Patent Application
20130182526
There has long been a need to mix various components to produce desired compositions. Examples include, but are not limited to mixing cement with sand, gravel and water to produce concrete. While machine mixers are available for large scale or daily mixing jobs, many times only a small amount of mix is needed and a homeowner cannot justify the cost or renting or purchasing a machine mixer at their house.
Likewise, contractors often cannot justify a machine mixer for the many small jobs they may encounter. For example, air conditioning units, telephone, electrical and other equipment is typically installed on small concrete pads that do not justify the use of a machine mixer, or the cost of having a ready mix truck for delivery.
In other situations, power may not be available to operate a machine mixer. For example, concrete is often used when installing trails in remote parks, installation of highway signs, fence posts, or pot holes in the road. Moreover, power is still unavailable in many remote areas and most third world countries.
Instead, homeowners and contractors alike often rely on the standard wheelbarrow and shovel, using a manual labor mixing approach for small mixing jobs. While this may work on an occasional basis, a better and more thorough mixing of the ingredients would be more desirable. Other mixing devices are known, but have been specially configured for a single purpose.
a-e are detailed top plan view showing an example handle for the bucket mixer.
a-b show another example cage assembly insert for mixing paint in the bucket mixer.
Homeowners, gardeners, landscapers, and contractors, among others, often have to rely on manual labor mixing approaches for small mixing jobs. In many cases, mixing by hand does not thoroughly mix the contents, and thus results in an inferior product that does not perform as well overtime. Some specialized mixing devices are known, but these devices are configured for a single purpose. While this may work for particular situations, a better approach is desirable.
A reconfigurable cylinder or bucket mixer is disclosed herein which addresses the shortcomings of prior approaches. In an example, the bucket mixer includes a bucket, and a removable handle attached to the bucket. The same bucket may be configured for different purposes using a variety of special inserts. For example, the bucket may be configured using the special inserts to mix grout, mortar, cement, concrete, soil, fertilizer, various chemicals, and paint, to name only a few examples of different uses. Indeed, the mixer may even be used to clean laundry or other fabrics by mixing with soap and water.
Before continuing, it is noted that as used herein, the terms “includes” and “including” mean, but is not limited to, “includes” or “including” and “includes at least” or “including at least.” The term “based on” means “based on” and “based at least in part on.”
The bucket 10 can be readily configured and reconfigured by an end-user for any of a wide variety of different purposes. For example, the bucket mixer 10 may be configured to mix grout, mortar, cement, concrete, soil, fertilizer, and paint. As an illustration, a bag of ready-mix concrete 1, and a one gallon paint can 2 is shown in
The bucket mixer 10 includes wheels 16a-b. The wheels 16a-b may be wood, metal, plastic, rubber, or any other suitable material(s) to provide additional structure and rolling support. The wheels 16a-b may be readily replaced if broken or worn out, for example, by removing nuts used to fasten the wheels 16a-b to the handle 14.
During use, an end-user may add contents to be mixed into the bucket 12, attach the bucket 12 to the handle 14, and then push and/or pull the bucket mixer 10 using the handle 14 to mix the contents. The bucket 12 can then be removed from the handle 14 to access the mixed contents following the mixing operation.
The bucket mixer 10 may use a standard contractor bucket 12 (e.g., 5 gal., 6.5 gal., 7 gal., 8 gal. plastic bucket available at most home improvement stores). Of course, other buckets may also be used. Accordingly, the bucket 12 may be readily replaced, for example, with another standard contractor bucket 12′ illustrated in
It is noted that one style bucket that may be used includes tapered sides, wherein the diameter of the opening or mouth of the bucket is larger (e.g., having a diameter equal to D1, not shown) and the bottom of the bucket is smaller (e.g., having a diameter equal to D2, not shown). But the lid of the bucket is a diameter D1 and can be fitted to the bottom of the bucket to make the bottom of the bucket also have a diameter D1. Such a bucket style is particularly desirable to enhance the mixing operations. That is, the tapered design of the bucket facilitates mixing of the contents, while fitting well in the handle 14 for rolling parallel to the ground (e.g., without being lopsided during the mixing operations). The bucket 12 may also include ribbing or other support structures.
The bucket 12 may include a handle 18. In an example, the bucket 12 may also include a handle attachment 20 to keep the handle 18 from getting in the way of mixing operations. The bucket mixer 10 can be readily configured and reconfigured by an end-user for any of a wide variety of different purposes.
a-e are detailed top plan view showing an example handle 14 for the bucket mixer 10. The example handle 14 includes a flexible frame having two legs 21a-b separated by an adjustable width. The adjustable width is illustrated by W1 in
The swing arm 22 is also moveable in a second direction illustrated by arrow 24b to unlock the bucket 12 from the two legs 21a-b by increasing the adjustable width. For example, the width is increased from W2 in
In an example, the swing arm 22 slides in a cam-like manner in the first and second directions. The cam-like operation can be seen in
It is noted that other mechanisms may also be provided to lock and unlock the bucket 12 to the handle 14, and the bucket mixer 10 is not limited to the implementation described above with reference to
For example, in
d shows another embodiment of a handle 14d and 14d′ with shafts that can be fitted into the ends of the bucket 12. Also shown in
As mentioned above, the bucket mixer may be configured using a plurality of different inserts. Each of the different inserts may be sized to fit inside the bucket to perform multiple functions. Example inserts are described below with reference to
The paddle assembly insert 30 may include one or more paddles. For purposes of illustration, long paddles 31a-b are shown in
It is also noted that tabs 33a-b are shown in
The cage assembly insert 40 may include one or more supports for a paint container 2. For purposes of illustration, supports 41a-d are shown in
The supports maintain paint container 2 in a relatively fixed position during mixing operations to mix paint. In an example, the supports 41a-c maintain a central axis 42 of a standard paint container 2 (e.g., quart size, one-gallon, etc.) in a substantially perpendicular orientation relative to an axis 44 of rotation of the bucket to mix paint in the standard paint container while the bucket is being rolled around using the handle 14. Other orientations of the paint can (e.g., a 45 degree tilt) are also possible and are not limited to the perpendicular orientation described herein.
It is noted that the assembly 30 and 40 shown in
a-b show another example cage assembly insert for mixing paint in the bucket mixer. The cage assembly insert 50 is generally rectangular-cylindrical in shape to fit inside the bucket (e.g., the bucket 12 shown in
a shows a side view of the insert 50, with paint cans shown in dashed lines for purposes of illustration. For example, 2 paint cans are shown, although the insert 50 may be sized for any type and number of containers.
The insert 50 is shown including a top circular portion 52 sized substantially the same size as the opening or mouth of the bucket 12 (see
Before continuing, it should be noted that the examples described above are provided for purposes of illustration, and are not intended to be limiting. Other apparatus and/or configurations may be utilized to implement the bucket mixer and carry out the operations described herein.
A method for assembling a multi-purpose bucket mixer is also disclosed, and may be implemented as shown in the drawings described above. An example assembly operation includes releasing a handle to receive a reconfigurable bucket. Another example assembly operation includes locking the handle to the reconfigurable bucket after receiving the reconfigurable bucket. Another example assembly operation includes fitting one of a plurality of different inserts into the reconfigurable bucket to perform at least one of multiple mixing functions.
The operations shown and described herein are provided to illustrate example implementations. It is noted that the operations are not limited to the ordering shown. Still other operations may also be implemented.
Still further operations may include reinforcing side walls of the reconfigurable bucket by an end-user with the different inserts. Operations may also include maintaining a standard paint container inside the reconfigurable bucket during a mixing operation so that a central axis of the standard paint container remains in a perpendicular orientation relative to an axis of rotation of the bucket.
It is noted that the examples shown and described are provided for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting. Still other examples are also contemplated.
