An interlayer mixing apparatus for texturing man-made stone slabs has a pressing assembly, a coloring component, a stirring assembly, a moving assembly, and a control system. A conveyor belt sequentially conveys a slab to working areas of the pressing assembly, the coloring component, and the stirring assembly which are separately connected to the control system. The pressing assembly presses the slab before the pigment and the slab are stirred, so that the texture boundary on the final product is clearer and more complete. The control system moves the moving assembly to position the stirring assembly according to a texture route, while the stirring assembly performs stirring on a part of the surface of the slab, to stir a pigment layer with a raw material layer on the slab.

A method of preparing a concrete composition for downhole injection includes utilizing a controller to control a process including circulating process water in a process water supply loop for a predetermined period while monitoring and controlling the temperature and flow rate of the process water, circulating aqueous-based air entrainment solution in an aqueous-based air entrainment solution supply loop for the predetermined period and controlling the flow rate of the aqueous-based air entrainment solution and after the predetermined period of time in which the flow of process water and aqueous-based air entrainment solution have stabilized, simultaneously actuating valves to divert and mix the process water, the aqueous-based air entrainment solution and compressed air to produce an air-entrained foam and mixing the foam with a concrete composition to be deployed downhole.

A method of preparing a concrete composition for downhole injection includes utilizing a controller to control a process including circulating process water in a process water supply loop for a predetermined period while monitoring and controlling the temperature and flow rate of the process water, circulating aqueous-based air entrainment solution in an aqueous-based air entrainment solution supply loop for the predetermined period and controlling the flow rate of the aqueous-based air entrainment solution and after the predetermined period of time in which the flow of process water and aqueous-based air entrainment solution have stabilized, simultaneously actuating valves to divert and mix the process water, the aqueous-based air entrainment solution and compressed air to produce an air-entrained foam and mixing the foam with a concrete composition to be deployed downhole.

There is described a method for mixing concrete constituents that generally has a step of rotating a drum having a probe mounted inside the drum and immerged in the concrete constituents being mixed inside the drum; a step of receiving a first set of pressure values indicative of pressure exerted on the probe by the concrete constituents, the pressure values of the first set being taken at different circumferential positions of the probe during a single rotation of the drum.

A quality assurance system for mixing a slurry comprising at least water or other liquid and at least one flowable wet or dry mass, such as cement, sand or other suitable component, has computerized control over the loading of ingredients and has an accurate and broadly variable speed control of the loading of the ingredients. The mixing chamber has scales that provide a signal indicating the current weight of an ingredient in the mixing chamber. The broadly variable control of the loading rate of the ingredients allows more accurate control of the final weight of each ingredient added. A damping period allows system vibrations to dissipate, allowing highly accurate weights to be measured. Accurate records of the addition of each ingredient are maintained using the internal computer that controls the invention.

A quality assurance system for mixing a slurry comprising at least water or other liquid and at least one flowable wet or dry mass, such as cement, sand or other suitable component, has computerized control over the loading of ingredients and has an accurate and broadly variable speed control of the loading of the ingredients. The mixing chamber has scales that provide a signal indicating the current weight of an ingredient in the mixing chamber. The broadly variable control of the loading rate of the ingredients allows more accurate control of the final weight of each ingredient added. A damping period allows system vibrations to dissipate, allowing highly accurate weights to be measured. Accurate records of the addition of each ingredient are maintained using the internal computer that controls the invention.

A Mortar Delivery System is described. The Mortar Delivery System provides precise control of the delivery and application of mortar in addition to the mixing and tempering of mortar. Such control eliminates the use of a hand trowel in brick, block and stone laying applications. Sensing and control are integrated with the Mortar Delivery System to make it an important element of a robotic brick laying system. The Mortar Delivery System contains sensors to measure mortar viscosity and workability, mortar flow rate, and mortar nozzle pressure. The data from the Mortar Delivery System sensors can be used to change the rotational speed of the shear blades, change the amount of water being used for mixing or tempering, and change the delivery speed of the mortar. Such changes result in precise control of mortar that is in turn suitable for automated or semi-automated building processes.

A method and system for concrete monitoring calibration using truck-mounted mixer drum jump speed data selectively assimilated from previous deliveries. The method involves measuring energy at a first drum speed and a second drum speed. Slump is calculated using low speed energy/speed/slump curve data, or pre-stored equation wherein slump is derived as a function of slope of the line. The energy, speed, slump relationship in the provided concrete is compared to at least two pre-stored data curves across drum speed ranges of 15 0.5 RPM-6 RPM and 6 RPM-20 RPM, to ascertain whether the provided concrete matches any of the stored curve data; either activating the monitoring system for all drum speed ranges where a match is confirmed or allowing the monitoring system to calculate slump only at low drum speeds.

A method for production of a grout comprises the steps of: a) acquiring a batch cement for a ball mill, b) forming in the ball mill a cement powder also called a nano-cement powder, c) pouring the nano-cement powder obtained in step b) to a rotary mixer, d) adding water to the rotary mixer, e) mixing the water and the nano-cement powder until a homogenous mixture of the nano-grout or the nano-slurry is obtained, f) pouring the nano-grout or the nano-slurry obtained in step e) from the rotary mixer to a distributing device.

A grouting method comprises the steps of: a) preparing the construction site for the grouting application, b) applying a grouting material to the construction site or specific places of the construction site, c) curing the applied grouting material for a predetermined amount of time, wherein the grouting material is the nano-grout or the nano-slurry.

A concrete mixer vehicle includes a mixer drum, a chute, and a controller. The mixer drum has an inner volume configured to hold a mixture for transportation and placement. The chute is configured to receive mixture exiting the mixer drum and direct the mixture. The controller is configured to receive a selected mode of operation of the mixer drum and the chute. The selected mode of operation is selected from a set of multiple modes of operation of the mixer drum and the chute. The controller is configured to adjust an operation of at least one of the mixer drum or the chute to cause at least one of the mixer drum or the chute to operate according to the selected mode of operation.