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US 9,016,927 B2Granted
Clay mixing apparatus
AssigneeNidec-Shimpo Corporation
InventorsMotoki Kuriki, Takeo Tokuda, Masaya Higashitsuji
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A clay mixing apparatus includes a mixing chamber, a rotor arranged within the mixing chamber, a drive unit arranged to rotate the rotor, an ejecting unit, a pressure reducing unit; and an exhaust flow path. The rotor includes a shaft rotated by the drive unit, an extruding member and a mixing member. The mixing member includes a plurality of arms and a plurality of blades arranged at tip ends of the arms. The exhaust opening is opposed, in a radial direction about the center axis, to a portion of the mixing member lying near the extruding member and/or a portion of the extruding member lying near the mixing member.
Claims20
A clay mixing apparatus, comprising:
- a mixing chamber having a substantially cylindrical inner circumferential surface, the mixing chamber having a center axis extending in a horizontal direction;
- a rotor arranged within the mixing chamber, the rotor having a first end portion as a supported end portion and a second end portion positioned opposite to each other in a direction along the center axis;
- a drive unit connected to the first end portion of the rotor, the drive unit serving to rotate the rotor about the center axis;
- an ejecting unit arranged to surround the second end portion of the rotor, the ejecting unit having a conical inner circumferential surface whose diameter is reduced away from the drive unit, the ejecting unit having an ejection hole defined at a tip end thereof;
- a pressure reducing unit;
- and
- an exhaust flow path arranged to connect the pressure reducing unit to an exhaust opening opened into the mixing chamber, wherein
- the rotor includes a shaft arranged to extend along the center axis and rotated by the drive unit, an extruding member arranged on the shaft in the second end portion of the rotor and provided with a screw inclined in a slanted direction with respect to a circumferential direction about the center axis and a mixing member arranged on the shaft between the extruding member and the first end portion of the rotor,
- the mixing member includes a plurality of arms extending from the shaft toward the cylindrical inner circumferential surface and a plurality of blades arranged at tip ends of the arms and inclined in the slanted direction with respect to the circumferential direction,
- the exhaust opening is opposed, in a radial direction about the center axis, to a portion of the mixing member lying near the extruding member and/or a portion of the extruding member lying near the mixing member, and
- an outer circumferential surface of a rotation trajectory of the rotor is more distant from the cylindrical inner circumferential surface and/or the conical inner circumferential surface in the position of the exhaust opening than in the positions deviated from the exhaust opening toward the first end portion and the second end portion of the rotor.
8 more elements
A clay mixing apparatus, comprising:
- a mixing chamber having a substantially cylindrical inner circumferential surface, the clay mixing apparatus having a center axis extending in a horizontal direction;
- a rotor arranged within the mixing chamber, the rotor having a supported end portion in a direction along the center axis;
- a drive unit connected to the supported end portion of the rotor, the drive unit serving to rotate the rotor about the center axis;
- a pressure reducing unit;
- and
- an exhaust flow path arranged to interconnect the mixing chamber and the pressure reducing unit,
- wherein the rotor includes a shaft arranged to extend along the center axis and rotated by the drive unit and a mixing member arranged on the shaft,
- the mixing member includes a plurality of arms extending from the shaft toward the cylindrical inner circumferential surface and a plurality of blades arranged at tip ends of the arms and inclined in a slanted direction with respect to the circumferential direction, and
- at least one of the blades has a plurality of through-holes or a plurality of slits through which clay passes during a mixing process.
6 more elements
A clay mixing apparatus, comprising:
- a mixing chamber;
- a rotor arranged within the mixing chamber, the rotor having a first end portion as a supported end portion and a second end portion positioned opposite to each other in a direction along a center axis of the mixing chamber;
- a drive unit connected to the first end portion of the rotor, the drive unit serving to rotate the rotor about the center axis;
- and
- an ejecting unit arranged to surround the second end portion of the rotor, the ejecting unit having a conical inner circumferential surface whose diameter is reduced away from the drive unit, the ejecting unit having an ejection hole defined at a tip end thereof, wherein
- the rotor includes a shaft arranged to extend along the center axis and rotated by the drive unit, an extruding member arranged on the shaft in the second end portion of the rotor and provided with a screw inclined in a slanted direction with respect to a circumferential direction about the center axis and a mixing member arranged on the shaft between the extruding member and the first end portion of the rotor,
- the ejecting unit includes a first clay-ejecting inner circumferential surface extending from the conical inner circumferential surface toward the ejection hole and a second clay-ejecting inner circumferential surface positioned between the first clay-ejecting inner circumferential surface and the ejection hole,
- the first clay-ejecting inner circumferential surface includes a plurality of recess portions or raised portions extending parallel to the center axis and arranged along the circumferential direction,
- the first clay-ejecting inner circumferential surface has an innermost diameter equal to or greater than an inner diameter of the second clay-ejecting inner circumferential surface, and
- the screw is arranged axially away from the plurality of recess portions or raised portions such that the screw does not overlap radially with any of the plurality of recess portions or raised portions.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.