A twin screw extruder type batch mixer that is comprised of two screws parallel to
each other with the distance between the two screw center lines being larger or equal than the half of the sum of two screw diameters and the two screws conveying material in the opposite direction during mixing and reacting stage and the same direction during charging and discharging stages; and a barrel casing completely enclosing said screws which can run clockwise and counter-clockwise independently.
(a) two screws parallel to each other and non-intermeshing;
(b) a barrel casing completely enclosing said screws and containing a feed inlet and a product outlet with a closing device on each, said screws having same hands throughout the entire mixer barrel casing.
(c) means for charging materials to the mixer by running the two screws in the same direction either clockwise or counter-clockwise so that the material flows from the inlet to the outlet direction;
(d) means for melting and mixing the material by running the two screws in the opposite directions so that one screw move the material from the inlet to the outlet direction while the other screw moves the material from outlet to the inlet direction;
(e) means for discharging the mixed material by running the two screws in the same direction either clockwise or counter-clockwise so that the material flows from the inlet to the outlet direction;
(f) means for forming the discharging material into certain shapes connected to said mixer outlet.
This invention relates to batch mixers with twin screw extruder configurations. The mixers are useful for melting, mixing and reacting highly viscous materials. Especially, they are useful for melting, mixing and reacting polymer materials.
As the material in this type of mixer experiences similar history as in a twin screw extruder, the information learnt from the batch mixer can be readily transfered to a continuous twin screw extrusion process.