Patent ID: 9714894
Date: 2017-07-25
CPC Classifications: G01N

Claim:
1. A device for analyzing aggregate mixtures, comprising a housing; a test chamber, said test chamber being substantially cylindrical and having a hollow interior space defined by an interior wall, said test chamber having an access mechanism having an opened state and a closed state, said access mechanism suitably adapted to permit access into the interior space when in the opened state and to prevent access to the interior space when in the closed state, said test chamber being oriented substantially vertically within the housing, and said test chamber being suitably adapted to maintain a pressure lower than ambient pressure when the access mechanism is in the closed state; a plurality of sieves, each said sieve being suitably adapted to retain a quantity of aggregate mixture, with each sieve having an open top, a substantially vertical circumferential sidewall, and a substantially planar, circular bottom, said bottom comprising a mesh and having a central aperture, with the mesh of each sieve having a plurality of apertures of substantially uniform size and with the size of the apertures of the mesh of each sieve being different than the sizes of the apertures of the mesh of each other sieve, said plurality of sieves suitably adapted to be placed within the interior of the test chamber such that the sieve with the smallest mesh apertures is placed lowest within the test chamber and the sieve with the largest mesh apertures is placed highest within the test chamber and all remaining sieves are placed within the test chamber in order of mesh aperture size with sieves having larger mesh apertures placed above sieves having smaller mesh apertures; a drive shaft, having an upper end and a lower end and being substantially cylindrical, said drive shaft being oriented substantially vertically and located within the interior of the test chamber, said drive shaft being suitably adapted to engage the plurality of sieves through their respective central apertures, said drive shaft being suitably adapted to rotate, simultaneously rotating each sieve engaged thereupon, said drive shaft further being suitably adapted to move in an upward vertical direction, sequentially lifting each sieve engaged thereupon; and said drive shaft further being suitably adapted to move in a downward vertical direction, sequentially lowering each sieve engaged thereupon; a rotary drive, located within the housing below the test chamber, suitably adapted to rotate the drive shaft; a lift assembly, located within the housing below the test chamber, suitably adapted to lift and lower the drive shaft; a weighing assembly, comprising a load cell, said weighing assembly integrated with the lift assembly and the drive shaft, suitably adapted to register the weight of the drive shaft, any sieves engaged upon the drive shaft, and any aggregate mixture contained within the sieves; a plurality of guide rails, corresponding in number to the maximum number of sieves, each said guide rail located within the interior of the test chamber circumferentially along the interior wall of the test chamber and proximate to the location of a sieve placed upon the drive shaft, each said guide rail being continuous and having a varying degree of slope from the horizontal, said slope changing uniformly about the circumference of said guide rail, with said slope varying, with each of the plurality of guide rails having substantially the same shape as each other guide rail, with each of the plurality of guide rails offset in relation to an adjacent guide rail by a rotation of between ten and thirty degrees, all said guide rails having the same degree of offset from adjacent guide rails, with the guide rails suitably adapted to engage with corresponding sieves such that when said sieves are rotated the varying slope of the guide rail causes the engaged sieve to tilt in a multiplicity of varying directions between positive thirty degrees to negative thirty degrees from the horizontal; a wash component, said wash component located within the housing and comprising a heating component, said heating component located within the interior of the test chamber and suitably adapted to increase the temperature within the interior of the test chamber; a pressure control component, located within the housing and in connection with the test chamber, comprising a pressure lowering device and an interface between the pressure lowering device and the interior of the test chamber, said pressure control component suitably adapted to lower the pressure within the interior of the test chamber to less than ambient pressure when the access mechanism of the test chamber is in the closed state; a control component, said control component suitably adapted to control the operation of the rotary drive, the lift assembly, the weighing assembly, the wash component, the heating component, and the pressure control component; a computer, having a user interface for entering and displaying data and a means for interfacing with the weighing assembly such that weights registered by the weighing assembly are received by said computer; and computer software, suitably adapted to run on the computer and to process data received by the computer to provide a meaningful analysis of the aggregate mixture; whereby aggregate mixtures to be analyzed are placed in the sieves and the sieves are placed into the test chamber, and an analysis is performed incorporating a combination of one or more of the steps of sieving, washing, drying, and heating the aggregate mixture while subjecting the aggregate mixture to a lower pressure, with one or more weighing operations performed on the aggregate mixture in conjunction with the foregoing steps, all such steps controlled by the control component, with results from the one or more weighing operations provided to the computer to be analyzed by the computer software.