Fluid mixer

Claim 2

A fluid mixer for mixing at least two kinds of fluids, said mixer comprising: an elongated tubular casing; a plurality of mixing elements within said casing, each of said mixing elements comprising a tubular pipe through which the fluids flow and a helical blade member disposed within the pipe for dividing the interior of the pipe into a plurality of fluid passages; a tubular spacer disposed between respective pairs of said mixing elements, each of the tubular spacers comprising a cylindrical member in which a circular fluid passage is defined, and two spacer blade members extending radially inward from the inner peripheral surface of said cylindrical member, said spacer blade members spaced from one another so as to define an opening extending therebetween, said spacer blade members extending helically in one of a righthand direction over an angle of 90 degrees and a lefthand direction over an angle of 90 degrees.

Claim 3

A fluid mixer as claimed in claim 1, wherein the helical blade members of the mixing elements that are disposed opposite one another across a said tubular spacer have respective end edges that face each other across said tubular spacer and extend in respective directions that are normal to one another.

Claim 4

A fluid mixer as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the mixing elements comprises two elements, the first of said two elements having a blade extending helically in a righthand direction over an angle of 90 degrees, and the second of said two elements having a blade extending helically in a lefthand direction over an angle of 90 degrees.

Claim 5

A fluid mixer as claimed in claim 3, wherein said two elements are connected to one another.

Claim 6

A fluid mixer as claimed in claim 1, wherein said helical blade member of each of said mixing elements comprises at least three helical blades.

Claim 7

A fluid mixer for mixing at least two kinds of fluids, said mixer comprising: an elongated tubular casing; a plurality of mixing elements within said casing, each of said mixing elements comprising a tubular pipe through which the fluids flow and a helical blade member disposed within the pipe for dividing the interior of the pipe into a plurality of fluid passages; a tubular spacer disposed between adjacent ones of said mixing elements, each of the tubular spacers comprising a cylindrical member having a fluid passage extending longitudinally therethrough and open at both ends of the cylindrical member, the fluid passage having a smaller cross-sectional area at a central portion of the cylindrical member that is smaller than the cross-sectional area thereof at each of the respective ends of the cylindrical member so as to have a throttled central portion at which the fluids passing through the fluid passage are converged toward one another and are subsequently diverged to facilitate the mixing thereof, and the helical blade members of the mixing elements that are disposed opposite one another across a said tubular spacer having respective end edges that face each other across said tubular spacer and extend in respective directions between which a predetermined angle is defined.

Claim 8

A fluid mixer for mixing at least two kinds of fluids, said mixer comprising: an elongated tubular casing; a plurality of mixing elements within said casing, each of said mixing elements comprising a tubular pipe through which the fluids flow and a helical blade member disposed within the pipe for dividing the interior of the pipe into a plurality of fluid passages; a tubular spacer disposed between adjacent ones of said mixing elements, each of the tubular spacers comprising a cylindrical member having a fluid passage extending longitudinally therethrough and open at both ends of the cylindrical member, the fluid passage having a smaller cross-sectional area at a central portion of the cylindrical member that is smaller than the cross-sectional area thereof at each of the respective ends of the cylindrical member so as to have a throttled central portion at which the fluids passing through the fluid passage are converged toward one another and are subsequently diverged to facilitate the mixing thereof, and the helical blade members of the mixing elements that are disposed opposite one another across a said tubular spacer having respective end edges that face each other across said tubular spacer and extend in respective directions between which a predetermined angle is defined.

Claim 9

A fluid mixer as claimed in claim 6, wherein said predetermined angle is 90 degrees.

Claim 10

A fluid mixer as claimed in claim 6, wherein each of the mixing elements comprises two elements, the first of said two elements having a blade extending helically in a righthand direction over an angle of 90 degrees, and the second of said two elements having a blade extending helically in a lefthand direction over an angle of 90 degrees.

Claim 11

A fluid mixer as claimed in claim 8, wherein said two elements are connected to one another.

Claim 12

A fluid mixer as claimed in claim 6, wherein said blade member of each of said mixing elements extends helically over an angle of 180 degrees.

Claim 13

A fluid mixer as claimed in claim 6, wherein each of the mixing elements comprises two connected elements, the first of said two elements having a blade extending helically in a righthand direction over an angle of 180 degrees.

Claim 14

A fluid mixer as claimed in claim 6, wherein said helical blade member of each of said mixing elements comprises at least three helical blades.