Apparatus for producing high viscosity materials and method of producing the same

An apparatus for producing a high viscosity material having a viscosity of 10,000 poises or greater comprising:

• a cylindrical or conical container for holding said material;
• and
• an agitating blade located within the container and having at least first and second frame members located vertically with respect to one another within the container to form first and second stages, wherein each of said first and second frame members comprises:
• a first horizontal blade;
• a second horizontal blade vertically displaced within the container from the first horizontal blade;
• a first vertical blade extending between one end of the first horizontal blade and one end of the second horizontal blade;
• and
• a second vertical blade extending between the other end of the first horizontal blade and the other end of the second horizontal blade;
• and
• a rotatable lug shaft connected to a midpoint of the first horizontal blade of the first frame member to rotate said plurality of frame members as a unit within the container,
• wherein a central part of each of said first and second frame members between the first horizontal blade, the second horizontal blade, and the first and second vertical blades is open space without any central shaft member extending through said central portion,
• wherein the first horizontal blade of the second frame member lies on the same horizontal plane and intersects the second horizontal blade of the first frame member,
• wherein the first and second frame members are each dimensioned so that the first and second vertical blades of each of said first and second frame members scrape inner wall surfaces of said container, and
• means for creating a large circulation path and a plurality of small circulation paths which cooperate with the large circulation path to provide a common mass flow in the vertical direction upwardly along the inner wall of the container and downwardly through the central portion of each of the frame members, said high viscosity material having a viscosity of 10,000 poises or greater, wherein said means comprises each of said vertical blades having a sufficient stiffness to move through said high viscosity material without substantial flexing and being rearwardly inclined relative to the direction in which the agitating blade proceeds so that one part of a mass of liquid to be treated by the agitating blade overflows rearwardly beyond upper and lower ends of each said vertical blade to create the small circulation paths whereas another part of said mass of liquid is moved upwardly along each said vertical blade from said second frame member to said first frame member to create the large circulation path.