Abstract

A mixer for food products and the like in commercial quantities comprises a horizontally elongated body with a trough bottom in which rotates one or more horizontal drive shafts carrying an agitator in the form of a helical ribbon or worm of a radius matching that of the trough bottom. The ribbon supports a number of scraper units on it, each scraper unit including a scraper body having a broad face facing toward the trough bottom, the broad face terminating in two opposed relatively sharp edges. The scraper bodies are mounted for rocking movement so that the leading edge will be forced into scraping engagement with the trough bottom and will remain in engagement with the trough bottom even though the trough is wavy or uneven. Either of the edges of the scraper body can be the leading edge, depending on the direction of rotation of the agitator drive shaft. The vessel preferably is formed with a pair of arcuate troughs which have a circumferential arc of 180° from their upper edges and substantially flat lower edge extensions tangent to said trough. Those extensions meet in a horizontal line which in profile is the apex of a cusp. The upper edges of the troughs define the mixer hatch which has a width less than the greater inside width of the vessel. The mixer thus has a useful volume considerably greater than a conventional mixer and minimizes or eliminates throw out of mixture particles against walls not reached by its scrapers.