Apparatus for keeping at a determined temperature a product mixture

Abstract

An apparatus comprises a cylindrical vessel provided at one end with an inlet and at the other end with an outlet for the mixture. A conveyor mechanism acting selectively on the solid pieces in the mixture is disposed in the vessel. The conveyor mechanism has a rotor in the form of a shaft coaxially rotatable in the vessel and provided with at least one series of rotor arms on the shaft, extending radially and lying substantially next to one another and spaced apart in the axial direction. The conveyor mechanism also has a stator in the form of at least one series of stator arms extending radially inwards from the wall of the vessel and lying substantially next to one another and spaced apart in the axial direction. The stator arms extend between the rotor arms and reach to a point close to the rotor shaft. The mutual distance between the rotor arms and the mutual distance between the stator arms, in the axial direction, varies from the inlet to the outlet, the variation occurring mainly in one direction. In the case both of the rotor arms and of the stator arms a radially extending side edge of an arm is, viewed in the axial direction of the rotor and the stator, adjacent to or situated within the periphery of a following arm, so that a solid piece moving through the vessel can pass through between two neighbouring arms only transversely to the axial direction of the vessel.