Patent ID: 8177419
Filing Date: 2012-05-15
Classification: A01K,B01F,Y10S

Abstract:
1. A mixer for mixing a mixture comprising: a housing having first and second opposite end walls, first and second opposite side walls, and a bottom wall forming therein and defining a first chamber and a second chamber in side-by side relation to one another and being partially in communication with one another; two augers within the first chamber, each of the augers having at least one radial member attached to an auger shaft, and each of the two augers being mounted for rotation between the first and second opposite end walls, wherein the two augers comprise an upper auger and a lower auger, the upper auger being directly above and aligned with the lower auger within the first chamber; a rotor within the second chamber having an elongated rotor shaft mounted for rotation about a rotational rotor axis between the first and second end walls of the housing; a plurality of arm assemblies mounted in spaced relation to one another along the length of the rotor shaft, each of the arm assemblies comprising two or more arms, each of the arms having a first end operatively attached to the rotor shaft and having a second end located in an outward radial direction from the rotor shaft; all of the second ends of the arm assemblies within each of the arm assemblies being staggered with respect to the adjacent arm assemblies and being free from attachment to each of the adjacent arm assemblies; a plurality of paddles, each fixed to the second end of one and only one of the arms of the arm assemblies; mechanism attached to, and rotating, each of the upper auger, lower auger, and rotor; and wherein each of the paddles is free from surfaces that would impart significant axial movement to a mixture in the second chamber as the rotor shaft is rotated.