An apparatus and methods of mixing materials in a silo that includes a mixing chamber (2) with an outlet (23) the bottom and an inlet hose (4) connected to an inlet opening at the top; a sieve (16) at the top of the mixing chamber above the inlet opening and below the outlet opening to prevent contact between a particulate mixing material and the top of the mixing chamber and to allow dust through; a pump system (18) to create a negative pressure region at the top of the mixing chamber; and an air manifold assembly (8), which includes an air pressure manifold (10) having an air nozzle (12) to introduce an air stream into the mixing chamber and an air manifold cover (14) to prevent contact between the particulate mixing material and the air pressure manifold, and to allow a particulate mixed product material to pass to the mixing chamber outlet.

There are provided a straining mechanism and a screw extruder including the straining mechanism, which can minimize material passing resistance in a breaker plate even, in a large-sized apparatus having high throughput, and which can improve the throughput by suppressing load power of the apparatus and heat generation of a material. For this purpose, a backup plate having an opening rate higher than an opening rate of a breaker plate and supporting the breaker plate is installed on a rear surface side of the breaker plate supporting a screen mesh.

A flask for containing mold sand within it prevents any mold shifting or mold dropping. Each of an upper flask 2 and a lower flask 3 includes a body that defines an opening in which a sand mold is to be molded. The body has at least one inlet 101 for introducing the mold sand into the opening. Two flanges 102 are extended from the body such that they are opposed to each other across the opening. Each flange has a through bore. The flask also includes engaging members for engaging an actuator in the outside of the flask such that a force or forces from said actuator could be transmitted to the flask. An upper flask 104 and a lower flask 105 are opposed to each other across a pattern plate 107. They are integrally assembled to make a flask unit by means of a pair of connecting rods 106 that are fitted in each bore.

An apparatus for fluidizing particles present as a particle bed and, optionally, objects included in the particle bed comprises at least one vertically movably supported container that defines a processing space for receiving the particle bed; an oscillation generator by which the container can be set into a vertical oscillation during operation; and a control unit for setting the frequency and/or amplitude of the vertical oscillation.

A mixing installation is provided for mixing a first agent to a liquid. The mixing installation includes a dosing assembly and a first agent supply conduit. The dosing assembly includes a venturi arrangement and a first dosing device between the first agent supply conduit and the venturi arrangement. The first dosing device includes a first agent passage and a first dosing mandrel having a first dosing pin that extends in the first agent passage, wherein the first dosing mandrel is axially slidable in its axial direction with respect to the first main body over a first release stroke by pulling between a dosing position in which the first dosing pin extends inside the first agent passage to define a first ring shaped dosing channel around the first dosing pin, and a retracted position in which the first ring shaped dosing channel is cancelled.

An adapter for enabling grinding of one or more materials using a centrifugal mixer, the adapter to be fitted into a container of the centrifugal mixer; it has a body defining an inner compartment, the body including openings; a filter positioned or for positioning around the body; and wherein the inner compartment is configured to receive grinding media for grinding the one or more materials and the openings are adapted to enable the one or more materials to enter and/or leave the inner compartment for grinding by the grinding media when subject to the centrifugal force applied by the centrifugal mixer while maintaining the grinding media in the inner compartment, the filter is adapted to filter the one or more materials that are ground to a size suitable to pass through the filter; a method of use thereof.

There is disclosed an insert and sieve for use with a food processor having a processing tool, the insert comprising a disc having at least one aperture for the passage of food previously processed by the processing tool and, wherein in the disc is configured to be locatable in a sieve and be removable therefrom. Other aspects are included herein.