EP0036985B1 - Apparatus for producing a mixture from at least one compressible particulate solid and at least a liquid component - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a device for producing a mixture of at least one crushable lumpy solid and at least one liquid component, in particular for use in the refinement of soap, with a rotatable mixing screw for mixing the components, with at least one input device for the lumpy solid, with at least a feed device for the liquid constituents and with an output device connected to the mixing screw with at least one stationary perforated plate and a rotatable tool arranged directly therefrom with blades projecting radially outwards.

In the manufacture of numerous industrial products, it is necessary to intimately mix a number of different constituents in individually metered amounts and to achieve a homogeneous mixture. The ingredients are often granular solids, liquids and / or emulsions. The end product can be a free-flowing or viscous emulsion or a plastic mass. Known devices for accomplishing the mixing are designed with due regard to the respective mixing problem and often have a screw driven by a rotary drive and a device connected to the screw for continuing the comminution and mixing process started by the screw.

A device of the type mentioned at the outset is disclosed in US-A-2,640,033 (FIG. 13). In this device suitable for the production of soap for the continuous treatment and extrusion of plasticizing materials, liquid constituents are added to the material and intimately mixed and homogenized with it. The aim is also to create a network-like structure with air spaces in the material. The material is first pre-shredded and compacted in a first mixing screw and further shredded at the outlet end of the mixing screw in a shredding head rotating with the latter. Liquid is fed via a feed head connected to the comminution head from the end of the device remote from the mixing screw into a mixing and homogenizing space and mixed and homogenized in this by means of resilient blades and then ejected via a spreading plate, a pressure plate and a cutting head into a pressurized end chamber and fed by this to a second mixing screw. This is where further homogenization and densification take place. At the end of the second mixing screw, the material is pressed through a perforated plate by means of a tool rotating with the mixing screw and with the simultaneous supply of compressed gas. Overall, this facility is complicated and expensive.

A similar device suitable for the manufacture of soap is described in FR-A-2 277 887. With this device, the liquid component is applied to soap material that has already been processed in a homogenizing screw with a perforated plate connected downstream and cut into pieces by an additional knife, which is subsequently processed in a further pressure build-up screw. With this device a permanent marbling, i.e. no complete homogenization sought.

Another device for processing soap is known from DE-C-618 003 and has a screw switched between individual rolling stages. However, no liquid components are added to this device.

At a one disclosed in CH-A-499 619. Direction for perfuming a soap mass is fed to a rolling mill via a feed hopper and rolled into thin soap sheets in the latter.

These are sprayed with atomized perfume on their two surfaces and fed to a second feed hopper via an endless conveyor belt on which temperature control is still carried out by means of spray water. The perfumed soap mass is then mixed in three successive mixing screws, perfumed and homogenized a second time. This facility is also complex and space-consuming.

The object of the invention is to provide a device of the type mentioned, which is simple, inexpensive and compact, which is also suitable for processing plastic granules, in particular soap granules in mixtures, an intimate mixing thereof with other constituents, e.g. Liquids or emulsions, and creates a perfectly homogeneous end product.

• a) die Auslauföffnung der Speisevorrichtung für die flüssigen Bestandteile befindet sich unmittelbar vor dem Eintritt der Feststoffe in den Mischschneckenraum,
• b) der Lochplatte der Ausgabevorrichtung ist zumindest ein weiteres drehbares Werkzeug mit radial nach aussen ragenden Flügeln zugeordnet, wobei die Flügel aufeinanderfolgender rotierender Werkzeuge gegeneinander in Umfangsrichtung versetzt angeordnet sind, und
• c) das unmittelbar vor der Lochplatte angeordnete Werkzeug als Versalbungswerkzeug ausgebildet ist.

A device for solving this task is characterized by the combination of the following features:

• a) the outlet opening of the feed device for the liquid constituents is immediately before the solids enter the mixing screw chamber,
• b) the perforated plate of the output device is assigned at least one further rotatable tool with radially outwardly projecting vanes, the vanes of successive rotating tools being arranged offset in relation to one another in the circumferential direction, and
• c) the tool arranged directly in front of the perforated plate is designed as a baling tool.

The invention has the following advantages. By arranging the feed device intended for the liquid in the area of the solids inlet, not only mixing, but also preliminary homogenization of the mixture takes place in the mixing screw. The homogenization process is continued in the subsequent homogenization stage, ie in the output device. Such a homogenization stage is extremely effective in a small space and an arbitrarily fine degree of homogenization can be achieved by stringing together several homogenization stages. The simplicity of the furnishings is impressive. This saves costs and space. The device is suitable for processing various plastic granules, and especially for perfuming soap.

The homogenizing effect of the mixing screw is favored if the outlet opening of the feed device feeds the liquid components into the drop section between the metering device and the mixing screw.

The further tool is preferably a cutting tool arranged after the perforated plate. This is advantageously attached to the worm shaft in a removable manner and rotates together with it during operation. This tool is easily accessible for cleaning purposes and may be necessary with some mixtures in order to separate the escaping product.

However, the further tool can also be a shifting tool arranged at a distance in front of the calving tool. The shifting tool is removably attached to the worm shaft and rotates with it during operation. It effects a layering of the mixture which requires homogenization and is also easily accessible for cleaning purposes.

In a particularly effective homogenization stage, the output device contains a further perforated plate with a larger hole diameter, which is arranged in front of the former perforated plate and the tools assigned to it. In this arrangement, the shifting tool and the calving tool are arranged between two perforated plates, the shifting tool simultaneously serving as a cutting tool for the first perforated plate. Thus, due to the offset arrangement of the wings of the two tools, the product cut off from the first perforated plate is released between the wings of the calving tool, so that a further mixing effect takes place between the two perforated plates.

In a further development of this arrangement, a further calving tool can be arranged directly in front of the further perforated plate and optionally a cutting tool after the first mentioned perforated plate, the wings of successive tools being offset in the circumferential direction.

A particularly strong homogenizing effect is achieved if at least one of the wings of the calving tool has a front intake surface facing the perforated plate, which in the direction of rotation gives the product a component of movement in a flow direction during operation and presses it through the perforated plate, and one connected to the intake surface , in the direction of rotation rear calving surface, which is arranged at a short distance from the perforated plate and has a homogenizing effect on the mixture which has not passed through the perforated plate.

The feed surface can be a flat surface which is arranged at an acute angle to the perforated plate. In contrast, the calving surface is advantageously a flat surface arranged parallel to the perforated plate. The wings of such a salvation tool crush the mixture into thin layers and have a homogenizing effect on them at the same time.

The rotating tools rotate together with the worm shaft and are preferably detachably fastened to this.

The or each perforated plate is preferably removable in the screw housing and secured against rotation.

This can be done by a locking ring that is detachably held at the outlet end of the screw housing by means of a bayonet lock. The entire homogenizing device is thus easily dismantled and easily accessible for cleaning purposes when changing the mixture.

The use of a short mixing screw has proven to be particularly advantageous because it was recognized that the preliminary homogenization should take place without excessive pressure. This mixing screw can have fewer than four turns, preferably two turns. A ratio of 1: 1 between the diameter of the mixing screw and its length is favorable.

The mixing screw can be arranged vertically, with the horizontal conveying direction of a metering device upstream of it. This makes a space-saving design possible, which allows the device to be attached to a rolling mill above the rolls, the output device feeding the rolls.

A short vertically arranged mixing screw with only a few turns is already known from FR-A-913 483. However, this known mixing screw is used for homogenizing a mixture of solids which contain crystals (sugar), the crystals being melted by the action of heat. In this case, heat is provided during the formation of the mixture and during the pressing through the perforated plate, the melting temperature being set by a liquid flowing through the jacket surrounding the screw cylinder. As can be seen from the exemplary embodiments of this publication, the proportion of the melting crystals compared to the non-melting further constituents (starch, etc.) is very high, so that an operation that cannot be compared with the mixing of a liquid constituent into a crushable solid is based.

• Fig. 1 eine Anlage zur Erzeugung eines homogenen Gemisches aus einem festen Seifengranulat und einer parfümierten Dispersion, in schematischer Darstellung;
• Fig. 2 einen Schnitt durch eine Variante der Mischvorrichtung nach der Fig. 1, in grösserem Massstab;
• Fig. 3 eine erste Variante einer Homogenisiervorrichtung, in auseinandergezogener Darstellung;
• Fig. 4 einen Schnitt durch eine Lochplatte und ein dieser vorgeschaltetes Versalbungswerkzeug, in grösserem Massstab;
• Fig. 5 eine zweite Variante einer Homogenisiervorrichtung, in auseinandergezogener Darstellung;
• Fig. 6 eine dritte Variante einer Homogenisiervorrichtung, in auseinandergezogener Darstellung; und
• Fig. 7 eine vierte Variante einer Homogenisiervorrichtung, in auseinandergezogener Darstellung.

Exemplary embodiments of the invention are explained below with reference to the drawing. Show it:

• Figure 1 shows a plant for producing a homogeneous mixture of a solid soap granulate and a perfumed dispersion, in a schematic representation.
• 2 shows a section through a variant of the mixing device according to FIG. 1, on a larger scale;
• 3 shows a first variant of a homogenizing device, in an exploded view;
• Figure 4 is a section through a perforated plate and a pre-balancing tool, on a larger scale.
• 5 shows a second variant of a homogenizing device, in an exploded view;
• 6 shows a third variant of a homogenizing device, in an exploded view; and
• Fig. 7 shows a fourth variant of a homogenizing device, in an exploded view.

The system according to FIG. 1 has a metering device 1, a mixing device 2 and a rolling mill 3. The metering device 1 is used to meter the amount of the granules to be fed and is fed with soap granules via a feed funnel 4. It has a worm housing 5, a worm shaft 6 rotatably mounted therein and a metering worm 7 fixedly arranged on the worm shaft 6. The worm shaft 6 is driven by a first drive motor 9 via a first sprocket gear 8. The mixing device 2 is connected to the metering device 1. This has a worm housing 10, a worm shaft 11 rotatably mounted therein and a mixing worm 12 fixedly arranged on the worm shaft 11. This is driven via a gear 13 and a clutch 14 by a second drive motor 15. A feed device 17 for the perfumed dispersion acted upon by a pump 16 opens into the mixing device 2, its outlet opening 18 being arranged at the inlet end of the mixing screw 12 in the area of the solids inlet. The pump 16 is driven by the metering worm shaft 6 via a second sprocket gear 19.

At the output end of the mixing screw 12, a homogenizing device 20 described in detail below is provided as the output device. This is arranged above the rolling mill 3, which has an inlet hopper 21, three rotatably arranged rollers 22 and a scraper 23. The mixture emerging from the homogenizing device 20 falls through the inlet funnel 21 into the first nip 24 and is carried over the last two rollers 22 and the scraper 23 as piled soap.

In FIG. 2, the soap granulate 26 falls freely from the metering screw 7 at the input end of the mixing screw 12 into the screw chamber 25. The outlet opening 18 in the feed device 17 opens into the screw chamber 25 in this area and, in the free case, adds the dispersion 27 to the loose stream of soap granules. The inspection hole 45 is open to the surroundings. The worm housing 10 is provided with straight or helical cables 46 which increase the friction of the inner wall. A first variant of the homogenizing device 20 is shown at the outlet end of the mixing device 2. This device, shown in an exploded view in FIG. 3, has a saponification tool 28 connected to the mixing screw 12 with three wings 29 projecting in the radial direction, a perforated plate 30 arranged at a small axial distance from the vanes 29, and one arranged close to the perforated plate 30 Cutting tool 31 with cutting blades 32 projecting in the radial direction. The two tools, the ointment tool 28 and the cutting tool 31, are detachably fastened on the mixing screw shaft 11 by means of the screw nut 33 and rotate together with the mixing screw 12 during operation. The wings 32 are arranged offset to the wings 29 in the circumferential direction. The perforated plate 30, however, is detachably held in the worm housing 10 and secured against rotation. A locking ring 34 is provided at the output end of the screw housing 10. This is detachably held in the screw housing 10 by means of a bayonet catch.

4, a part of the perforated plate 30 shown in cross section has holes 35 through which the mixture exits the mixing device 2. Upstream of the perforated plate 30, the wings 29 of a saponification tool 28 can be seen in cross section at a short distance from the same. The direction of movement of the wing 29 in operation is indicated by an arrow 36. Essential for the function of such a wing 29 is its intake surface 37 facing the perforated plate 30, which is front in the direction of rotation, and its connected, in the direction of rotation rear saponification surface 38. The intake surface 37 is arranged at an acute angle to the surface 39 of the perforated plate 30 , flat surface, the inclination of which is selected such that it gives the component which has already been mixed and prehomogenized by the mixing screw 12, a movement component in the axial flow direction and pushes it through the perforated plate 30. A significant part of the product, however, gets into the space 40 between the perforated plate 30 and the flat saponing surface 38 opposite to it and parallel to it due to the wedge action of the pull-in surface 37 and is compressed into a thin layer. The product is subjected to an ointment effect and the dispersion 27 contained therein is evenly distributed.

In the second variant of the homogenizing device 20 shown in FIG. 5, a splitting tool 41 with three wings 42 protruding in the radial direction is connected upstream of the calving tool 28. These are arranged offset from the wings 29 of the ointmenting tool 28 in the circumferential direction by 60 ° each and cause the product to be shifted before it is exposed to the action of the ointmenting tool 28. This improves the homogenizing effect. In this case, the perforated plate 30 is not followed by a cutting tool 31, for example in order to obtain a marbling of the soap.

The third variant of the homogenizing device shown in FIG. 6 has two perforated plates 30, 43. The second perforated plate 43 is preceded by a saponification tool 28 and the latter by a conversion tool 41. The first perforated plate 30 is arranged immediately after the mixing screw 12 (not visible in FIG. 6) and has holes 35 of larger diameter than the second perforated plate 42. This improves the homogenizing effect.

An even better homogenizing effect can be achieved with the fourth variant of the homogenizing device 20 shown in FIG. 7 and also successfully tested with two successive stages. In the first stage there is a perforated plate 30 with holes 35 of larger diameter a first ointment tool 28, and in a second stage a perforated plate 43 with holes 44 of smaller diameter upstream of a second ointment tool 28. Furthermore, in the second stage, a salvaging tool 41 is connected upstream of the calving tool 28 and a cutting tool 31 is connected downstream of the perforated plate 43.

In general, the homogenizing effect of such a homogenizing device 20 can be improved by increasing the number of stages lined up. However, two such levels have already proven to be very effective.

Claims (12)

1. An apparatus for producing a mixture of at least one crushable particulate solid material (26) and at least one liquid component (27), in particular for use for the refinement of soap, the apparatus comprising a rotatable mixing screw (12) for mixing the components, at least one inlet device (1) for the particulate solid material (26), at least one feed device (17) forthe liquid components (27) and an outlet device attached to the mixing screw (12), the outlet device having at least one stationary apertured plate (30; 43) and a rotatable tool (28) with radially outwardly projecting vanes (29) arranged immediately in front of the apertured plate, characterised by the combination of the following features:

a) the outlet opening (18) of the feed device (17) for the liquid components is located directly in front of the inlet for the solid material (26) into the chamber (25) of the mixing screw,

b) at least one further rotatable tool (31; 41) with radially outwardly projecting vanes (32; 42) is associated with the apertured plate (30; 43) of the outlet device, with the vanes of sequential rotating tools (28, 31; 41, 28) being displaced relative to one another in the peripheral direction, and

c) the tool (28) arranged directly in front of the apertured plate (30; 43) is constructed as a smearing tool.

2. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1, characterised in that the mixing (12) is a short mixing screw with less than four and preferably two turns and a diameter/ length ratio of circa 1 : 1.

3. Apparatus in accordance with one of claims 1 or 2, characterised in that the further tool is a cutting tool (31) arranged after the apertured plate.

4. Apparatus in accordance with one of the claims 1 or 2, characterised in that the further tool is a layer turning tool (41) arranged in front of and spaced from the smearing tool (28).

5. Apparatus in accordance with claim 4, characterised in that a further apertured plate (30) with apertures of larger diameter is contained in the outlet device, the further apertured plate being arranged before the first apertured plate (43) and the toois (28, 41) associated therewith.

6. Apparatus in accordance with claim 5, characterised in that a further smearing tooi (28) is arranged directly in front of the further apertured plate (30), and, optionally, that a cutting tool is arranged after the first named apertured plate (43).

7. Apparatus in accordance with one of the preceding claims, characterised in that at least one of the vanes (29) of the smearing tool (28) has, as viewed in the direction of rotation, a front intake surface (37) facing the apertured plate (30; 43), with this intake surface imparting to the mixture in operation a component of movement in its direction of flow and pressing it through the apertured plate (30; 43), and, as viewed in the direction of rotation, a rear smearing surface (38) which adjoins the intake surface (37) and which is arranged at a small distance from the apertured plate (30; 43) and exerts an homogenising action on the mixture which has not passed through the apertured plate (30; 43).

8. Apparatus in accordance with one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the rotatable tools (28, 31, 41 ) each rotate together with the shaft (11) of the screw and are preferably demountably secured thereto.

9. Apparatus in accordance with claim 8, characterised in that the or each apertured plate (30; 30, 43) is demountably inserted in the screw housing (10) and is secured against rotation.

10. Apparatus in accordance with claim 9, characterised by a locking ring (34) which is demountably secured at the outlet end of the screw housing (10) by means of a bayonet connection.

11. Apparatus in accordance with one of the preceding claims, characterised in that it is so mounted on a rolling mill (3) above the rollers (22) thereof, that the outlet device (20) of the apparatus feeds the rollers.

12. Apparatus in accordance with one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the mixing screw (12) is arranged vertically.

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