Patent Grant
7175118
The present invention relates generally to the dispersion of solid constituents into liquid vehicles to produce a mixture of solid constituents dispersed throughout a liquid vehicle and pertains, more specifically, to the use of an immersion, or basket mill in completing the dispersion of solid materials into high viscosity liquids to form higher viscosity mixtures having a high degree of uniformity and quality, preferably in an apparatus and method requiring only a single mixing vessel, and to an improvement in an immersion mill.
Typically, in current conventional processes for dispersing solid material into a liquid vehicle to form a high viscosity mixture, that is, a mixture having a viscosity of at least about 5,000 centipoise, dispersion is accomplished utilizing a combination of machines and processes. Initially, a pre-mixer disperses solid material, usually in the form of solid powders, into a liquid held in a mixing tank, utilizing high-speed blades for shearing and low-speed blades for turnover into the high-speed blades. Once dispersion has reached the limits of the capability of the pre-mixer, the mixture is transferred from the mixing tank to a vertical or a horizontal bead mill, using an extrusion press and a pump to feed the bead mill. Upon exiting the bead mill, the mixture is fed into a second mixing tank which then is moved to another extrusion press where the second mixing tank usually is lifted to a height sufficient to enable the contents to be extruded downwardly onto a roller mill for final shearing and then de-aeration. The mixture then is discharged from the roller mill into yet another tank and placed in yet another extrusion press which feeds a filling machine. Some manufacturers choose to omit the bead mill and feed the mixture directly from the pre-mixer to the roller mill, although that procedure typically adds significantly more time to the entire process in that additional passes are required in order to attain the high degree of uniformity and quality sought. Such multiple passes through a roller mill often extends the dispersion time from hours into days. Thus, conventional processes are relatively slow and expensive, and they are potentially dangerous in that in many instances operators are exposed to possible injury from high speed rotating rolls.
Immersion mills, also known as basket mills, have been shown to accomplish a more rapid dispersion in the production of mixtures exhibiting a high degree of uniformity and quality; however, immersion mills have been limited to operating with relatively low viscosity mixtures, that is, mixtures having a viscosity below about 5,000 centipoise. That limit is imposed by the inability of an immersion mill to draw a thick mixture off the bottom and side walls of a mixing tank, the inability to force a thick mixture through the bead field and the separation screen of the immersion mill, and the inability to maintain a flow throughout the batch of thick mixture outside the immersion mill sufficient to ensure that the entire contents of the mixing tank are treated uniformly by the immersion mill, while simultaneously maintaining a controlled, essentially uniform temperature within the batch of material in the mixing tank.
The present invention provides apparatus and method in which the above-outlined shortcomings of immersion mills are overcome so that the rapid and effective dispersion accomplished by an immersion mill in the processing of relatively low viscosity mixtures is realized in connection with the processing of relatively high viscosity mixtures, enabling the production of relatively high viscosity mixtures exhibiting a high degree of uniformity and quality, while reducing the time required to form such mixtures. As such, the present invention attains several objects and advantages, some of which are summarized as follows: Enables increased effectiveness in the dispersion of solid constituents into high viscosity liquids in the formation of relatively higher viscosity mixtures having a high degree of uniformity and quality; accomplishes the dispersion of solid powders into high viscosity liquids to form higher viscosity mixtures with increased speed, as well as with a high degree of uniformity; enables the dispersion of solid powders into high viscosity liquids to form higher viscosity mixtures in a batch of material processed in a single mixing vessel without the necessity for transferring the batch from the mixing vessel in order to complete the process; allows a batch of material to be processed fully to form a higher viscosity mixture in a single mixing vessel retained at a single processing station; attains increased quality in a higher viscosity mixture having a higher degree of uniformity throughout a full batch processed in a single vessel; allows processing of the batch in a single vessel under sub-atmospheric conditions, as well as under atmospheric conditions, so as to accomplish full processing of the batch within the single vessel; enables better control over the processing of a batch of material to accomplish effective dispersion and the formation of a higher viscosity mixture of controlled higher quality; conserves time and resources in the production of high quality dispersions in relatively high viscosity mixtures having a high degree of uniformity; takes advantage of the attributes of immersion mills in the dispersion of solid constituents into high viscosity liquids to form relatively higher viscosity mixtures having a high degree of uniformity; provides simplified apparatus and procedure for producing relatively high viscosity mixtures of better uniformity and higher quality in less time; enables the production of high viscosity mixtures of solid constituents in liquid vehicles with increased ease and decreased expense.
The above objects and advantages, as well as further objects and advantages, are attained by the present invention which may be described briefly as apparatus for dispersing solid constituents into a liquid vehicle to form a relatively high viscosity mixture having a high degree of uniformity, the apparatus comprising: a mixing tank for containing a batch of solid constituents and liquid vehicle; a high shear impeller assembly for immersion in the batch contained within the mixing tank; a low shear mixer blade assembly for immersion in the batch contained within the mixing tank; an immersion mill for immersion in the batch contained within the mixing tank; controllers for operating the high shear impeller assembly simultaneous with operation of the low shear mixer blade assembly in the batch within the mixing tank in a dispersion operation wherein the low shear mixer blade assembly directs the batch to the high shear impeller assembly to disperse the solid constituents in the liquid vehicle and establish an essentially homogeneous mixture of solid constituents and liquid vehicle in the batch in the mixing tank, and subsequently operating the immersion mill simultaneous with the low shear mixer blade assembly in the mixture within the mixing tank in a milling operation wherein the low shear mixer blade assembly directs the batch to the immersion mill within the mixing tank to mill and further disperse the solid constituents in the liquid vehicle in the mixing tank to form the relatively high viscosity mixture having a high degree of uniformity; a sealing arrangement for closing the tank and sealing the tank against atmospheric pressure to enable operations within the tank to be conducted under reduced pressure relative to atmospheric pressure; the immersion mill including a tubular inlet passage for receiving the batch during the milling operation, the tubular inlet passage having an inlet end, an outlet end, and a diameter along a length extending between the inlet end and the outlet end; and a helical screw impeller within the tubular inlet passage for moving the batch longitudinally through the tubular inlet passage into the immersion mill, the helical screw impeller including a helical flight extending along the length of the tubular inlet passage and having a diameter complementary to the diameter of the tubular inlet passage and a pitch less than the length of the tubular inlet passage such that the helical flight spans the diameter of the tubular inlet passage along plural turns of the helical flight.
In addition, the present invention includes apparatus for dispersing solid constituents into a liquid vehicle to form a relatively high viscosity mixture having a high degree of uniformity, the apparatus comprising: a mixing tank for containing a batch of solid constituents and liquid vehicle; a low shear mixer blade assembly for immersion in the batch contained within the mixing tank; an immersion mill for immersion in the batch contained within the mixing tank; controllers for operating the immersion mill simultaneous with the low shear mixer blade assembly in the mixture within the mixing tank in a milling operation wherein the low shear mixer blade assembly directs the batch to the immersion mill within the mixing tank to mill and disperse the solid constituents in the liquid vehicle in the mixing tank to form the relatively high viscosity mixture having a high degree of uniformity; a sealing arrangement for closing the tank and sealing the tank against atmospheric pressure to enable operations within the tank to be conducted under reduced pressure relative to atmospheric pressure; the immersion mill including a tubular inlet passage for receiving the batch during the milling operation, the tubular inlet passage having an inlet end, an outlet end, and a diameter along a length extending between the inlet end and the outlet end; and a helical screw impeller within the tubular inlet passage for moving the batch longitudinally through the tubular inlet passage into the immersion mill, the helical screw impeller including a helical flight extending along the length of the tubular inlet passage and having a diameter complementary to the diameter of the tubular inlet passage and a pitch less than the length of the tubular inlet passage such that the helical flight spans the diameter of the tubular inlet passage along plural turns of the helical flight.
Further, the present invention provides an improvement in an immersion mill having a basket, media within the basket, and a tubular inlet passage for the reception of material to be processed through the media in the basket, the tubular inlet passage having an inlet end, an outlet end, and a diameter along a length extending between the inlet end and the outlet end, the improvement comprising: a helical screw impeller within the tubular inlet passage for moving the batch longitudinally through the tubular inlet passage into the immersion mill, the helical screw impeller including a helical flight extending along the length of the tubular inlet passage and having a diameter complementary to the diameter of the tubular inlet passage and a pitch less than the length of the tubular inlet passage such that the helical flight spans the diameter of the tubular inlet passage along plural turns of the helical flight.
The invention will be understood more fully, while still further objects and advantages will become apparent, in the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:
Referring now to the drawing, and especially to
The operating components include a high shear impeller assembly 20, a low shear mixer blade assembly 22 and an immersion mill 24, all assembled with a tank cover 30 suspended over tank 12 by means of moving devices which include suspension rods 32 and 34 affixed respectively to overhead beams 36 and 38 each carried by a respective post 40 and 42. Posts 40 and 42 are selectively moveable upwardly and downwardly, independent of one another, by individual hydraulic lifts 44 and 46, under the control of individual lift controllers 48 and 50, posts 40 and 42 being illustrated in
Turning now to
At the same time, the low shear mixer blade assembly 22 is lowered to the operating position illustrated in
Continued downward movement of post 40 by the hydraulic lift 44 lowers the high shear impeller assembly 20, by virtue of a lost-motion connection 80 between suspension rod 32 and cover 30, until impeller 82 of the impeller assembly 20 is located adjacent the bottom wall 52 of tank 12, as seen in
Once the low shear mixer blade assembly 22 and the high shear impeller assembly 20 are in place, as illustrated in
The impeller 82 is rotated at a relatively high speed, while the sweeper blade assembly 60 is rotated at a relatively low speed. Rotation of the sweeper blade assembly 60 is in a clockwise direction, as viewed in
The initial dispersing operation, as described immediately above, accomplishes mixing of the solid constituents with the liquid vehicle to establish a batch 120 comprised of an essentially homogeneous, relatively high viscosity mixture; however, due to the limited capabilities of the high speed, high shear impeller assembly 20, the homogeneous mixture of batch 120 lacks the fine particle separation desired in the final product. Accordingly, once the initial dispersing operation is complete, rotation of the impeller 82 is discontinued and the impeller assembly 20 is raised to withdraw the impeller 82 from the lower position in the batch 120 in the tank 12. Then, the immersion mill 24 is lowered, by actuation of hydraulic lift 46, until, by virtue of a lost-motion connection 122 between suspension rod 34 and cover 30, the immersion mill 24 is immersed in the batch 120, at a location laterally between the central axis 56 and the first blades of the sweeper blade assembly 60, and adjacent the bottom wall 52 of the tank 12, spaced upwardly somewhat from the second blades of the sweeper blade assembly 60, as illustrated in
Immersion mill 24 is constructed in a manner similar to that described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,184,783, the disclosure of which patent is incorporated herein by reference thereto. Thus, immersion mill 24 includes a media bed 130 contained within a basket 132 having a perforated wall 134 such that solid constituents in a mixture moved through the immersion mill 24 will be milled and mixed with the liquid vehicle of the mixture to form a mixture in which the solid constituents are finely divided and more uniformly dispersed throughout the mixture. In order to move the mixture through the immersion mill 24, a lower impeller 136 is placed beneath the basket 132, adjacent an outlet 140, and an upper impeller 142 is placed above the basket 132, adjacent an inlet 144 to the basket 132. The impellers 136 and 142 are affixed to a drive shaft 146 coupled to a drive motor 148 through a drive train 150 for rotation about a mill axis 152 essentially parallel to and spaced from the central axis 56, and a controller 154 controls actuation of the drive motor 148. Drive shaft 146 extends through a bearing block 160 engaged with a tubular sleeve 162 which is integral with cover 30. Bearing block 160 is affixed to overhead beam 38, by means of connecting rods 164, engages tubular sleeve 162 for sliding movement within the sleeve 162, and carries a seal 166 engaged with the sleeve 162 to maintain the interior of the tank 12 sealed. Immersion mill 24 is suspended from bearing block 160, by members 168, and moves upward and downward, relative to cover 30, in response to upward and downward movement of the bearing block 160.
Simultaneous operation of the immersion mill 24 and the sweeper blade assembly 60 of the mixer blade assembly 22 in a milling operation enables milling of the high viscosity homogenous mixture of batch 120 to form an even higher viscosity mixture having a high degree of uniformity. Thus, rotation of the sweeper blade assembly 60 sweeps portions of the mixture of batch 120 away from the walls 52 and 54 of the tank 12 to maintain a circulation of the entire mixture of the batch 120, assuring processing of the entire batch 120 by the immersion mill 24. Rotation of the sweeper blade assembly 60 in a counter-clockwise direction, as viewed in
Turning now to
During the de-aeration operation, the inlet 144 of the immersion mill 24 is sealed against the sub-atmospheric pressure to avoid escape of media from the media bed 130 through the inlet 144 of the immersion mill 24. While sealing of the inlet 144 may be accomplished by manually inserting a sealing closure into inlet 144, sealing preferably is accomplished through the provision of an automated seal assembly. As seen in
Upon completion of the de-aeration operation, the finished product, processed entirely in the single tank 12 placed at a single station in apparatus 10, is ready for a final quality assessment and subsequent packaging for shipment. The need for multiple stage processing requiring the transfer of a processed batch to several different vessels and several different stations in order to accomplish the several stages of processing is eliminated by the present invention. The degree of dispersion accomplished by the present invention is at least as great as that attained through conventional processes employing separate roller mills or horizontal or vertical bead mills, and is accomplished in approximately one-third the time required to carry out such a conventional dispersion process. While all of the present operations readily are carried out by manual operation of the controllers 48, 50, 66, 94 and 154, in an appropriate sequence, the entire process may be simplified by linking the controllers to a computer 180, as seen in
Referring now to
In the preferred construction, helical screw impeller 200 has a length LF greater than the length LP of the passage 212 and provides plural turns 234 outside of passage 212, above passage 212, and leading to the inlet end 220 of passage 212. Thus, about two turns 234 adjacent upper end 236 of helical screw impeller 200 assist in moving mixture into the passage 212. In particular, the higher viscosity material in the mixture above immersion mill 24 is drawn into helical screw impeller 200 and is moved by the helical screw impeller 200 along passage 212 and into basket 132 of the immersion mill 24, thereby increasing the pressure within the basket 132 and increasing the flow rate through the media bed 130 within the basket 132. In this manner greater uniformity is attained in the batch 120 in less time, enabling a substantial reduction in cycle time for processing the batch 120. Lower end 238 of helical screw impeller 200 does not extend beyond the outlet end 222 of passage 212 so that helical flight 230 extends longitudinally from the inlet end 220 toward the outlet end 222 and longitudinally no farther than the outlet end 222. In this manner, helical screw impeller 200 remains above the media bed 130 and does not disturb the media within the media bed 130.
Turning to
It will be seen that the present invention attains the several objects and advantages summarized above, namely: Enables increased effectiveness in the dispersion of solid constituents into high viscosity liquids in the formation of relatively higher viscosity mixtures having a high degree of uniformity and quality; accomplishes the dispersion of solid powders into high viscosity liquids to form higher viscosity mixtures with increased speed, as well as with a high degree of uniformity; enables the dispersion of solid powders into high viscosity liquids to form higher viscosity mixtures in a batch of material processed in a single mixing vessel without the necessity for transferring the batch from the mixing vessel in order to complete the process; allows a batch of material to be processed fully to form a higher viscosity mixture in a single mixing vessel retained at a single processing station; attains increased quality in a higher viscosity mixture having a higher degree of uniformity throughout a full batch processed in a single vessel; allows processing of the batch in a single vessel under sub-atmospheric conditions, as well as under atmospheric conditions, so as to accomplish full processing of the batch within the single vessel; enables better control over the processing of a batch of material to accomplish effective dispersion and the formation of a higher viscosity mixture of controlled higher quality; conserves time and resources in the production of high quality dispersions in relatively high viscosity mixtures having a high degree of uniformity; takes advantage of the attributes of immersion mills in the dispersion of solid constituents into high viscosity liquids to form relatively higher viscosity mixtures having a high degree of uniformity; provides simplified apparatus and procedure for producing relatively high viscosity mixtures of better uniformity and higher quality in less time; enables the production of high viscosity mixtures of solid constituents in liquid vehicles with increased ease and decreased expense.
It is to be understood that the above detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention is provided by way of example only. Various details of design, construction and procedure may be modified without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention, as set forth in the appended claims.
This is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 10/356,211, filed Jan. 31, 2003 now abandoned.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4906577 | Armstrong et al. | Mar 1990 | A |
| 5184783 | Hockmeyer et al. | Feb 1993 | A |
| 5346147 | Ishikawa et al. | Sep 1994 | A |
| 5497948 | Hockmeyer | Mar 1996 | A |
| 5549384 | Reynolds | Aug 1996 | A |
| 6029915 | Inoue | Feb 2000 | A |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20060097093 A1 | May 2006 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 10356211 | Jan 2003 | US |
| Child | 10865448 | US |
