There are two types of internal rubber mixers available in the market: the

Intermeshing Type Mixer and the Tangential Type Mixer. Differentiating

between the two is not as hard as it seems. Here is a simple guide listing
critical aspects including rotors, configurations, fill factor, position inside the
mixing chamber, mixing nature, rotor cooling, and mix quality that one can
look out for for each mixer type.
Intermeshing Type rubber mixers allow 80% mixing between rotors and
undergo spiral cooling. These offer good mixing quality as gap between them
is small. Other features include high shear, better heat-transfer, excellent
contact between rubber & metal surfaces and a typical fill factor of 0.65.
Tangential Type rubber mixers like the Banbury permit 20% mixing between
rotors. As for the rotor cooling, multiple options are available in the market.
There are also different configurations for tangential types including 2-wing, 4wing, and 6-wing. Typical filling factor of these mixers is 0.75.
Robust and efficient rubber mixers with tangential rotors like the Banbury are
included in Mid-American Machines extensive portfolio of industrial
equipment

https://www.mhi.co.jp/technology/review/pdf/e494/e494038.pdf
https://tirenews4u.wordpress.com/2010/08/20/history-of-rubber-mixing/
http://digitaleditions.walsworthprintgroup.com/article/Development+in+mi
xing+technology
%3A+Tangential+and+intermeshing+mixer+designs/1462684/0/article.ht
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Internal mixers

This type of machinery consists of two rotors in an enclosed chamber. The

rotors are shaped so that they produce a kneading effect while at the
same time the chamber ensures that all the materials which are added
remain in place.

The wear from fillers (mainly carbon black) used in the compound, in the
chamber is very hard while the surfaces have to be applied with a welding
surface like stellites or iron and cobalt-based compounds.

Basically two different types of internal mixers are used either with
tangential rotors or with intermeshing rotors. There are also a number of
variations of these two. The other parts of the machine
e.g. ram (plunger), feed hopper and drop door are often the same.

The two types differ somewhat in the mixing techniques discussed in the
following, but in general the types with intermeshing rotors are preferred
for heat sensitive compounds. Cross sections of the two types are shown

in the figure below.

Cross section Internal mixer:

B with intermeshing rotors (Intermix type).

Sectioned view of a modern internal mixer

(Photo Werner & Pfeiderer)

In the bottom of the chamber there is a hatch or discharge door, which

can be opened and at the top there is a plunger (ram) which can be

lowered and raised between the open and closed positions. This movement
is done pneumatically or hydraulically and these operating media can also
be used in order to provide extra pressure on the plunger in its closed
position.

When mixing, the ingredients are added through the feeding door at the
top or through separate pipes (e.g. carbon black, mineral fillers and
plasticizers) directly into the mixing chamber in roughly the same order as
when mixing on an open mill. The number of revolutions per minute of the
rotors can be varied even while the mixing cycle is in progress. The
number of revolutions per minute can, for example, be increased when
plasticizers are incorporated since the viscosity and the degree of
dispersion would otherwise normally decrease.

The process can be speeded up by using the plunger pressure and

increasing the number of revolutions thus often reducing the time it takes
to mix a batch to under 5 minutes. The most common size of internal
mixer produces approximately 250 kg per batch, but sizes producing from
40 to over 400 kg per batch are used in different areas of the rubber
industry.

When the compound is completed, the hot mix is discharged through the
bottom hatch in the form of a lump. It needs to be quickly sheeted out and
cooled in order to avoiding scorch.

The two most common techniques are:

The compound is dumped into an extruder, often a pinextruder in which

the compound will be forced through a wide die and then formed to a
continue sheet. Link to Extrusion

The compound is dumped on a two-roll mill with an over head mixer

(stockblender) in order to improve the final homogenisation of the
compound and to form a sheet. Link www.fbv.fh-frankfurt.de

In order to increase the capacity, two open mills can be placed in tandem.

In both cases, the approximately 80 cm wide length of rubber is

transported via conveyor equipment to a cooling section.

Antitack agent is sprayed on both sides of the sheet of the compound.

The operation takes several minutes and during that time cold air is blown
over the rubber.

After this procedure, the rubber can be regarded as cooled and can be
placed on pallets for further transportation.

Cooling tunnel for mixed compound (Photo WMI EPE Holland)

The early rubber industry was largely based on mixing with two-roll mills. The coming of the pneumatictire industry associated with the rise in popularity of the automobile brought increasing production and
large quantities of fine particles and poisonous vulcanization accelerators. This made necessary the
introduction of internal mixers into the rubber industry by the second decade of the 20th century. This
paper treats the development of internal mixer technology from its origins in the 19th century to the late
1980's, largely through critically following the patent literature. There seems to be no other critical review
of the development of internal mixer technology, and this manuscript is unique. Briefly, the technology
development we will describe is as follows: There were two conflicting design approaches, one based
upon a single-rotor masticator devised by Thomas Hancock in the early 19th century and a second
based upon two nonintermeshing counterrotating rotors which were championed by Paul Pfleiderer later
in that century and manufactured by his firm, Werner and Pfleiderer. As late as the mid 1920's,
machines based on both the single rotor and two nonintermeshing rotor designs competed with each
other for the internal-mixer market. The insight, perseverance, intensity, and dedication of Fernley H.
Banbury and the Birmingham Iron Foundry (later merged into Farrel-Birmingham) brought about the
design which proved to be the paradigm of the industry. Innovation, however, continued in internal-mixer
technology. The most striking new development of the post-Banbury period was the invention and
application of intermeshing counter-rotating rotor mixers in 1934 by Rupert Cooke of Francis Shaw and
Company. Werner and Pfleiderer developed and worked with many internal-mixer designs and in time
began to manufacture both nonintermeshing- and intermeshing-rotor machines. In the 1950's and
1960's, Kobe Steel and Pomini began to manufacture internal mixers as Farrel-Birmingham licensees.
This period also saw developments of nonintermeshing-rotor internal mixers. The basic Banbury design
maintained its position and its manufacturer, Farrel-Birmingham (later Farrel), devised improvements of
it. Innovations in the design were also made from the late 1970's by Kobe Steel, now operating
independently. Pomini also began operating independently, manufacturing not only nonintermeshing
machines but a unique intermeshing-rotor machine with variable clearance between the rotors. In recent
years, we have seen the development of increasingly improved control systems for the internal mixer.

A rubber internal mixer is a heavy duty batch mixer designed

and made for mixing raw rubber with ingredients in rubber
compound preparation.

Typically rubber internal mixers consist of a completely

enclosed mixing chamber in which two rotors operate. A very
large cylinder, referred to as a RAM/Hopper, is assembled on
top of the chamber and moves up and down in order to apply
high pressure on the batch. The RAM movement can be either
Hydraulic or Pneumatic and supplemental valves and
regulators enable lowering the air pressure in the main
chamber. The Feed hopper receives the materials for mixing
and there is also a discharge door and drive system.
The rotor bodies are made of special alloy cast steel shrunk
onto forged steel shafts, thus forming one integral component.
The rotors are designed with inner circuits of steam or water
for cooling and heating. The leading edges of the rotors are
protected by hard-weld materials. Each rotor revolves in
opposite directions and at slightly different speeds, thereby
keeping the rubber batch in constant circulation. They pull
material down into the mixing chamber and the ridge between
the two chamber sections helps to force mixing.
The acute convergence of the rotors with the chamber walls,
impart a shearing action. This intensive working produces a
highly homogeneous mix. The air-operated RAM in the feeding
neck confines the rubber batch within the sphere of mixing
chamber.