent impeller uncovered.

WILLIAM ASHLEY KLINE. JOHN ALEXANDER MONICK. ELIO ELIAKIM TARIKA.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Numb er Name Date Smith et a1 Mar. 11, 1890 Guldbeck Aug. 22, 1922 Vollrath June 28, 1938 Simpson July 23, 1940 Marvel Oct. 8, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Germany Sept. 25, 1877

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