Agitating – Stirrer within stationary mixing chamber – Mounted in removable mixing chamber closure
Patent
1994-03-15
1995-07-18
Jenkins, Robert W.
Agitating
Stirrer within stationary mixing chamber
Mounted in removable mixing chamber closure
366261, 366288, 422184, B01F 708, B01F 714
Patent
active
054335248
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a compost container comprising a stirring mechanism, which is adapted to be driven from the outside by means of an external shaft and comprises at least one stirring element, which is disposed in the container and rotatable about its own axis.
PRIOR ART
In a known compost container of that kind (GB 2,138,795 A) the stirring element is disposed in the lower half of the container along the center line of the container in the continuation of the external shaft, which is provided with a crank handle and extends inwardly through the top wall of the container, and the stirring element comprises a helical stirring blade close to the side wall of the container. That stirring element is designed to mix the entire contents of the lower half of the container during a single revolution of the stirring element and the crank handle. For that reason the forces required to rotate the crank handle can be exerted only if the amount of waste material is small or the waste material consists of loose plant waste. That embodiment is not suitable for compost containers having a relatively high capacity and comprising a correspondingly larger stirring element or for a composting of compact, moist, lump-forming material, such as kitchen refuse. For this reason that compost container can provide only in a highly restricted degree for an adequate aeration of the material being composted.
An actual composting cannot be effected unless sufficient air, i.e., sufficient oxygen, is supplied to the waste material. This is not problematic in the case of loose waste, such as leaves or chopped twig residues, but cannot be effected in practice in the case of cut grass or even moist, lump-forming kitchen refuse and in addition to a stringly smelling putrefaction may sometimes result in toxic decomposition products. Because the waste dumps must be relieved, it is necessary to compost even moist kitchen refuse in larger quantities.
To improve the necessary supply of air or oxygen to the waste material in the compost container, which supply is required for a fast composting with a minimum of smell, it is also known to provide ventilation holes in the side walls of the compost container or to provide said walls with louver slats, which define ventilation slots, or to provide a perforated aerating tube at the center of the compost container. But in that case the supply of air will be improved only in the material being composted only in the marginal regions which adjoin the side walls or the central aerating tube whereas there will be a deficiency of oxygen and, as a result, a putrefying atmosphere, in the inner regions, which are at a substantial distance from said marginal regions. The inner regions of the material being composted, which inner regions are spaced a large distance from the aerated marginal regions, will increase in size as the size of the compost containers increase in size so that the air supply problems will be aggravated.
An inadequate supply of air can substantially be prevented in most cases in that the contents of the compost container are mixed by hand in short intervals of time so that the parts of the material being composted which are exposed to the oxygen being supplied are continually changed. But that work is inconvenient owing to the smell and dust nuisance which may be expected.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to provide a compost container which permits a simple and effective mechanical mixing of the material being composted.
In a compost container of the kind described first hereinbefore this is accomplished in accordance with the invention in that the container comprises a chamber for receiving the material to be composted and said chamber contains at least one stirring element, which is movable inside the container along a closed path, and is rotatable about its own axis and is connected to a driving mechanism, which is adapted to be driven by means of the external shaft and controls the motions of the stirring element.
Owing to the
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patent: 3890129 (1975-06-01), Chester
patent: 4079917 (1978-03-01), Popeil
patent: 4453831 (1984-06-01), Mahon
patent: 5123600 (1992-06-01), Takenaka
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