Mobile admixture product manufacturing and delivery process and system

• US 5,895,116 A
• Filed: 08/25/1997
• Issued: 04/20/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 08/25/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: W.R. Grace & Co.-Conn. (WR Grace & Company)
• Original Assignee: W.R. Grace & Co.-Conn. (WR Grace & Company)
• Inventors: Shea, Thomas, Kreinheder, Mark
• Primary Examiner(s): SOOHOO, TONY GLEN
• Application Number:
  US08/918,271
• Time in Patent Office: 603 Days
• Field of Search: 366/3, 366/8, 366/10, 366/16, 366/17, 366/18, 366/19, 366/20, 366/21, 366/42, 366/43, 366/53, 366/62, 366/63, 366/140, 366/150.1, 366/151.1, 366/142
• US Class Current: 366/8
• CPC Class Codes: B28C 7/02 Controlling the operation of the mixing
• CPC Class Codes: B28C 7/04 Supplying or proportioning the ingredients B28C7/022 takes precedence; forming a predetermined ratio of the components to be mixed, in general B01F35/80

Abstract

A mobile system and process for manufacturing and delivering concrete admixture finished products comprises: providing in separate transport tanks mounted on a vehicular frame at least two raw admixture materials (components); and blending together said at least two concrete admixture raw materials to provide a finished admixture product, whereby a finished admixture product is provided at a customer site, such as at a customer'"'"'s mixing plant. Preferred processes and systems of the invention employ pump means for feeding admixture raw materials from the transport tanks to a blender, metering means for measuring the amount or rate of raw materials fed into the blender, and quality control units for monitoring physical characteristics of the finished product being delivered. Quality control units, such as devices for measuring certain physical properties such as total solids, specific gravity, pH, viscosity, volume, or other properties, may be employed to monitor, control, and track the nature of finished admixture product as they are made and/or dispensed, and even of the individual raw material components being processed in the system.

Claims

1. A process for manufacturing concrete admixture products comprising:

providing in separate transport tanks mounted on a vehicular frame at least two admixture raw materials;

transporting said at least two admixture raw materials;

blending together said at least two raw materials to form a finished admixture product;

subjecting blended material to a quality control unit operative for measuring at least one physical quality of said blended material; and

dispensing a finished admixture product.

2. The process of claim 1 further comprising:

providing valve means or pump means for controlling the flow of raw materials or admixtures into a blender mounted on said vehicular frame.

3. The process of claim 2 further comprising:

providing metering means for metering raw material from said transport tanks into said blender.

4. The process of claim 1 further comprising:

metering water into said blender and combining said water with raw material therein.

5. The process of claim 4 wherein said water is sourced at a customer site.

6. The process of claim 1 wherein said quality control unit is mounted on said vehicular frame.

7. The process of claim 5 wherein a physical property comprises total solids, pH, viscosity, or specific gravity.

8. The process of claim 1 further comprising:

dispensing the finished admixture product into a holding tank located at a customer site.

9. The process of claim 8 wherein, after blending together raw materials and dispensing a finished admixture product at the customer site, a different combination of raw materials is blended to provide a different finished admixture product at the customer site.

10. The process of claim 1 further comprising:

providing metering means for controlling the rate at which said raw materials are fed from said transport tanks; and

providing a central process unit connected to said metering means, whereby the rate at which said raw materials are fed from said transport tanks can be controlled.

11. The process of claim 1 wherein each of said at least two raw admixture materials, when combined with water or another raw material, are operative to provide a finished admixture product comprising an accelerator, set retarder, air detrainer, air entrainer, alkali-activity reducer, bonding admixtures, water-reducing admixture, superplasticizer, colorant, corrosion inhibitor, damp proofing admixture, gas-forming agent, permeability reducer, pumping aid, biocidal admixture, or mixture thereof.

12. The process of claim 1 wherein said transport tanks have volume sensing means.

13. The process of claim 1 wherein said vehicular frame is a truck, trailer, or other mobile platform structure having wheels.

14. A mobile concrete admixture manufacturing system comprising a plurality of separate transport tanks mounted on a vehicular frame and containing in said tanks at least two different admixture raw materials;

said system further comprising a blender for mixing together said at least two raw materials, pumping means for feeding raw material from said transport tanks to said blender, metering means for metering said raw materials provided into said blender, and at least one quality control unit for measuring a physical quality of a raw materials or finished admixture product to be dispensed from said mobile system.

15. The system of claim 14 further comprising a central processing unit electronically connected to said pumping means, metering means, and said at least one quality control unit.

16. The process of claim 15 further comprising an alarm operative to signal an operator if said at least one quality control unit detects that a physical characteristic of the customer profile data is not being met.

17. The system of claim 15 wherein said central processor unit, in response to a signal from said at least one quality control unit, is operative to shut off or increase the flow of a particular admixture raw material.

18. The system of claim 15 wherein transport tanks have volume sensing means operative to provide a signal to said central processor unit, and said central processor unit is operative to provide an indication, through a print-out or monitor display, to the operator regarding admixture raw material levels in the tanks.

19. The system of claim 15 wherein said vehicular frame is a truck, trailer, or other mobile platform structure having wheels.

20. The system of claim 14 further comprising metering means for metering the amount or rate of water desired to be introduced into said blender.

21. The system of claim 14 wherein said at least one quality control unit is operative for measuring total solids, viscosity, specific gravity, pH, or volume of concrete admixture being dispensed from said system.

22. The system of claim 19 wherein each of said at least two raw admixture materials, when combined with water or another raw material, are operative to provide a finished admixture product comprising an accelerator, set retarder, air detrainer, air entrainer, alkali-activity reducer, bonding admixtures, water-reducing admixture, superplasticizer, colorant, corrosion inhibitor, damp proofing admixture, gas-forming agent, permeability reducer, pumping aid, biocidal admixture, or mixture thereof.

23. The system of claim 14 wherein said raw materials comprise a material selected from molasses, sulfonates, calcium chloride, amines and alkanolamines, tall oil fatty acids, fatty acids and their derivatives, fatty esters and their derivatives, sodium gluconate, dyes, formic acid, sucrose, sugars, glucose, sodium nitrite, sodium nitrate, calcium nitrite, calcium nitrate, calcium bromide, corn syrup, sodium sarcosinate, calcium lignosulfonate, lignin, alcohols, glycols, glycerols, acetic acid, anhydrous caustic soda, sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, sodium linear alkylate sulfonate, formaldehyde, silica, a diglycinate, polymers containing oxyalkylene, calcium formate, formic acid, siloxanes, surfactants, resins and resin acids, or mixtures thereof.

24. A process for manufacturing finished admixture product at a customer site comprising:

providing in a plurality of separate transport tanks mounted on a vehicular frame different admixture raw materials;

providing at least one blender mounted on said vehicular frame for mixing together at least two of said different raw materials;

providing metering means for measuring the amount or rate of said raw materials provided from some of said separate transport tanks to said at least one blender;

blending said raw materials to provide a finished admixture product to be dispensed into a customer site holding tank;

providing at least one quality control unit to measure at least one physical quality of the finished admixture product;

dispensing said finished admixture product into a customer site holding tank; and

said process further comprising providing a central processor unit electronically connected to said metering means;

inputting customer profile data into said central processor unit; and

metering raw materials into said blender in accordance with said data input.

25. The process of claim 24 further comprising the step of subjecting finished admixture product to be dispensed to at least one quality control unit and measuring a physical quality of the finished admixture product.

26. The process of claim 25 further comprising providing an alarm operative to signal an operator if said at least one quality control unit detects that a physical characteristic of the customer profile data is not being met.

27. The process of claim 25 wherein said central processor unit, in response to a signal from said at least one quality control unit, is operative to shut off or increase the flow of a particular admixture raw material.

28. The process of claim 24 wherein each of said at least two raw admixture materials, when combined with water or another raw material, are operative to provide a finished admixture product comprising an accelerator, set retarder, air detrainer, air entrainer, alkali-activity reducer, bonding admixtures, water-reducing admixture, superplasticizer, colorant, corrosion inhibitor, damp proofing admixture, gas-forming agent, permeability reducer, pumping aid, biocidal admixture, or mixture thereof.

29. The process of claim 24 wherein said transport tanks have volume sensing means operative to provide a signal to said central processor unit, and said central processor unit is operative to provide an indication, through a print-out or monitor display, to the operator regarding admixture raw material levels in the tanks.

30. The process of claim 24 further comprising transmitting customer profile information from a central dispatching office at another location to said central processor unit.

31. The process of claim 24 wherein said vehicular frame is a truck, trailer, or other mobile platform structure having wheels.

32. The process of claim 24 wherein said raw materials comprise a material selected from molasses, sulfonates, calcium chloride, amines and alkanolamines, tall oil fatty acids, fatty acids and their derivatives, fatty esters and their derivatives, sodium gluconate, dyes, formic acid, sucrose, sugars, glucose, sodium nitrite, sodium nitrate, calcium nitrite, calcium nitrate, calcium bromide, corn syrup, sodium sarcosinate, calcium lignosulfonate, lignin, alcohols, glycols, glycerols, acetic acid, anhydrous caustic soda, sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, sodium linear alkylate sulfonate, formaldehyde, silica, a diglycinate, polymers containing oxyalkylene, calcium formate, formic acid, siloxanes, surfactants, resins and resin acids, or mixtures thereof.