Gravity flow continuous mixer

A method for blending fluent material comprising introducing said material into an upper portion of an elongated upright mixing zone, causing said material to flow downwardly through said zone in a plurality of segmented layers along a plurality of intermeshed helical paths, diverting a portion of material of each segment to a lower segment of the next lower helical path for combining with material in said path, diverting a second portion of material of each segment to a segment immediately below in the next lower helical path for combining with material thereof, causing multiple abrupt changes of direction in said paths, both horizontally and vertically, thereby moving portions of material irregularly with respect to other portions and collecting said material from all paths at the lower end of said zone.

Apparatus for blending fluent material comprising an elongated polygonal chamber having an inlet and an outlet in its upper and lower ends respectively, a plurality of tiered flights extending inwardly from the walls of said chamber and forming a barrier to the free fall of material through said chamber, each of said flights being intercepted near the midpoint of its downstream edge by the upper edge of the flight of the next lower set on the adjacent wall of said chamber and terminating at its lowest point in the corner formed by the supporting wall and the adjacent wall of said chamber just above the highest point of the flight of the second lower set on the adjacent wall, said flights having openings in their faces to divert a portion of material from said flights to the next lower coincident flights immediately below, whereby material introduced through said inlet is subjected to a plurality of changes of direction, divisions, and combinations in its fall through said chamber.

Apparatus for blending fluent material comprising an upright column having an inlet at its upper end and an outlet at its lower end, a plurality of tiers of inclined flights extending inwardly from the sides of said column arranged to provide a plurality of stacked helical paths for said fluent material and being positioned with respect to adjacent flights to deliver material to flights in a plurality of paths for mixing with material therein and being further positioned so that material leaving each flight falls unsupported to a lower flight, the number of paths created increasing in a manner dependent upon the number of tiers and flights.