Intermesh Tilt Mixers
The MXI- Intermeshing Kneader imparts superior dispersion during the kneading process.
Traditional kneaders have two counter rotating rotors with each mixing rotor having to wings affixed on it. The two wing rotors typically rotate at different speeds through connecting gears. The wings move material from one portion of the chamber to the other while also providing material movement along the rotor axis. These kneader do not have intermeshing rotors and therefore can have differential rotor speeds.
Conventional Kneaders have a one piece rotor design which includes a rotor shaft with two wings welded on the shaft. Water cooling is provided through a passage in the rotor shaft and small jackets in each wing. This cooling method is not sufficient for single pass mixing. The MXI-Kneader consists of a two piece rotor design. An over-sized rotor shaft and a cast blade shell portion. The cast blade shell is provided with a spiral water passage which is close to the material contact surface. The assembled rotor has a much larger outside diameter than conventional kneaders. This allows for more cooling surface as well as larger mixing surfaces.
Conventional kneader rotors have a shaft and two wings one wing is typically shorter than the other, to have adequate material movement inside the mixing chamber. The MXI-Kneader has a rotor shaft with one long wing (blade) and two nogs (small blades) for mixing. The conventional kneader’s blades are typically long high and narrow. The new MXI-Kneader has much wider land width and stubby in shape. The much wider rotor tip (land width) greatly enhances the dispersion effect. The materials are subjected to a larger smearing action of the batch against the rotor tip to chamber wall as well as the rotor tip to rotor shaft. In the non-intermeshing type kneader no mixing occurs between the rotor tip and rotor shaft due to the non-intermeshing design.
Conventional kneaders use pneumatic pressure to push the batch down into the rotors and mixing chamber with a floating weight (ram) this pneumatic system is unreliable and inconsistent. The pneumatic ram moves completely uncontrolled and the ram position is controlled by the rotor dragging force as well as the size of rubber pieces it is trying to force into the rotors. The hydraulic ram exerts positive pressure on the batch and can be accurately controlled in the desirable position which leads to better batch to batch consistency.
COST EFFECTIVE
TILT INTERMESH MIXING VS CONVENTIONAL INTERMESH BATCH MIXING
Kneader Machinery USA has set out to demonstrate that by mixing with their Patent pending MXI- rotor technology the same and if not better mixing results can be achieved, with less than half the cost of a comparable sized convention intermeshing rotor mixers.
There are generally two styles of mezzanine based internal mixers better known as “Tangential” rotor and “Intermeshing” rotor mixers. These mixers are well established in the market and utilized extensively in the rubber and plastics industries. OEM suppliers of these style mixers are Farrrel, Kobelco and HF Machinery.
Kneader’s MXI series mixers operate on floor level saving thousands of dollars in mezzanine costs and installation. The new MXI rotor design delivers optimal mixing performance while in most cases saving hundreds of thousands of dollars in capital equipment costs.
Based on test results it is clear that the MXI Intermesh rotors deliver equal if not superior compound dispersion and temperature control when compared to conventional intermesh mixers. Test results show physical properties are similar and mooney scorch values are greatly improved with the MXI technology.