Patent ID: 7070318

Claim:
Apparatus for mixing colorant with viscous material which is contained in a reservoir ( 14 ) of an elongated cylindrical walled tube ( 16 ) between a sealed dispensing end ( 18 ) and an open filler end ( 20 ) thereof, said reservoir being provided by a cylindrical inner surface ( 22 ) of the cylindrical wall of said tube and having a substantially uniform diameter, said apparatus comprising a filler end seal ( 24 ) adapted to be brought into static engagement with inner wall surface portions ( 188 ) of said tube adjacent said filler end opening with sufficient radial force against said wall portions to require an axial pull force on said seal of at least about three pounds to extract said seal from said filler end, whereby said tube is locked and sealed to said seal to prevent leakage of said material from said reservoir ( 14 ) during a mixing operation, a bore ( 28 ) formed thru said seal ( 24 ) substantially on a longitudinal axis ( 30 ) of said tube, an elongated shaft ( 32 ) mounted thru said bore for both rotational and axial motion relative to said seal and said tube, said shaft having a proximal end ( 34 ) lying axially outwardly of said seal and having a distal end ( 36 ) lying within said reservoir, a mixer impeller ( 38 ) mounted on said distal end and having peripheral portions ( 40 ) adapted to lie closely adjacent to said inner surface of said tube, a first power mechanism is provided for causing relative axial motion between said tube and said shaft and impeller substantially completely thru said reservoir of material in a reciprocating manner, and a second power mechanism is provided and is engageable with said shaft for rotating said impeller as it is being moved thin said material.