Patent ID: 7476019

Claim:
An agitator comprising: a drive source generating rotational driving forces; a differential unit, having two rotating shafts extending therefrom, the differential unit receiving the rotational driving forces and transmitting the received rotational driving forces to the rotating shafts in a differential manner; two brake units alternately activated to exert friction braking force on the rotating shafts and stopping the rotating shafts from rotating, one of the two brake units being provided for each of the two rotating shafts; a rotation-direction switching unit, coupled to at least one of the rotating shafts, outputting rotational driving forces from the coupled rotating shaft while switching a rotation direction of the coupled rotating shaft between forward and reverse; a plurality of agitation vessels, each of the agitation vessels, (i) having therein a containing space for a material to be an agitation target, (ii) coupled to the rotation-direction switching unit in a manner that enables input of the output rotational driving forces to each of the agitation vessels, and (iii) having a rotatable structure; and a control unit outputting, based on a prestored drive sequence, control signals individually to each of the drive source, the differential unit, the two brake units, and the rotation-direction switching unit.