Vacuum pug mill
OwnerJared Pazinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A pug mill having a housing and a cantilevered shaft extending through the housing includes, in seriatim, a vacuum chamber, a wall, a mixing chamber and a reduction cone. A communication port about the shaft is positioned in the wall between the vacuum chamber and the mixing chamber. Vacuum can be maintained within the mixing chamber by air passing through the port. An auger associated with the shaft forces clay toward the reduction cone. This creates a seal for maintaining vacuum within the mixing chamber and extrudes cylindrical blocks of conditioned clay without significant air bubbles. A deflection plate rotating with the shaft and a spiral element about the shaft keep the communication port clear. The shaft is eccentrically mounted. The dividing wall is removable.
Claims7
A pug mill comprising
- a mixing chamber housing;
- a vacuum chamber housing, the mixing chamber housing and the vacuum chamber housing including a mutual annular abutment to define a sealable chamber, an annular channel about the sealable chamber at the mutual annular abutment between the mixing chamber housing and the vacuum chamber housing;
- a wall in the sealable chamber dividing the sealable chamber into a mixing chamber and a vacuum chamber, the wall including a communication port therethrough in communication with the mixing chamber and the vacuum chamber, the wall extending into and being retained by the annular channel with the mixing chamber housing and the vacuum chamber housing mutually abutting;
- an auger drive shaft rotatable in the sealable chamber about a rotational axis and extending through the communication port.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.