Mixer apparatus having an improved steady bearing
AssigneeGeneral Signal Corporation
InventorMarlin Schutte
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The improved steady bearing contains a trap at the distal end of a mixer shaft in a vessel whereby the steady bearing is isolated from materials being mixed. The steady bearing is preferably a dry-running ceramic ball bearing assembly. A hood on the mixer shaft defines a cavity open downward in communication with the interior of the vessel within which cavity the steady bearing is disposed. The cavity is provided with a process fluid, preferably a gas, at a pressure equal to or greater than the hydrostatic pressure of the materials being mixed outside the hood, whereby the materials are excluded from the hood and therefore are prevented from coming into contact with the steady bearing.
Claims14
A mixer apparatus having a vessel for mixing materials, and a mixer shaft connected to a drive near one end of such shaft and being subject to deflection away from said one end;
- a steady bearing having a trap for preventing contact between the steady bearing and the materials being mixed, said steady bearing comprising:
- a) A bearing holder dispose within said vessel coaxially with said mixer shaft, said bearing holder being fixed to said vessel and being spaced from said shaft where it is subject to deflection;
- b) A hood defining a cavity, said hood being coaxially disposed on said mixer shaft radially and axially spaced from said bearing holder which is disposed coaxially in said cavity;
- c) A bearing in said cavity having a stationary portion and a rotatable portion, said bearing being connected to one of said hood and said shaft and to said bearing holder thereby permitting said shaft to turn while counteracting deflection thereof;
- and
- d) Means for providing a fluid into said cavity under pressure sufficient to exclude said materials from said cavity.
A method for preventing contact between a steady bearing disposed on a mixer shaft in a vessel and materials being mixed in said vessel, comprising the steps of:
- a) providing a hood disposed on and rotatable with said mixer shaft, said hood being closed at the top and open at the bottom to the interior of said vessel to define a cavity in which said steady bearing is disposed;
- and
- b) providing a fluid into said cavity under a pressure at least equal to the ambient hydrostatic pressure outside said hood.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.