Abstract: A device for continuously blending particulate materials has a central shaft, a plurality of metering elements which are each separately metering a respective particulate material, blending element for receiving and blending the metered quantities of particulate material and including a conveyor formed as an elongate member having a rotating axis coinciding with the axis of the shaft and disposed helically in turns about and concentric to the rotating axis, a drive for rotating the elongate member to trace out an envelope shape of the helically formed elongate member, and a casing accommodating the conveyor and having a discharge and a lower portion conforming to the envelope shape of the elongate member. The conveyor rotates in the casing to generate a conveying direction, and stirring members are provided on the conveyor and extend between some of its turns.

Abstract: Method for making extruded bricks having a textured handmade appearing face designed to form on outer building wall surface, comprising the steps of feeding a column of brick-forming clay mix into a progressively narrowing inlet funnel portion of a brick extruding die, progressively constricting the clay mix column while feeding the same from said inlet funnel portion through a die throat section of the extruding die of horizontally elongated rectangular cross-section defined by downstream converging upper, lower and side boundary surfaces to shape the clay mix column to a rectangular cross-section whose width dimension perpendicular to said face slightly exceeds the desired ultimate brick width, disrupting the clay column in said die throat section at a subsurface location space near and below the uppermost boundary surface of the die throat section along a plane substantially spanning the transverse extent of the die throat section by pressurized downsteam-directed liquid jets internally disrupting the clay

Abstract: Apparatus for making extruded bricks having a textured handmade appearing face designed to form the outer building wall surface, comprising a brick extruding die including a progressively narrowing inlet funnel portion having a downstream end and a constricted neck portion forming a material shaping die throat to receive a column of brick forming clay mix and shape the clay mix column to a rectangular cross-section whose width dimension perpendicular to said face slightly exceeds the desired brick width. A subsurface disrupting elongated thin bridge member transversely spans the die throat and is supplied with liquid under pressure to produce downstream directed liquid jets internally disrupting the clay mix column in the die throat immediately below the upper boundry surface thereof along a substantially horizontal disruption plane.