What is a Concrete Mixer?
A concrete mixer is mainly a machine that mixes cement, sand, gravel aggregates, water and mechanically mixes them to make concrete. It is mainly composed of a mixing drum, water supply system, bracket, prime mover, transmission mechanism, etc. The concrete mixer has a simple structure and reasonable price. It drives the rotation of the mixing drum through a transmission mechanism and a power mechanism connected by a shaft. The drum surrounds the gear ring, which can mesh with the setting on the rotating shaft. According to the mixing principle, the structure of the mixing drum and the nature of the work, the concrete mixer has a variety of types to choose from, in order to make the process of producing concrete faster and economical.
Types of Concrete Mixers
Concrete mixers are mainly divided into two categories which are continuous mixers and batch mixers.
Continuous Concrete Mixers
The characteristic of the continuous concrete mixer is that the process of mixture poured in, mixing and discharge are carried out continuously until the process is completed. There are spiral blades in the mixer, which will weigh the mixture according to the proportion and transfer it into the mixer for mixing. At the same time, the mixed concrete will be continuously discharged. The continuous mixer has high productivity and short mixing time, this kind of concrete mixer is suitable for large-scale engineering projects, such as the construction of high-rise buildings and bridges.
Another type of continuous concrete mixer produces concrete at a constant rate. When the concrete is discharged, another batch of materials will enter the mixer at the same speed for mixing.
Batch Mixers
The batch mixer produces a batch of concrete at a time. The working process is to mix all the poured materials for a time. After that, discharge the completed material and pour a new batch of concrete materials again. Repeat the above process until the desired concrete mixture is obtained. Generally, batch mixers can be divided into drum-type mixers and pan-type mixers by rotating stirring. Let's understand the characteristics and types of drum-type mixers first.
Drum Type Mixers
A drum-type mixer is a drum with a fixed blade that is connected to the movable interior and rotates around its axis. The main purpose is to lift the material when the drum rotates, and the lifted material will fall back into the mixer of the drum and circulate continuously. The rotation speed of the drum mixer can be controlled. Drum type mixers are divided into the following three types:
1. Tilting drum mixers
The characteristic of the tilt drum mixer is that its drum is inclined downward, and we can change the inclination. During the mixing process, most of us need to place the mixer at an angle of 15°. If you want to exclude the concrete, it is mainly to transport and discharge the concrete by gravity. Larger size aggregates can be mixed and mixed using this mixer. However, this mixer has the disadvantage that the concrete is easily stuck to the bottom of the drum. In order to avoid this kind of problem, we need to use a buttering mixer.
2. Non-tilting drum mixers
The non-tilting drum mixer is that it cannot be tilted, its drum type is fixed, and it can only allow the drum to rotate around the horizontal axis. Both of the ends of the drum mixer are open, we add the concrete mixture into the mixer at one end, and then the concrete produced will be discharged from the other end. This type of mixer is only suitable for small engineering projects because it is difficult to discharge larger aggregates.
3. Reversing drum mixers
The working form of the reversible drum mixer is similar to the non-tilting mixer. The difference between those two mixers is that the reversible drum mixer uses the same port to add the mixture and discharge the concrete. When we added the mixture, we rotated the drum around the horizontal axis to perform the work of mixing. If we rotate in the opposite direction, we can discharge the concrete. This type of mixer is suitable for the mixture of dry concrete because the inside of a reversible drum mixer has included two sets of different blades to enable mixing and discharging according to different rotated directions.
Pan Type Concrete Mixers
The working efficiency of the pan mixer in the batch mixer is relatively high. It has a circular disk with blades for mixing concrete. This blade rotates to mix the materials. There are two different types of pan mixers. The first one, a cylindrical disk that is constant, only its blades will rotate around the vertical axis of the pan. Another one, the blades are in a stationary state but are rotated by a cylindrical disk. There is a scraper in the pan mixer. When the pan is rotating, the scraper will hang near the pan wall without moving. However, when the pan is fixed, the scraper needs to be moved to push the concrete towards the blade. The blade can scrape off the adhering concrete on the wall and transfer it to the rotating blade inside.
How does a concrete mixer work?
Precautions before using the concrete mixer:
Choosing a flat and stable environment with a good drainage system.
Before starting mixing, we need to check whether the parts of the mixer, power supply, etc. are properly connected and adjust the mixing time when the power is off.
When the mixer is empty, try to start and run the mixer.
Make sure that the weight of the mixture is correct. Including the amount of cement, sand, stones, and water.
After running the mixer, the materials should be added sequentially. The suitable sequence of adding material is stones>water>cement>sand.
If the abnormal operation of the mixer is found during the mixing process, we should turn off the power supply of the mixer in time to check.
We need to give enough time for the concrete mixing process.
When the mixing process has been completed, we have to pour out this batch of completed mixture. After pouring it all out, we can add a new mixture.
After using the mixer, we need to turn off the power and use a high-pressure cleaner to clean the mixer drum.
To purchase a new concrete mixer, please contact our MecHero at 011-7000 7687 or send your enquiry to my.mechero@gmail.com. MecHero is an online platform which mainly provide the mechanical hardware, construction material and engineering works to help your project go smoothly.