DESC:Field of Invention
The present invention generally relates to the mixing of materials. More specifically, the present invention relates to the mixing of a variety of raw materials for making the mixture of materials required for making composite wood and non-wood-based products. Even more particularly, the present invention relates to a mixer having a plurality of blades for thorough mixing of the materials for the most suitable mix of materials required.

Background of Invention
While mixing any raw materials for manufacturing of composite materials, utmost care has to be taken to ensure efficient mixing of all the components, materials or ingredients in optimized quantities. This makes sure that the matrix materials are well bound, surrounded by reinforced materials, and stay intact throughout the mixing process as well as during post-treatment later to blending. Usually for an efficient mixing, the large industrial mixers for mixing the matrix materials, reinforced materials or powder materials are either horizontally placed mixers with single or two shafts or vertical mixers with a single helical shaft. The existing mixers and blenders are custom made to suit a particular application, whilst also taking care of the mixing, coating, and drying of the mixtures. However, the available mixers and blenders have some shortfalls. For instance, the horizontal mixers require more electrical and mechanical power to mix the materials efficiently. Additionally, the leftover material on the sides of the container is not scraped and eventually, it has to be either manually scraped or gets wasted with the subsequent washing cycle, if at all required. Furthermore, horizontal blenders have bulky shafts due to higher bending moment loads. This takes up large volumes in the tank and further interferes with spraying/ aerosol applications, as the particles adhere to the shaft rather than interacting with the primary particles, resulting in uneven/non-uniform blends. In the case of adhesives, cleaning is also a problem since the particles adhere to the bulky shafts and cause trouble while cleaning. In the composite wood industry- horizontally oriented, ribbon type blenders are most commonly used. While considering primary and secondary materials that are involved the mixing process, primary being the bulk material in the container and secondary material being the components added later to the bulk material. These blenders work well when the materials being mixed/blender are in comparable quantities e.g. blending straw fibres with formaldehyde. But, when the secondary components are added in small quantities, these existing blenders fail to give satisfactory results as secondary component particles adhere to blender parts and do not interact with the primary materials.
The vertical mixers generally have one helical blade, which is conically shaped to minimize the wastage and to maintain a continuous stirring of the material so that the mixture is uniformly moved up and down and homogeneously mixed. The vertical mixers are also equipped with a separate spray mechanism in case, the mixture needs to maintain moisture. However, the vertical and conical mixers have a challenge of leakage and wastage due to improper scraping of the sides. Also, the sprinklers for liquid ingredients are placed separately and are not in sync with the cycle of the blender.
To address these challenges, there is a high and unmet need for a novel vertical blender assembly with different blades ensuring all-round motion of the particles, thereby increasing the interactions and causing minimum wastage resulting in enhancing the quality of the mixture. These blades namely, anchor blade, paddle blade and ribbon blade can be set into a multiple shafts program cycle allowing them to move in a synchronised manner for mixing as well as scrapping. This assembly provides a best possible alternative for existing vertical and horizontal with minimum wastage and efficient mixing.

Objects of the Invention

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a vertical blender assembly for mixing the material.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a vertical blender assembly comprising various blades such as anchor blade, paddle blade and ribbon blade moving in synchronized manner in a cycle.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a vertical blender assembly comprising various shafts for each of the blades such as anchor shaft, paddle shaft and ribbon shaft for moving the respective blades.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide nozzle arrangement for spraying the liquids such as water, homogenizer means or adhesives.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a vertical blender assembly for mixing the material with motor and housing for the same for effectively moving the blades in a synchronized manner.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a vertical blender for mixing the material having a blender tank for containing the material while mixing.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a system for vertical blender assembly to maintain the physical parameters of the mixing such as moisture, humidity, RPM of the blades and temperature of the mixture, control quantity, flow rate and extent of atomization of the organic compounds to be sprayed.
Yet another object of the present invention is to facilitate independent motion of each blade during their respective moving cycles.

Summary of the Invention
Accordingly, the present invention discloses a vertical blender having three different blades and different shafts for efficient mixing in less time with minimal wastage wherein, all the three blades are interconnected for synchronization between the movement. Once the motor is turned on, all three blades start their clockwise and anti-clockwise movement controlled by a microcontroller-based system. This system controls the shafts to move one after another within a specific time duration fitted. The spraying and mixing time is customised and is dependent on the type of mixture to be mixed. The vertical blender of the present invention comprises of an anchor blade (6) as the outermost blade to facilitate the radial movement of the materials and also helps in scraping off the residual material sticking or left on the sidewalls of the container, a ribbon blade (7) for facilitating the axial movement of the material and the paddle blade (8) for preventing the material from accumulating in the middle of the blender tank (9). The provision for nozzle attachment (11) are affixed on top of the blades to spray the contents properly so that it gets mixed or coated with the mixture evenly and are integrated with the mixing procedure.
The present invention has its direct application in composite wood and non-wood based industry, food and beverage industry, and oil industry. It also has its application in chemical industry, where a variety of different chemical and non-chemical components/ ingredients are required to be mixed in bulk quantities.

Detailed description of the invention
The assembly of the vertical blender for mixing consists of a blender tank (9), a blender stand (10), a motor, a motor shaft (2), an anchor blade (6), a ribbon blade (7) and paddle blade (7) attached to paddle blade shaft (3), ribbon blade shaft (4), anchor blade shaft (5) respectively. All three blades can move independently of each other and can rotate in both clockwise and anti-clockwise directions.
The motor has been kept in the motor housing (1) and drives the motor shaft (2); the gear mounted on the motor shaft (2) meshes with each of the driven gears on the driven shafts one by one according to a prescribed/ predetermined cycle thus, transferring the motion to the individual blades. The gears on the motor shafts (2) can be chosen to maintain a range of (100 to 700 rpm). Spraying and mixing time are fixed based on the adhesive properties, while the spraying and the blender start simultaneously.
In an embodiment of the present inventionthe sequence of motion of the blades is as follows:
First, the anchor blade (6) starts for a time period depending upon the property of the mixture then, the helical ribbon (7) followed by paddle blade (8) and lastly, all three blades to move simultaneously. The said sequence is repeated until the mixture is homogenous and evenly coated with the adhesive or any other formulation or water for maintaining the moisture with the help of nozzles through which the liquid is sprayed.
Each blade is given an equal amount of time to make sure that the raw material is moving in every direction in the blender and there is no stagnation at any point in time All the blades rotate sequentially so that the mixture is under constant mixing and yield a uniform mixture.
The first blade to start moving is the outermost blade i.e., the anchor blade (6) solves two purposes- firstly, it brings the material to be mixed in the centre and secondly, it subsequently scraps the remaining material on the sides of the blender tank (9). The said anchor blade (6) moves for a fixed time period depending upon the type of mixture to be mixed.
The next blade to start rotating along the axis of the central shaft is the ribbon blade (7) which stirs the mixture up and down in the blender tank (9). The said ribbon blade (7) moves for a fixed time period depending upon the type of mixture to be mixed. The next blade to start rotating is the paddle blade (8). The said paddle blade prevents the material from stagnating in the middle of the blender tank (9) and also moves for a fixed time period depending upon the type of the mixture.
In a preferred embodiment the vertical blender assembly for consistent mixture of the present invention is characterised to be used for mixing the bagasse with a particular moisture content as the raw material along with binding agent wherein, the total blending time is 10 minutes and has been divided into 5 mixing cycles of 2 minutes each. Each cycle has a constant blade speed of 300 rpm.
Table 1 below explains the legends used in the drawings and their description
Sr. No Legend Legend Description
1 Motor Housing To accommodate and mount the motor
2 Motor shaft To mount the driver gears
3 Paddle blade shaft To move the paddle blade
4 Ribbon blade shaft To move the ribbon blade
5 Anchor blade shaft To move the anchor blade
6 Anchor blade To facilitate radial movement of bulk
7 Ribbon blade To facilitate axial movement of bulk
8 Paddle blade To prevent bulk material stagnation in the middle of the tank
9 Blender Tank To act as a container for the bulk material while blending
10 Blender stand To support the blender tank and facilitate easy discharge of material
11 Provision for nozzle attachment Nozzles used for spraying will fit here
12 Sleeve for nozzle housing To contain the nozzles for spraying

Brief description of the drawing
Figure 1 explains the complete blender assembly.
Figure 2 shows the provision for nozzles.
Figure 3 shows the schematic diagram of the blender assembly inside the blender tank.
Figure 4 shows a perspective view of the blender assembly inside the blender tank.

Figure 5 shows a process flow for mixing involved in blending the bulk material for making a particle board

Figure 6 shows the percentage area covered with dye.
Figure 7 and Figure 8 shows the comparison of the mechanical properties of particle boards made from using existing blenders as opposed to vertical blender assembly of the present invention.
Detailed description of drawing:
Figure 1 further shows the motor housing (1) on top to accommodate and mount the motor which has a motor shaft (2) to mount driver gears. The three different shafts namely, paddle blade shaft (3), ribbon blade Shaft (4) and anchor blade shaft (5) are used to rotate the anchor blade (6), ribbon blade (7) and paddle blade (8), respectively. The blender assembly is housed in the blender tank (9), which also contains the mixture to be blended. The blender tank (9) is supported by a blender stand (10) and facilitates the easy discharge of the blend.

Figure 2 further explains the provision for nozzle attachment (11) used for fixing the nozzles for spraying the coating material or water for maintaining the moisture in the blend. The said provision for nozzle attachment (11) is made on a separate stationary disc (12) in between the anchor blade (6) and the ribbon blade (7).
Figure 3 further explains blender assembly inside the blender tank (9) and shows the arrangement of paddle blade shaft (3), ribbon blade shaft (4), anchor blade shaft (5) and its connection with anchor blade (6), ribbon blade (7) and paddle blade (8).
Figure 4 further explains the arrangement of paddle blade shaft (3), ribbon blade shaft (4), anchor blade shaft (5) and its connection with anchor blade (6), ribbon blade (7) and paddle blade (8). The provisional for nozzle attachment (11) on the disc (12) is attached to anchor blade shaft (5) attaching the nozzles for spraying the coating material or water to maintain the moisture in the blend.
Figure 5 further explains the process flow for mixing involved in blending the bulk material for making a particle board. The total mixing time has been kept constant at 10 minutes and has been divided into 5 mixing cycles of 2 minutes each. Each cycle has a constant blade speed of 300 rpm.
Figure 6 further shows the percentage area covered with dye with the help of different blenders as opposed to blender of present invention and it is evident that the assembly of the present invention contributes to the maximum percentage area covered i.e 85%
Figure 7 and Figure 8 further explains the comparison of the mechanical properties such as Modulus of Rupture (MoR) and Modulus of Elasticity (MoE) of particle boards made from using existing blenders as opposed to vertical blender assembly of the present invention. The comparison clearly indicates that the vertical blender assembly of the present invention provides homogenous and consistent mixture. Further the particle boards made from the homogenous material using the blender of the present invention surpass the international standard 3087 and other blenders in terms of mechanical properties.

Advantages:
1. The assembly of the present invention gives a thorough mixing of the constituents and an even distribution of liquid constituents because of the nozzles integrated with blades.
2. The flow rate of the spray can be adjusted to achieve optimum results.
3. Each blade is responsible for imparting a different kind of motion to the bulk material. By virtue of this, the bulk material traverses in all possible directions within the blender tank to impart maximum possible motion and avoid agglomeration at any point in time.
4. The three-dimensional motion of the particles is responsible for the number of particle interactions within the blender. More the motion, the higher the number of particle interactions which in turn will result in a good quality mix.
,CLAIMS:I/We Claim,

1. Vertical blender assembly for consistent mixture comprising of:
• Plurality of blades selected from an anchor blade (06), a ribbon blade (07), a paddle blade (8) characterised to be connected with plurality of shafts selected from anchor blade shaft (05), a ribbon blade shaft (04), a paddle blade shaft (03),
• Blender tank (9) for containing and the bulk material,
• a motor shaft (2) characterised to be connected with the plurality of shafts,
• a provision for nozzles attachment (11) for spraying moisturising agent or binding agent characterised to be fitted on the sleeve for nozzles (12), and;
• a motor characterised to generate the motion for said plurality of shafts and housed in a motor housing (1).
2. Vertical blender assembly for consistent mixture as claimed in claim 1, wherein, plurality of blades moves for a predefined time period inside said blender tank (9) to avoid the stagnation of the bulk material.
3. Vertical blender assembly for consistent mixture as claimed in claim 1; it is characterised in that, gears mounted on the motor shaft (2) meshes with each of the driven gears on the said plurality of shafts one by one according to a prescribed cycle for transferring the motion to the said plurality of blades.
4. Vertical blender assembly for consistent mixture as claimed in claim 1, wherein, as per one of the embodiments of the present invention, said anchor blade (6) starts for a predefined time period depending upon the property of the mixture followed by the said helical blade (7) and said paddle blade (8).
5. Vertical blender assembly for consistent mixture as claimed in claim 1, wherein, said anchor blade (6) assists in maintaining the bulk material in centre while scraping the remainder of material from the sides of the blender tank (9).
6. Vertical blender assembly for consistent mixture as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said ribbon blade (7) is characterized to move the bulk material in upward and downward direction in the blender tank (9).
7. Vertical blender assembly for consistent mixture as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said paddle blade (8) is characterized in a manner that the bulk material is not stagnated in the middle of blender tank (9).
8. Vertical blender assembly for consistent mixture as claimed in claim 1, wherein, as per one of the embodiments of the present invention said plurality of blades moves simultaneously in a manner to achieve constant mixing and uniform mixture.
9. Vertical blender assembly for consistent mixture as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that said provisions for nozzle for nozzle attachment (11) fitted on the sleeve for nozzles (12) for spraying the moisturizing agent such as water and binding agent such as adhesive, any other formulation.
10. Vertical blender assembly for consistent mixture as claimed in claim 1; characterized in that the motor shafts (2) maintains an rpm in the range of 100rpm to 700 rpm.
Dated this 19th May 2021