Patent Application
20070140054
This disclosure relates to portable mixers and, more particularly, to quick-disconnect mixer drive systems adapted to be mounted on mixing tanks.
Large volume users of paint, such as automotive assembly plants, typically purchase paint in large, substantially enclosed, stainless steel drums called “totes.” Totes typically include internal mixing blades attached to a vertical shaft that is rotatably mounted to the tote. The shaft may include a stub portion that protrudes upwardly from a top surface of the tote. A drive may be mounted (or otherwise positioned) on the top of the tote and may engage the stub portion so that the drive rotates the shaft supporting the mixing blades.
The totes typically are recycled; that is, they are repeatedly filled with paint and emptied as the paint is sprayed onto vehicles by various paint spraying devices. The mixing blades are rotated to ensure that the paint is properly mixed as it is being used. The need for cleaning a tote after it has been drained of paint may be eliminated by keeping the shaft and impeller system captive to the tank and refilling the tank with the same material.
Painting facilities may store and use many totes at any one time. However, such facilities typically only have a few drives. Therefore, the agitator drives may be mounted on the totes being used, thereby requiring the user to connect and disconnect the drives from the totes as the totes are rotated through the facility. This technique minimizes the number of drive systems required and reduces the overall cost of producing the end product.
Consequently, there is a need for a mixer drive system that may be quickly and easily attached to and removed from a tote.
In one aspect, a quick-disconnect mixer drive system may include a drive adapted to be mounted on a mixing tank. The drive may include an output shaft, a first quick-disconnect coupling component mounted on the output shaft and a second quick-disconnect coupling component adapted to be mounted on a mixing shaft of an associated mixing tank. The second quick-disconnect coupling component may be shaped to engage the first quick-disconnect coupling component to transmit both clockwise and counter-clockwise torque from the output shaft to the mixing shaft and resist relative longitudinal movement between the first and second quick-disconnect coupling components.
Other aspects will become apparent from the following description, the accompanying drawings and the appended claims.
As used herein, “quick-disconnect” shall refer generally to any connector adapted to facilitate rapid engagement and disengagement of two connector halves.
As shown in
The drive 12 may be operatively connected to the mixing shaft 16 by a quick-disconnect 20 such that the drive 12 may supply clockwise or counter-clockwise rotational torque to the mixing shaft 16, as shown by arrow A. In one aspect, the drive 12 may be a motor or the like and may include an output shaft 22, wherein the output shaft 22 may be operatively connected to the mixing shaft 16 by the quick-disconnect 20.
In one aspect, the quick-disconnect 20 may include a plug portion 24 and a socket portion 26. The output shaft 22 may be connected to a quick-disconnect adapter 28 by a set screw 30 and the adapter 28 may be connected to the socket portion 26 of the quick-disconnect 20 by screws 32, such that clockwise and counter-clockwise torque may be transferred from the output shaft 22 of the drive 12 to the socket portion 26 and plug portion 24 of the quick-disconnect 20 and ultimately to the mixing shaft 16.
As shown in
In one aspect, the plug portion 24 may include a plurality of longitudinal splines 36 and a circumferential race 38. A thrust bearing 40 may be shaped to slidably engage the mixing shaft 16 and may be urged against the underside of the plug portion 24 by a coil spring 42, thereby urging the plug portion 24 away from the tote 14. The coil spring 42 may be seated on a packing follower 44, as shown in
As shown in
As shown in
In one aspect, as shown in
The spring 54 may be provided to urge the sleeve 60 and ramp 56 out of engagement with the detents 58. However, when the force of spring 54 is overcome, the sleeve 60 and ramp 56 may be advanced into engagement with the detents 58 to urge the detents 58 in the direction shown by arrows B (
The quick-disconnect 20 may be selected from quick-disconnects commercially available from suppliers, such as Part No.: 801-70004 available from Sweet Manufacturing Inc. of Kalamazoo, Mich.
As shown in
Accordingly, a user may connect the drive 12 to the mixing shaft 16 by positioning the drive 12 over the tote and engaging the socket portion 26 of the quick-disconnect 20 with the plug portion 24 of the quick-disconnect 20, wherein, in one aspect, the socket portion 26 is fixedly connected to the output shaft 22 of the drive and the plug portion 24 is fixedly connected to the mixing shaft 16. The detents 58 of the socket portion 26 may engage the ball race 38 of the plug portion 24, thereby securing or locking the socket portion 26 relative to the plug portion 24. The support housing 64 may be rotated relative to the tote 14 such that the locking lugs 68 on the tote 14 engage the locking wedges 72 on the housing 64.
The assembly 10 may be disconnected by rotating the support housing 64 relative to the tote 14 such that the locking lugs 68 disengage the locking wedges 72 and the bottom surface 72 of the housing 64. When the housing 64 is disconnected from the tote 14, a user may lift the sleeve 60 on the socket portion 26 against the bias of the spring 54 to urge the ramp 56 into engagement with the detents 58, thereby moving the detents 58 out of engagement with the ball race 38 on the plug portion 24. When the detents 58 have disengaged the ball race 38, the plug portion 24 may be separated from the socket portion 26.
Although various aspects have been shown and described, modifications may occur to those skilled in the art upon reading the specification. The public is hereby placed on notice that any patent that may issue on this application includes such modifications and is limited only by the scope of the claims.
