VACUUM PUG MILL

摘要

A pug mill having a housing and a cantilevered shaft extending through the housing includes, in seriatim, a vacuum chamber, a wall, a mixing chamber and a reduction cone. A communication port about the shaft is positioned in the wall between the vacuum chamber and the mixing chamber. Vacuum can be maintained within the mixing chamber by air passing through the port. An auger associated with the shaft forces clay toward the reduction cone. This creates a seal for maintaining vacuum within the mixing chamber and extrudes cylindrical blocks of conditioned clay without significant air bubbles. A deflection plate rotating with the shaft and a spiral element about the shaft keep the communication port clear. The shaft is eccentrically mounted. The dividing wall is removable.

主权项

1. A pug mill comprising
a sealable chamber; a wall dividing the sealable chamber into a mixing chamber and a vacuum chamber, the sealable chamber including a mixing chamber housing and a vacuum chamber housing which mate together at the wall, the wall being separable from both the mixing chamber housing and the vacuum chamber housing, the wall including a communication port therethrough in communication with the mixing chamber and the vacuum chamber; a seal between the mixing chamber housing and the vacuum chamber housing, the wall having a periphery engageable with the sealable chamber, the seal being outwardly of the periphery of the wall.