Mobile concrete mixer having a sandwiched material storage and material flow configuration

Abstract

Mobile concrete mixer having a sandwiched material storage and material flow configuration, is characterized by- a mobile concrete Mixer (1) installed on a vehicle (v) having a composite bulk solid material storage compartment (2) wherein the cement or binder compartment (3) is sandwiched longitudinally between the fine and coarse aggregate compartments (4 & 5) having inclined conveyors (6, 7 & 8) respectively wherein the Mixer (9) is divided into two sides (A & B) by the longitudinal axis of the vehicle and the binder or cement is discharged in the mixer at the center with water while the fine and coarse materials on opposite sides of the Mixer (9). The Mixing is achieved by means of plurality of mixing blades (11) which push 'Side A' material to 'Side B' and vice a versa before discharging the fresh mixed concrete through a central discharge gate (14).

Description

 TITLE: “Mobile concrete mixerhavinga sandwiched material storage and material flow configuration” TECHNICAL FIELD: The present invention relates to a concrete production & transportation Equipment installed on a heavy duty transport vehicle.  To elaborate, the above-said invention specifically relates to a Vehicle mounted Concrete production & transportation equipment having separate dry material compartments for cement, fine aggregates coarse aggregates and water wherein an on-board batch type mixer for producing fresh concrete apart from having a variety of batching systems, variety of drive systems and a variety of batch mixers having a controllable discharge gate.  To be precise, this specific invention is related to an optimized mechanical construction and flow configuration of various materials in the vehicle mounted concrete mixer resulting in a new set of techno-commercial benefitsalong-with simplicity of design which are not available with the prior arts.  BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION:  In recent years the RMC industry has expanded and a number of commercial ready-mix concrete plants have become operational. The present RMC system has stationary RMC plants called central plants installed at specific locations and wet mixed Concrete produced by these plants is transported over a considerable distance by means of transit mixer trucks having rotating drums. This present system of WET concrete transport was invented almost 100 years back and is associated with many INHERENT problems and limitations. A few of them include air pollution, Diesel pollution & diesel wastage, water & material wastages, etc.  To overcome many of these limitations, Truck-mounted or Vehicle Mounted fully automatic equipment have been invented which can produce as well as transport concrete.     The invention disclosed by our granted Indian patent No. 287080 is a “Weight Based Concrete Production & Transportation Vehicle” which is operated by electric or hydraulic power generated by the PTO of the Vehicle on which it is installed.  Our other granted Indian patent No. 327661 discloses a “Highly Compact truck mounted compact batching & mixing plant with a Novel WCMD Device”.  Our one more granted Indian patent no. 395657 discloses a Truck-mounted Concrete Mixer having a VWT – Volume, Weight & Time based batching system.  These Truck-Mounted Mobile Concrete Mixers collectively disclosed by our earlier granted patents is the Prior Art No. 1.  Apart from the above-said prior arts there are volumetric concrete mixers having continuous auger mixers in Europe and USA which are not considered as a related prior art in context of this invention because these equipment are provided with ‘continuous auger mixers having an open ended discharge’ and ‘manual material setting arrangements for coarse and fine aggregates’ which cannot guarantee high quality homogeneous concrete without human intervention and hence are not accepted in Indian market. Whereas the present invention essentially discloses an equipment having a human intervention free operation and a batch type mixer having a controllable discharge gate.  TECHNICAL PROBLEM OR LIMITATIONS OF PRIOR ARTS:  The prior arts as disclosed above mainly focus on the drive systems and batching systems which are used to produce concrete especially in a mobile application. Further the said prior arts disclose multiple compartments for multiple solid materials such as but not limited to cement, fly ash or GGBS, 10 mm coarse aggregates, 20 mm coarse aggregates, river sand, crush sand and additive materials along-with a variety of batch type mixers. The above prior arts as said earlier mainly focus on the drive systems and batching systems but do not focus on material flow configuration. It is very important to note here that since the available space on the truck is highly limited, a no. of separate compartments are located as per convenience of the designer and manufacturer. Also the more no. of ingredients result in a higher cycle time, low output rates due to obstacles in getting all the materials in specific proportions to the Mixer for producing concrete.  Another very big limitation is of concrete discharge height wherein due to multiple components, hoppers, compartments, conveyors, mixers, etc the discharge height obtained is low. However a higher discharge height is the need of the industry for making the mobile concrete mixers a new replacement for conventional transit mixer trucks. Higher discharge height ensures easy accommodation of concrete pump and height advantage for downpour placement through chutes.  With our experience it is also observed that each component of a truck-mounted mobile concrete plant must be suitably configured to work supplementary and complimentary to each other so as to have optimum utilization of space available on truck, high productivity, improved mixing quality and high discharge height. All of these techno-commercial advantages can be achieved by having an improved material flow configuration in which the critical components of the equipment such as bulk storage, conveyors, waiting hoppers and even the Mixer collectively ensure a particular material flow. Which also reduces the weight of the equipment and increases cost benefit apart from making the equipment easy to manufacture and having a low cost of capital.  To achieve the above new techno-commercial benefits, the present invention therefore discloses a new and highly effective, improved material flow system configuration which results in a simple design, so as to have many new techno-commercial benefits over the prior arts which are not available as on date.   OBJECT OF INVENTION & SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM: Techno-commercial objectives of having an optimized material storage and material flow configuration? The material flow in a mobile concrete mixer is very important and critical as it not only determines the simple and smooth handling of all the materials but also determines a very high productivity and ultra-short batch cycle times. This is very important and critical in terms of Truck-mounted Mobile Concrete Mixers because of the following very important and critical reasons. a. Very limited space on the Truck:Unlike the bulky and space consuming stationary Ready-Mix plants, the mobile concrete mixers installed on automotive truck or vehicle with the purpose of production and transportation has a very limited available space for equipment and materials. Therefor the material arrangement becomes very critical while utilizing the available space for optimum output rate. The basic objective is to have an improved material storage which can assist the rate of producing concrete per hour.  b. Loading height Limitation and volume storage limitation of solid as well as liquid ingredients.On automotive Trucks and vehicles, there are dimension constraints as any oversize or out of dimension vehicle is not allowed on roads by the Commercial Vehicle act in India. As an operational issue, the mobile mixers need to have material bins having practical loading heights as these are essentially loaded by using front end loaders or other available material handling equipment. Also there are constraints to store required volumes due to the self-weight of the vehicle, bare weight of the equipment and allowable GVW of the truck. Therefore the objective is to ensure that the material loading height is minimum with optimum storage capacity.  c. Solid material conveyors need to have optimum synergy with each other. Since there are multiple solid materials on-board of the vehicle and each having its own separate compartment, it is important that the material conveyors convey the materials in synergy with each other.  d. Ultra low cycle time and hence optimum production rate in available limited space. As mentioned earlier, the production rate depends on the cycle time to produce one single batch of concrete which involves a batching process and a mixing process. As per our experience, unless and until the materials and their respective conveyors are optimized, high production rates and simplicity of construction are impossible to achieve.  e. A supplementary and complementary Mixer design in terms of material movement and dead lock relief. The concrete mixer plays a critical role in mixing the materials with water to produce high quality homogeneous concrete in a very short time. With having made a variety of Truck-mounted concrete Mixers and batching and mixing plants with variety of Mixers, we have understood that the Mixer is the ultimate point where the material flows converge and hence should have a supplementary and complementary design so as to supplement and complement the material storage and the material flows through respective material conveyors.  f. Better mixing in a short mixing time as a result of improved material flow. As mentioned above, the material storage system, the individual material conveyors and the mixer all should follow a particular pattern of material flow in order to have better mixing in a short mixing time. g. Comparatively very low power requirement and low connected load due to improved material flow system. An optimized material storage and material flow configuration before and inside the mixer is critical to reduce the power requirement and the net connected load. This is achieved by using the available space to maximum advantage and having a material storage system complimentary and supplementary to the material flow inside the mixer.  h. Use of small prime mover due to improved material flow system resulting in very high fuel economy.As mentioned in the point g, if the net connected load is reduced by having an optimized material flow throughout the machine before and inside the mixer, a very high fuel economy can be achieved irrespective of the drive system. i. Optimized material flow system resulting in comparatively low weight of the equipment further resulting in a higher material transport volume. A complicated construction of the equipment having many material flow obstacles result not only in high cycle time but also results in a higher weight of the equipment. Which means one can transport less amount of material in the given GVW- gross vehicle weight. Therefore the optimized material storage and flow configuration not only results in a simple construction but also results in a low weight of the equipment thereby enabling the end user to transport more material.   j. Ease of manufacturing and low capital cost: It is very important to have an equipment which is easy to make on a volume scale and at a low manufacturing cost. The optimized material storage and flow configuration therefore is very critical and important to achieve this and therefore is another objective of the present invention.   k. High Concrete Discharge Height: A high concrete discharge height from the mixer is very important when the Mobile Mixer is used to produce and transport concrete as it can feed a concrete pump placed below the mixer discharge as well as place the concrete for a down pour by means of a chute comparable to a conventional transit concrete mixer. This is very important and critical for a truck-mounted mobile batching plant to be used as a practical mean to produce as well as transport. Therefore having a high concrete discharge height is a critical object of the present invention.  SUMMARY & DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION:  “Mobile concrete mixer having a sandwiched material storage and material flow configuration” is disclosed consisting of-  a. A Mobile Concrete Mixer (1) installed on an automotive vehicle (V)essentiallycharacterized bya ‘sandwich type composite solid material bulk storage compartment’ (2) which is further adapted to have ‘three longitudinal compartments running parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle’, one for a binder material, second for fine aggregates & the third for coarse aggregates in such a way that the ‘binder compartment (3) is longitudinally sand-witched’ between thefine and coarse aggregate compartments (4) and (5) respectively wherein, the said binder compartment (3) is provided with a screw conveyor (6) at the bottom which is inclined at an angle between 20 to 40 degrees and the said fine aggregate compartment (4) and the coarse aggregate compartment (5) are provided with cleated belt conveyors (7)and (8) respectively, inclined same way as the binder screw conveyor (6) and all the three conveyors (6, 7 & 8) are adapted to convey the respective materials in the same direction towards the inclined side; b. A compulsory concrete Mixer (9) operatively below the discharge end of conveyors (6,7 &8) divided into two equal parts Side A and Side B by the extended longitudinal axis of the vehicle (V) and the binder material is thus adapted to enter the mixer (9) along the center line along with water while the fine material conveyor (7) and coarse material conveyor (8) are adapted to discharge fine & coarse solid materials on Side A and Side B respectively wherein the mixer (9) is adapted to have a plurality of mixing blades inside which move the material entering from Side A to Side B and material entering from side B to side A continuously at high speed and the mixer (9) is provided a controllable discharge gate (14) at the center of the mixer bottom, adapted to discharge the mixed concrete after the pre-set mixing time is accomplished. A mobile Concrete Mixer installed on a vehicle has many components. These components include the drive system of the mixer, the operating system of the Mixer, the batching system based on which the ingredients of concrete are batched or proportioned, the material storage system, material conveying system and mixing system. However the present invention focus on the material storage and material flow configuration and the mechanical construction of the mobile mixer, irrespective of the drive system of the mixer which includes such as but not limited to the drive taken from power take off of the vehicle engine by electric or hydraulic means, a dedicated slave engine, a lithium ion rechargeable battery, an aluminum ion battery, etc. Thus the present invention is irrespective of the drive system used to operate the said mixer but mainly focuses on the physical construction and material flow configuration of the ingredients of concrete before and during mixing. Thus the Mobile concrete Mixer as disclosed by the present application can be operated by any of the drive systems as mentioned above. Similarly the Mobile Concrete Mixer operating system consists of a PLC (programmable Logic Control) based panel which carries out the operation of batching and mixing of the ingredients in a human intervention free manner based upon the mix design required. The said operating panel is thus programmed by considering this optimized mechanical storage and the method of batching. Thus if the machine is provided with a VWT batching or batching or proportioning based upon Volume, weight and time, then the said operating system is programmed accordingly to work with the above disclosed optimized material storage design and material flow configuration. Thus in the VWT system, all the three conveyors (6,7 & 8) are calibrated separately and each conveyor has a fixed flow rate at a fixed rpm and the operating system is thus programmed to operate the conveyors (6,7 & 8) simultaneously along with water and cut off each of the conveyors (6,7 & 8) separately after the preset material is discharged in mixer (9) and the discharge gate (14) is opened by the system after the mixing time is over. However when a weight based batching system is provided, the mixer (9) is kept on the load-cells and each materials can be added one by one on cumulative basis by the system into the mixer (9). Alternatively in another embodiment, an optional batch waiting hopper (12) can be installed between the operative ends of the conveyors (6, 7 & 8) and the said hopper (12) is kept on load –cells so as to weigh all the materials coming from conveyors (6,7 & 8) and the said hopper (12) is provided a small belt (13) at its bottom to discharge the weighed materials into the Mixer (9). While the basic atomized construction of material storage and the Mixer (9) remains the same. In another embodiment, the weigh hopper (12) is alternatively provided a discharge gate (13) to discharge the weighed materials into the Mixer (9). The mixer (9) is located symmetrically at the rear of the vehicle (v) just below the discharge ends of the conveyors (6,7 & 8). The most preferred embodiment as disclosed by the present application, discloses a simple design single shaft mixer (9), having a centrally located shaft (10) and a semicircular bottom wherein the shaft (10) is provided with mixing blades (11). The Mixer is divided in two parts by the longitudinal axis of the vehicle (V) side A and Side B. While the cement or binder is discharged at the center of the mixer with water (not shown), the fine material and coarse materials are discharged on side A and Side B respectively. In other words, cement is discharged at center of the mixer with water and fine and coarse materials are discharged at opposite sides of each other. The mixing blades (11) in side A and Side B are mirror images of each other and in one unidirectional rotation, both blades of side A as well side B push the solid materials towards the center. A discharge gate (14) is provided which is at the bottom center of the mixer which allows discharge of concrete after mixing time is over. A number of embodiments are possible without disturbing the main mechanical construction as disclosed above and such embodiments in no way limit the scope of the present invention as disclosed. A no. of embodiments are possible by using a variety of batching systems and drive systems along with the above mentioned atomized material storage and material flow configuration. Which in no way limit the basic invention as disclosed by this application. While the most preferred embodiment as disclosed by the present application discloses a simple single shaft Mixer having L.H. and R.H. blades to specifically assist the material flow to give optimum desired result in terms concrete quality and output. However commercially a no. of embodiments are also possible by using a variety of mixer types with the sandwich type material storage as disclosed above such as but not limited to a twin or multi-shaft mixer having similar mechanical construction, a mixer having unidirectional blades or paddles with a forward & reverse, a horizontal mixer such as a PAN type Mixer, a reversible drum mixer, etc. However such embodiments are covered by the present application and therefore do not limit the scope of the invention as disclosed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS: 1. The fig No. 1 on sheet No. 1discloses the top view of the most preferred embodiment of the present invention. 2. The fig. No. 2 on sheet No. 2 discloses the rear view of the most preferred embodiment of the present invention. 3. The fig No. 3 on sheet No. 3 discloses a side view of the most preferred embodiment of the present invention. 4. The fig. No. 6 on sheet No. 6 discloses a side view of the embodiment of the present invention with an optional intermediate weighing or waiting hopper (12).DETAILED DISCRIPTION & WORKING OF THE INVENTION WITH REFERENCE TO THE DRAWINGS:Kindly refer to the Fig. No. 1 on the sheet No. 1 which discloses the top view of the most preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the top view, a mobile Concrete Mixer (1) is installed on a Vehicle (V). The top view discloses a unique construction of the composite material storage (2) which has three longitudinal compartments along the length of the said storage (2). A Binder or cement or cementitious material compartment No. 3 is sandwiched longitudinallybetween two aggregate compartments namely the fine material compartment (4) and a coarse material compartment (5). The fine material used is crushed or machined sand or river sand or a mixture of both. The coarse aggregates can be crushed stones or gravel of various sizes. The standard coarse aggregates used are 10 mm or 20 mm size or a pre-mix of both. Concrete is a construction material which is produced by mixing a binder such as cement with the fine and coarse aggregates with water. For improving or having desired characteristics of concrete, chemical additives are added in specific doses. However since the present invention is basically related to the sandwich type storage and material flow of solid materials of concrete, only the optimized material storage and material flow configuration before and during mixing is disclosed for the sake of clarity and conciseness. As shown in the fig 1 on sheet 1, as mentioned above, vehicle V and the Concrete Mixer (1) share the same longitudinal axis. The binder compartment (3) is thus longitudinally sandwiched between compartments (4 and 5) which are meant for fine and coarse aggregates respectively. All the three materials are made to move in the same direction, i.e. towards the rear of the vehicle by having separate conveyors for each materials. Thus the screw conveyor (6) is at the bottom of the cement or binder compartment (3) which conveys the cement or binder to the rear of the vehicle. A cleated belt conveyor (7) is used to convey the fine aggregates to the rear of the vehicle and is operatively below the fine material compartment (4). Another cleated belt Conveyor (8) is used to convey the said coarse aggregates to the rear of the vehicle. Kindly refer to the fig. no. 3 on the sheet no. 3, which discloses the side view of the most preferred embodiment of the present invention. All the three conveyors (6, 7 & 8) as shown in the fig. are inclined at an angle so as to have a high discharge height on-board the vehicle. Thus all three basic solid materials required for making concrete are made available at a high discharge height and a in a small space. This enables their entry into a compulsory mixer (9) in the most ideal way as these materials are discharged by gravity into the said mixer (9). Apart from the basic advantage, a required size water tank (15) is also accommodated below the said inclined conveyors. The longitudinal axis of the vehicle divides the Mixer (9) in two parts Side A and Side B as shown in the Fig.As it is clear from the fig. no. 1 on sheet No. 1, that the cement or basic binder material is discharged exactly at the center of the mixer (9) while the fine aggregates and the coarse aggregates are discharged on the Side A and Side B of the Mixer (9). In other words, cement is discharged at the center and fine and coarse materials opposite to each other. A water pipe (not shown) also ensures that water and chemical additives are also added at the center of the Mixer (9). Now the most preferred embodiment as shown in the fig No. 1 on the sheet No. 1, discloses a single shaft Simple Concrete Mixer having a single shaft (10) having a gear transmission on one side and a bearing on another side. The said single shaft (10) is provided with a plurality of Mixing blades (11) and a unidirectional direction of rotation. The Mixing blades in Side A are positioned exactly opposite to the Mixing blades in the Side B. In another words if Side A has left hand blades, side B is provided with Right hand blades or vice a versa. A unidirectional rotation which insures the movement of material from Side A to Side B and at the same time movement of material from Side B to Side A, is employed. In other words the blades on side A and blades on side B ensure the flow of materials towards the center of the mixer. A discharge gate (14) is provided at the center of the operative circular bottom of the said Mixer (9). Thus when the gate (14) is firmly closed during mixing, the shaft (10) is provided with a high Torque and high speed resulting in transfer of material from side A to side B and vice a versa in a short span of time due to the gaps between the blades (11). The deliberate gaps avoid any deadlock. However blades (11) cover the complete span of mixer for 100% discharge. As soon as the gate (14) is opened the mixed concrete is discharged through the said discharge gate. Kindly refer to the Fig No. 3 on the sheet No. 3 which discloses the rear side view of the most preferred embodiment of the present invention which discloses the direction of movement of materials inside the mixer. This unique configuration of material storage results in many new techno-commercial advantages not possible with the prior arts. The sandwiched construction ensures very high volume storage while keeping the material loading height manageable. Most importantly all the three basic solid materials are discharged at a greater height on board the vehicle which was not possible previously in any of the cited or known prior arts. The higher raw material discharge height on board further results in a much higher fresh concrete discharge height of the mixer and becomes comparable to the normal conventional transit mixer trucks. This will make mobile concrete Mixers more practical for use especially to replace present day wet concrete transit mixers. Another techno-commercial advantage of the present invention is that the higher discharge height ensured by the sandwiched material storage as shown, makes the equipment compatible with all batching systems, namely weight based or volume based or flow rate based or VWT (Volume, weight, Time) based. Further since the all three materials are having separate conveyors, the material discharged per revolution can be calculated by having a rpm sensor at the final drive of each conveyor and the material can be batched on the revolution method as well. Kindly refer to the Fig. No. 4 on sheet No.4 which discloses the side view of the invention having an intermediate weighing or waiting hopper (12) placed between the discharge ends of conveyors (6,7 & 8) and the mixer (9). Thus the high discharge height of all solid materials enable a single weigh hopper or batch waiting hopper when used on weight based batching. Kindly refer to the fig. No. 1 on sheet No. 1 where it is clear that the synergy in the material flow during batching and mixing results in a very short cycle time and hence a very high output rate.Further Binder or Cement compartment (3) at the center is provided with a top cover which is not shown in the said fig. for clarity. The cover ensures that aggregates do not enter cement compartment. The cement bin height also can be more by a few inches than the aggregate bins so as to ensure complete separation of fine and coarse materials and more storage of cement. A rain cover is provided for the open top during transport. As mentioned earlier, many embodiments can be made by the skilled people in the art without changing the basic invention. For example, the conveyors (7 & 8) are alternatively adapted to have adjustable material gates so as to use the equipment with the continuous mixer. Alternatively the said adjustable gates can be used to regulate the volume flow precisely. These advantages are essentially due to the combined higher material discharge height on board because of the unique sandwich construction of all three solid ingredients of concrete. Further the binder or cement can be pure Portland cement or cement blended with ggbs or fly-ash. All the possible variations and embodiments are covered by this disclosure of the present invention which in no way limit the scope of the invention as disclosed.  

Claims

1. “Mobile concrete mixer having a sandwiched material storage and material flow configuration” is characterized by- a. A Mobile Concrete Mixer (1) installed on an automotive vehicle (V)essentiallycharacterized bya ‘sandwich type composite solid material bulk storage compartment’ (2) having ‘three longitudinal compartments (4, 3 & 5) all running parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle’,in such a way that the ‘binder or cement compartment (3) is longitudinally sandwiched’ between thefine and coarse aggregate compartments (4) and (5) respectively, wherein, the said binder compartment (3) is provided with a screw conveyor (6) at the bottom which is inclined at an angle between 20 to 40 degrees and the said fine aggregate compartment (4) and the coarse aggregate compartment (5) are provided with cleated belt conveyors (7)and (8) respectively, inclined in the same way as the binder screw conveyor (6) and all the three conveyors (6, 7 & 8) are adapted to convey the respective materials in the same direction towards the inclined side resulting in a higher discharge height of all solid ingredients of concrete on-board the vehicle; b. A compulsory concrete Mixer (9) operatively below the discharge end of conveyors (6,7 & 8) divided into two equal parts Side A and Side B by the longitudinal axis of the vehicle (V) and the binder material is thus adapted to enter the mixer (9) at the center along with water while the fine material conveyor (7) and coarse material conveyor (8) are adapted to discharge fine & coarse solid materials on Side A and Side B of the mixer 9 respectively wherein the mixer (9) is adapted to have a plurality of mixing blades inside which move the material entering from Side A to Side B and material entering from side B to side A continuously at high speed and the mixer (9) is provided a controllable discharge gate (14) at the center of the mixer bottom, adapted to discharge the mixed concrete after the pre-set mixing time is accomplished.  

2. “Mobile concrete mixer having a sandwiched material storage and material flow configuration” as claimed in the claim 1, is characterized by- a composite solid material storage (2) wherein the cement or binder compartment (3) is longitudinally sandwiched between the fine and coarse aggregate compartments (4 & 5 respectively).  

3. “Mobile concrete mixer having a sandwiched material storage and material flow configuration” as claimed in the claim 1, is characterized by- a mobile concrete mixer (1)having a composite bulk solid material storage (2) wherein the cement or binder compartment (3) is sandwiched longitudinally between the fine and coarse aggregate compartments (4 & 5) and the central compartment holding the binder (3) is adapted to have a screw conveyor (6) at the bottom while the fine and the coarse compartments are adapted to have cleated belt conveyors (7 & 8) in such a way that all conveyors are inclined and adapted to convey the materials parallel towards the inclined end and a batch waiting hopper (12) is adapted to receive the materials from the operative discharge ends of the said conveyors. 

4. “Mobile concrete mixer having a sandwiched material storage and material flow configuration” as claimed in the claim 1, is characterized by- a mobile concrete mixer (1) having a composite bulk solid material storage (2) wherein the cement or binder compartment (3) is sandwiched longitudinally between the fine and coarse aggregate compartments (4 & 5) while the central compartment holding the binder (3) is adapted to have a screw conveyor (6) at the bottom, the fine and the coarse compartments are adapted to have cleated belt conveyors (7 & 8) and a hopper (12) is installed between the discharge ends of the said conveyors (6,7 & 8) and the mixer (9) and the said hopper (12) is provided with load-cells for cumulative weighing of all three solid materials such as the binder (3), fine aggregates (4) and coarse aggregates (5) and a discharge means (13) to discharge the weighed material into the mixer (9). 

5. “Mobile concrete mixer having a sandwiched material storage and material flow configuration” as claimed in the claim 1, is characterized by- a mobile concrete mixer (1) installed on a vehicle (v) and having a composite bulk solid material storage (2) wherein the cement or binder compartment (3) is sandwiched longitudinally between the fine and coarse aggregate compartments (4 & 5) wherein the central compartment holding the binder (3) is adapted to have a screw conveyor (6) at the bottom while the fine and the coarse compartments are adapted to have cleated belt conveyors (7 & 8) in such a way that all three conveyors are inclined and adapted to convey the materials parallel to each other towards the inclined end and a weigh hopper (12) with load-cells is installed between the discharge ends of the conveyors (6,7 & 8) and the mixer (9) wherein the hopper (12) is adapted to have a belt conveyor (13) at its bottom.  

6. “Mobile concrete mixer having a sandwiched material storage and material flow configuration” as claimed in the claim 1, is characterized by- having a composite bulk solid material storage (2) wherein the cement or binder compartment (3) is sandwiched longitudinally between the fine and coarse aggregate compartments (4 & 5) and the central compartment holding the binder (3) is adapted to have a screw conveyor (6) at the bottom while the fine and the coarse compartments (4 & 5) are adapted to have cleated belt conveyors (7 & 8) in such a way that all conveyors (6,7, & 8) are inclined and adapted to convey the materials parallel towards the inclined end and a batch waiting hopper (12) is adapted to receive the materials from the operative discharge ends of the said conveyors wherein the said batch waiting hopper (12) is adapted to have a discharging means (13) at its bottom for discharging the materials into the mixer (9). 

7. “Mobile concrete mixer having a sandwiched material storage and material flow configuration” as claimed in the claim 1, is characterized by- a mobile concrete mixer (1) having a composite bulk solid material storage (2) wherein the cement or binder compartment (3) is sandwiched longitudinally between the fine and coarse aggregate compartments (4 & 5) wherein the central compartment holding the binder (3) is adapted to have a screw conveyor (6) at the bottom while the fine and the coarse compartments are adapted to have cleated belt conveyors (7 & 8) in such a way that all conveyors are inclined and adapted to convey the materials parallel towards the inclined end and discharge all the materials in the mixer (9)directly when the said three solid materials are batched on combined volume, weight and time batching system.  

8. “Mobile concrete mixer having a sandwiched material storage and material flow configuration” as claimed in the claim 1, is characterized by- a mobile concrete Mixer (1) installed on a vehicle (v) and having a composite bulk solid material storage (2) wherein the cement or binder compartment (3) is sandwiched longitudinally between the fine and coarse aggregate compartments (4 & 5) wherein the central compartment holding the binder (3) is adapted to have a screw conveyor (6) at the bottom while the fine and the coarse compartments (4 & 5) are adapted to have cleated belt conveyors (7 & 8) in such a way that all conveyors are inclined and adapted to convey the materials parallel towards the inclined end and discharge all the materials in the mixer (9) directly when the said three solid materials are batched on the basis of material discharged per rotation of the final drive of each conveyor (6,7 & 6).  

9. “Mobile concrete mixer having a sandwiched material storage and material flow configuration” as claimed in the claim 1, is characterized by- a mobile concrete Mixer (1) installed on a vehicle (V) having a composite bulk solid material storage compartment (2) wherein the cement or binder compartment (3) is sand-witched longitudinally between the fine and coarse aggregate compartments (4 & 5) wherein the central compartment holding the binder (3) is adapted to have a screw conveyor (6) at the bottom while the fine and the coarse compartments (4 &5) are adapted to have cleated belt conveyors (7 & 8) in such a way that all conveyors are inclined and adapted to convey the materials parallel towards the inclined end and alternatively discharge all the materials in the mixer (9) directly when the said compulsory Mixer (9) is provided with load-cells and act as a weigh scale itself.  

10. “Mobile concrete mixer having a sandwiched material storage and material flow configuration” as claimed in the claim 1, is characterized by- a mobile concrete Mixer (1) installed on a vehicle (v) having a composite bulk solid material storage compartment (2) wherein the cement or binder compartment (3) is sandwiched longitudinally between the fine and coarse aggregate compartments (4 & 5) wherein the central compartment holding the binder (3) is adapted to have a screw conveyor (6) at the bottom while the fine and the coarse compartments (4 & 5) are adapted to have cleated belt conveyors (7 & 8) in such a way that all conveyors (6,7 & 8) are inclined and are adapted to convey the materials in parallel towards to rear of the vehicle and discharges the materials in the mixer (9) wherein the mixer type is not limited to a single shaft Mixer but any mixer such as and not limited to a twin or multi-shaft Mixer, a reversible mixer , a pan mixer and a mixing auger,etc.  

Images