Non-intrusive agitation of a fluid medium
AssigneeThe British Hydromechanics Research Association
InventorGeoffrey J. Pollard
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Impeller means (4 and 5) is provided in a container (2) for agitating fluid. The impeller means is movable to effect fluid flow. The impeller means includes an impeller (4) which is separate from a wall portion of the container to a point of which the impeller (4) is connected by supporting means (5). Movement of the impeller means relative to the wall portion is achieved by making the impeller means flexible. A vibrator (6) may be provided to cause movement of the impeller means. The characteristics of the components can be chosen so that when the vibrator is activated the impeller vibrates with a greater amplitude than the wall portion (3). This can be achieved by vibrating the wall portion at a frequency approximately equal to a resonant frequency of the impeller means.
Claims13
Apparatus for non-intrusive agitation of a fluid medium, such as to effect mixing of two or more fluids, comprising a container for the fluid medium, impeller means disposed within said container for effecting fluid agitation, said impeller means including an impeller spaced from a wall portion of said container and support means having a point of attachment to said impeller and extending from said impeller to an end of said support means which is attached to said wall portion, said support means thereby supportingly connecting said impeller to said wall portion, said impeller means having flexibility such that portions of said impeller are movable relative to said wall portion to effect said fluid agitation, and a vibrator unit placed externally against said wall portion of said container and operable to impart vibrations to said wall portion of said container, said vibrations being transmitted by said wall portion to said support means and thereby vibrating said impeller and effecting said fluid agitation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.