Abstract: A kneading apparatus includes a barrel having a chamber, which is a tubular hollow, a biaxial screw set for extruding a material to be kneaded downstream by rotation of the biaxial screw set inside the chamber, and kneading blade sections, mounted in the screw set, for kneading the material by shearing the material in tip clearances and a wedge-shaped space between an inside wall of the chamber and the kneading blade sections. The tip clearance becomes narrower from the upstream side to the downstream side in the direction of extrusion of the material. The kneading apparatus, which performs a continuous kneading operation, makes it possible to set proper kneading conditions in accordance with changes in the state of a material being continuously kneaded, and achieves high kneading efficiency.

Abstract: A continuous kneading apparatus and method are provided wherein discharge ports are provided at a plurality of positions of the barrel to discharge a kneaded product, and one of the plurality of the discharge ports is selected according to a desired kneading condition so as to discharge the kneaded product from only the selected discharge port. Another continuous kneading apparatus and method are provided wherein a plurality of charging ports are provided at a plurality of positions of the barrel to supply a material to be kneaded into the chamber, and one of the plurality of charging ports is selected according to a desired kneading condition. The kneading apparatuses and methods permit adjustment and control of a viscosity and a dispersion degree of a compounding agent over a wide range, and continuous kneading to achieve significant rationalization of a process for producing a kneaded product.

Abstract: A kneading apparatus includes a barrel having a cylindrical chamber; a screw assembly rotating in the chamber so that a material to be kneaded is extruded in the axial direction by the rotation, the screw assembly including a screw section having helical blades and a kneading blade section in order to allow the material to flow into the clearance between the inner wall of the chamber and the kneading blade section, and to apply shearing forces to the material; a metering feeder for feeding the material at a substantially constant volumetric or gravimetric rate into the chamber; an injecting device for injecting a heat-removing medium into the chamber; and a discharging device for separating the heat-removing medium from the material and discharging the heat-removing medium from the chamber. A kneading method using the kneading apparatus is also disclosed.

Abstract: Each mixing rotor for a batch mixer is rotatably insertable into a mixing chamber such that tip clearances are defined between tips of mixing blades and an inner surface of a mixing chamber and is provided on its outer circumferential surface with a plurality of mixing blades for imparting shearing forces to a material to be mixed by causing the material to pass through the tip clearances. The plurality of mixing blades include a nonlinear blade which is substantially nonlinear from a start point to a terminal point in a development of the mixing rotor developed into a plane about its longitudinal axis, and other linear blades which are linear in the development and whose helix angle to the longitudinal axis of the mixing rotor is set at 15 to 35°. An appropriate mixing control capable of realizing both sufficient mixing and sufficient dispersion can be executed by mixing and dispersing the material in a well-balanced manner by means of the mixing rotor.

Abstract: A security cage which is installed in a housing of a game machine so as to accommodate various types of electric components. The security cage includes: a cage main body having an opening provided at the front thereof; a partition wall for dividing the inside of the cage main body into an inaccessible region and an accessible region each communicating with the opening; a front wall which is provided so as to close the inaccessible region, and which has an openable-and-closable lid provided at least at a part thereof; screws which are hidden within the inaccessible region when the lid is closed, and which connects the front wall and the cage main body at positions where the screws can be operated from the outside of the cage main body when the lid is opened; and a lock for restricting the opening and closing of the lid. Disclosed also is a game machine using the security cage.

Abstract: An enclosed kneading apparatus which can smoothly knead and disperse kneaded products of various kneading conditions without the maintenance of a rotor moving mechanism for a first and second rotors and the operation which sacrifices the handling capacity of the kneading apparatus and at the same time, prevent an excessive increase in the temperature of the kneaded products. In the apparatus, the kneaded product of a desired kneading state is obtained by flowing a kneading object in tip clearances between the inner wall of a chamber and a first and second rotors while rotating the first and second rotors in the chamber, and by imparting a shearing force to disperse the kneading object. The respective first and second rotors are provided with three long wings in helical fashion each having a plurality of tip portions for providing a plurality of three tip clearances in the axial direction.

Abstract: A hermetically closed kneading apparatus includes a casing member (1) having a chamber (2) and one pair of counter rotating, parallel rotors (3) (4). Each of rotor has three long blades (18) (19) (20) and of which the central axes (17a) (17b) of the rotors are set apart from each other so that the long blades may not mesh with each other. Each of the long blades extends spirally around the central axis (17a) (17b) of the rotors and are set apart from each other by an equivalent angle in a circumferential direction of the rotor. Each rotor has a profile corresponding to any one of the following features: (a) the profile is almost triangular. (b) the profile includes a straight line in each non-action (22) surface of the rear surface (26) of each blade with respect to a rotation direction, the straight line starts from edge (18a) of a tip (21) of each blade (18).

Abstract: An internal mixer and controller enables the phase difference and the speed ratio between two rotors to be changed without stopping the operation of the mixer. The internal mixer comprises: nonintermeshed first and second rotors disposed in a mixing chamber; first and second drive units; first and second phase measuring devices; first and second speed measuring devices; and a control unit for controlling the first and second drive units on the basis of signals from the first and second speed measuring devices and signals from the first and second phase measuring devices. The control unit controls the two rotors so as to synchronously rotate at the same speed on the basis of the signals from the speed measuring devices when the two rotors fixedly rotate at the same speed.

Abstract: An internal mixer having a floating weight disposed in contiguous with an internal mixer main body and made elevatable in a hopper to which a material to be mixed is charged, wherein a hydraulic cylinder for elevating the floating weight is disposed in contiguous with the internal mixer main body, a pneumatic/hydraulic pressure conversion means for pressure conversion between a hydraulic side and a pneumatic side is disposed separately from the internal mixer main body, and the hydraulic side of the hydraulic cylinder for lowering the floating weight is connected with the hydraulic side of the pneumatic/hydraulic pressure conversion means. The reliability of the internal mixer can be improved while making the structure compact and facilitating the maintenance operation.

Abstract: A batch type kneader (1) is provided with a chamber (3) having a material supply port (5) which can be closed, a pair of rotors (4A, 4B) which are disposed in the chamber (3) so as to be rotatable in opposite directions, and wings (10) provided over the outer circumferential surfaces (10A) of the rotors (4A, 4B) in such a way that they (10) mesh with each other. In this kneader (1), a ratio S/D of a clearance S between the outer circumferential surfaces (10A) of the wings (10) of the rotors (4A, 4B) and an interior wall surface of the chamber (3) to an inner diameter D of the chamber (3) is set in the range of 0.01-0.02. The lands on the wings of the rotors have chamfers.

Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a control method for a kneader suitable for controlling the kneader so as to uniformly disperse a compounding agent in a high-molecular material, enabling energy saving. In controlling the kneader for charging the high-molecular material and the compounding agent into a kneading chamber and kneading the mixture of the high-molecular material and the compounding agent so as to uniformly disperse the compounding agent in the high-molecular material, the control method includes the steps of measuring a sound wave generating from the kneading chamber during kneading, detecting whether or not a waveform of the sound wave has become a waveform generating when the compounding agent is uniformly dispersed, and deciding that the kneading is ended if the waveform of the sound wave has become the waveform generating when the compounding agent is uniformly dispersed. It is preferable to perform envelope detection of the sound wave in controlling the kneader.