Lump conditioner for a mixer

A mixer in combination with a mixture, the mixer comprising:

• a vessel defining a mixing chamber therein surrounded by boundary walls;
• the mixture being received within the vessel, the mixture containing aggregate having a prescribed maximum diameter and lumps having a prescribed diameter that is greater than the prescribed maximum diameter therein;
• a plurality of mixing blades;
• and
• a driving mechanism supporting the mixing blades in the mixing chamber for mixing motion relative to the vessel so as to mix the mixture within the mixing chamber of the vessel;
• the mixing blades including:
• at least one lump conditioning blade having a rigid body terminating at a working edge along an outer side of the rigid body and which is supported by the driving mechanism so as to be movable in a working direction of rotation along a respective one of the boundary walls;
• said at least one lump conditioning blade having a main portion occupying a majority of a leading face of the lump conditioning blade that is oriented substantially perpendicular to said one of the boundary walls;
• the working edge of said at least one lump conditioning blade being oriented substantially parallel to the respective boundary wall and at an angle relative to the working direction of rotation between 60 and 90 degrees;
• the working edge of said at least one lump conditioning blade being supported at a prescribed space from the boundary wall which is greater than the prescribed maximum diameter of the aggregate and smaller than the prescribed lump diameter of the lumps so as to be effective to smear the lumps in the mixture against said one of the boundary walls and to reduce a lump size of the lumps in the mixture as the mixture passes between the working edge of the lump conditioning blade and the boundary wall;
• at least one primary blade having a rigid blade body terminating at a working edge along an outer side of the rigid body and which is supported by the driving mechanism so as to be movable in said working direction of rotation along said one of the boundary walls along the same path as said at least one lump conditioning blade in a trailing relationship relative to said at least one lump conditioning blade;
• the working edge of said at least one primary blade being directly adjacent to said one of the boundary walls so as to (i) be in closer proximity to said one of the boundary walls than the working edge of said at least one lump conditioning blade and (ii) be arranged to scrape the mixture from said one of the boundary walls that was smeared against said one of the boundary walls by said at least one lump conditioning blade.