Apparatus for processing slurry and a process thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10052594-B2
Application number	US-201614997922-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 18, 2016
Priority date	Jan 18, 2016
Publication date	Aug 21, 2018
Grant date	Aug 21, 2018

Abstract

An apparatus and a method for processing slurry are provided. The apparatus includes a support frame including a vertical member and a horizontal member. The apparatus also includes a mounting unit mounted on the vertical member, a mixing chamber disposed on the horizontal member, a controller mounted on the mounting unit, and a stirrer attached to the controller. The mounting unit is operable to position the stirrer with respect to the mixing chamber such that the stirrer is in contact with a slurry in the mixing chamber during the mixing operation.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An apparatus comprising:
a support frame comprising a vertical member and a horizontal member;
a mounting unit mounted on the vertical member of the support frame;
a mixing chamber disposed on the horizontal member of the support frame;
a controller mounted on the mounting unit;
a stirrer attached to the mounting unit, wherein the mounting unit is operable to position the stirrer with respect to the mixing chamber such that the stirrer is in contact with a slurry in the mixing chamber during a mixing operation; and
a squeezer unit mounted on the mounting unit,
wherein the squeezer unit is semispherical in shape.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller is operable to rotate the stirrer about a rotational axis of the stirrer during the mixing operation.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the mounting unit is operable to position the squeezer unit with respect to the mixing chamber such that the squeezer unit is in contact with the slurry in the mixing chamber.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
a driving unit coupled to the mounting unit and operable to position the mounting unit along the vertical member of the support frame.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the mounting unit is rotatable around the vertical member of the support frame in a horizontal plane so as to reposition the stirrer and the squeezer unit with respect to the mixing chamber.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the stirrer comprises a stirrer shaft and one or more stirrer blades affixed on the stirrer shaft.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the one or more stirrer blades are arranged in a helical pattern.

8. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the one or more stirrer blades include two or more stirrer blades, and
wherein the two or more stirrer blades are arranged in series.

9. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the one or more stirrer blades include two or more stirrer blades, and
wherein the two or more stirrer blades are arranged in parallel.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a cooling unit thermally coupled with the mixing chamber.

11. An apparatus comprising:
a support frame comprising a vertical member and a horizontal member;
a mounting unit mounted on the vertical member of the support frame;
a mixing chamber disposed on the horizontal member of the support frame;
a stirrer attached to the mounting unit;
a squeezer unit attached to the mounting unit; and
a driving unit coupled to the mounting unit and operable to position the mounting unit along the vertical member of the support frame such that one of the stirrer and the squeezer unit are positioned with respect to the mixing chamber,
wherein the squeezer unit is semispherical in shape.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , further comprising a controller coupled to the stirrer and operable to rotate the stirrer about a rotational axis of the stirrer.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the drive unit is operable to rotate the mounting unit around the vertical member of the support frame in a horizontal plane.

14. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the drive unit is operable to move the mounting unit along the vertical member of the support frame in a vertical direction.

15. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the stirrer comprises a stirrer shaft and one or more stirrer blades affixed on the stirrer shaft.

16. The apparatus of claim 11 , further comprising a cooling unit thermally coupled with the mixing chamber.

Assignees

• B R Chethan Ravi
• Mishra Anant Kumar
• Nair Sudev
• Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics Inc

Inventors

• B R Chethan Ravi
• Mishra Anant Kumar
• Nair Sudev

Classifications

• B01F15/065

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B01F7/22

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B01F3/14

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B01F7/242

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B01F2003/125

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic