Americhem, Inc.

Anton Becker

A seal assembly for the rotor shafts of internal mixers and the like used in the compounding of rubber and plastic. The assembly (130,170) comprises seal rotor means (130,170) carried by said rotor shaft outside of the mixing chamber of said mixer and having a continuous circumferential region (136,175) for the bi-directional movement of a viscous melt of flowable material which provides first trough means (138,176) extending axially away from the housing, second trough means (139,178) extending axially toward the housing, and annular groove means (140,179) between the first and second trough means; sleeve means (132,172) non-rotatably carried by the housing of the mixer concentrically disposed about the seal rotor means; retainer ring means (134,173) rotatable with the rotor shaft and engageable with the rotor means; and locking ring means (135,174) rotatable with the rotor shaft and providing adjustable means (154,190) for maintaining the retainer ring means in communication with the seal rotor means, wherein movement of the flowable material between the continous circumferential region and the sleeve means forms a dynamic melt seal thereby controlling the discharge of materials from the mixing chamber between the housing and the rotor shaft.

Seal assemblies for internal mixers

A seal assembly for the rotor shafts of internal mixers and the like used in the compounding of rubber and plastic. The assembly (20, 100) comprises seal rotor (21) carried by the rotor shafts (15, 16) outside of the mixing chamber (14) of the mixer (10) and having a continuous circumferential portion (24) for the bi-directional movement of a viscous melt of flowing material, sleeve (22) non-rotatably carried by the housing (18) of the mixer concentrically disposed about the seal rotor, and retainer (23) rotatable with the rotor shaft and engageable with the seal rotor (21) so as to cause the seal rotor to rotate therewith, wherein movement of the flowable material between the continuous circumferential portion and the sleeve forms a dynamic melt seal thereby controlling the discharge of materials from the mixing chamber between the housing and the rotor shaft. A method for controlling the discharge of materials from the mixing chamber (14) of an internal mixer (10), having at least one rotatable rotor (11) providing opposed shafts (15, 16 ) which pass through the housing (18) of the internal mixer (10), includes the step of continuously providing a flow of viscous melt material within the continuous circumferential portion to form a dynamic melt seal between the seal rotor and the sleeve of the seal assembly, thereby controlling the discharge of materials from the mixing chamber between the housing and the rotor shaft.

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Stow, OH, United States of America

Anton Becker