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AssigneeOzinga Bros., Inc.
InventorsDarrell J. Baker, James M. Clarke, Martin Ozinga, III, Richard D. DeBoer
Estimating the term…
A concrete stabilization system which includes a number of subsystems to provide a complete reuse and reclaiming of all concrete which remains unused at the end of the production day, and also reclaims all constituents of washout concrete from a number of concrete mixer trucks following the washing out process. A tower is provided for vertical and tilting motion of a material handling bucket, and a stationary mixer for stabilizing concrete and constituent material for reuse with fresh concrete batches at the start of the next production day or up to four days later. The fully automated system includes a start sequence initiated by the operator of the truck, and the process is then fully automated by a process controller which may be monitored off-site. The method includes a number of loop cycles, such as truck discharge and washout cycles, a stationary mixer load cycle, a water scan cycle which determines if the reused wash water contains excessive solid constituents, which are stored in the stationary mixer at intervals, so that the slurry water can continue reuse as wash water. The stabilization loop continually and automatically monitors the hydration state of the concrete in the stationary mixer and a chemical additive for retarding the hydration of the concrete is added to maintain the fluidity and plasticity of the concrete. The concrete is always ready for use because the chemical additive, a sugar based derivative, only retards the setting of the concrete for a short period.
An automatic system to reclaim for reuse unused portions of mixed concrete comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.