With a mixer, especially an industrial batch mixer, it is very desirable to easily load and empty the mixer. When the mixer is loaded, various ingredients are added. Each ingredient, by itself, is usually easily handled. After the ingredients are mixed, at least a physical intermixture takes place. Also, a chemical reaction may take place. For the sake of discussion, it is assumed that both of these procedures form a product.
Whatever happens between the ingredients in the mixer to form a product, that product must be recovered from the mixer. It is very desirable to empty the mixer or recover the product in an appropriate fashion. Since the product is usually heavier than the ingredients, that extra weight renders that recovery difficult.
Adding ingredients to or removing a product from a batch mixer creates a number of ergonomic problems. Lifting of heavy items is always difficult and can be dangerous. Efficiently removing a product from a batch mixer requires great care and efficiency in order to have an effective procedure.
Customarily, a batch mixer can require stairs or a platform in order to provide appropriate access thereto. Such structures greatly increase the amount of floor space required for a batch mixer. If an efficient batch mixer can be developed, which minimizes the use of floor space, great advantages are obtained.
Various types of ancillary equipment are usually required for a batch mixer. Such equipment takes up space and complicates the manufacturing process. Any reduction in such equipment also offers great advantages.
Furthermore, recovery of a product and adding of a plurality of ingredients combine to cause a substantial number of problems. That which can assist in the recovery of a product can interfere with the addition of ingredients function. That which can assist with the addition of ingredients function can interfere with the recovery of a product.
It is also well recognized that the ingredients added to the mixer can require a variety of different parameters for the structure of the mixer. For example, if concrete is being made, heavy-duty characteristics are more critical than sanitary characteristics. If a food product is being formed, sanitary characteristics become extremely critical.
Many times, accessibility to a batch mixer is limited. Such limitations interfere with the use of that mixer and complicate the manufacturing process. For example, in a food system, it is critical for that mixer to be easily cleaned. So if accessibility to a batch mixer can be improved, the batch mixer becomes much easier to clean.
Whatever product is formed by the mixer, an efficient recovery mechanism offers a great advantage. In other words, if the product may be advanced to the next step in the process, in an efficient manner, great advantages are attained. If recovery gets the product to a point of use efficiently, costs can be reduced and other advantages obtained.