System for homogeneously mixing plural incoming product streams of different composition
First Claim
1. A continuous mixer for mixing incoming product streams to yield a final product stream of desired characteristics, said mixer comprising:
- an elongated housing having a plurality of inputs for receiving said incoming product streams, and an output for said final product; and
a plurality of elongated, side-by-side, axially rotatable mixing screws located within said housing and extending along the length thereof for conveying and mixing said incoming product streams and for moving said final product out said output, at least a pair of said mixing screws having a central section and a series of mixing elements projecting outwardly from said central section, said mixing elements each having a base and a plurality of converging sidewall surfaces extending outwardly from said base to present an outer end having a surface area less than the surface area of the base, at least certain of said elements being located along at least a portion of said central section.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A continuous mixer (32) is disclosed which can be used for mixing of incoming product streams (22, 24) of different characteristics respectively to yield a final product stream (26) of predetermined, consistent characteristics. The mixer (32) includes an elongated housing (42) having a pair of product input ports (50,52) and an output (64), with a pair of elongated, axially rotatable, mixing screws (44,46) located within the housing (42). The screws (44, 46) include a series of outwardly projecting mixing elements (114) preferably of pyramidal design and arrayed in a helical pattern along the length ofthe screws (44,46). The mixer (32) may be used in a processing system (10) having individual product lines (28, 30) coupled to the mixer (32), and is especially useful for processing of incoming meat streams (22,24) of different fat/lean ratios, to give a final comminuted output stream (26) of an intermediate and essentially constant fat/lean ratio.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A continuous mixer for mixing incoming product streams to yield a final product stream of desired characteristics, said mixer comprising:
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an elongated housing having a plurality of inputs for receiving said incoming product streams, and an output for said final product; and
a plurality of elongated, side-by-side, axially rotatable mixing screws located within said housing and extending along the length thereof for conveying and mixing said incoming product streams and for moving said final product out said output, at least a pair of said mixing screws having a central section and a series of mixing elements projecting outwardly from said central section, said mixing elements each having a base and a plurality of converging sidewall surfaces extending outwardly from said base to present an outer end having a surface area less than the surface area of the base, at least certain of said elements being located along at least a portion of said central section. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26)
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12. A screw set for a mixer, comprising:
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a pair of elongated, side-by-side, axially rotatable mixing screws each having a central section and a series of mixing elements projecting outwardly from said central section, said mixing elements each having a base and a plurality of converging sidewall surfaces extending outwardly from said base to present an outer end having a surface area less than the surface area of the base, at least certain of said elements being oriented in a helical pattern along at least a portion of said central section.
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23. A method of controlling a mixing system designed to receive incoming product streams of different characteristics to yield a final product stream, said system including a plurality of incoming product lines each operably coupled with a continuous mixer, each of said incoming product lines including an incoming product source, a product pump and an incoming product analyzer, said method comprising the steps of:
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operating said product line pumps to generate said incoming product streams;
analyzing each of said incoming product streams to determine a desired input characteristic thereof;
adjusting the operational speed of said pumps in response to said analyzing steps to create respective incoming product streams having said desired input characteristic at a substantially constant magnitude for each incoming product stream;
after said adjusting step, directing said incoming product streams to said mixer, and operating the mixer to create a final product stream;
analyzing said final product stream to determine a desired output characteristic thereof; and
altering the operational speed of one or more of said pumps as necessary to achieve and maintain said desired output characteristic in said final product stream, in response to said final product analysis step.
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Specification