A device for loading, mixing and delivering ingredients includes a measuring bucket pivotably mounted to the free ends of pickup arms pivotably mounted to a mixing vessel including a lid having a depressed basin with an opening formed therethrough. The mixing vessel and the measuring bucket are simultaneously moved with the measuring bucket in a loading position to fill with ingredients. The measuring bucket is moved relative to the mixing vessel from a transport position to an emptying position emptying the ingredients into the mixing vessel. A linkage is pivotably mounted between the pickup arms and the lid to simultaneously move the lid from a closed position to an open position as the measuring bucket moves from the transport position to the emptying position. The ingredients are mixed by mixing paddles inside the mixing vessel, and the mixed ingredients are released from the mixing vessel through an open gate.

System and method of the invention involves use of a sensor-containing body which is mounted and/or rotatably disposed along the longitudinal rotational axis of a concrete mixer drum at the close end, the sensor-containing body being connected to a conduit for introducing water, chemical admixture, gas, and/or cleansing fluid through the closed end of the drum into the mixer drum. Numerous heretofore unrealized combinations of advantages and benefits are provided within the concrete industry by the invention.

An apparatus and method for producing fluid concrete include a first mixer configured to mix at least water and cement so as to make a low fluidity concrete having consistency class ≤S2, a truck mixer that can be configured to mix the low fluidity concrete with further water so as to make a fluid concrete having consistency class ≥S2, and a water supply and at least a cement supply configured so that the apparatus or method can produce fluid concrete. The apparatus and method include a control and adjustment unit, connected to the water supply and at least to the cement supply, configured to selectively control and adjust the introduction of water and cement into the first mixer and the introduction of further water into the cement mixer.

A ready-mixed composition and a pre-mix composition for the production of a concrete material containing sequestered carbon dioxide, a CO.sub.2-containing water used in such compositions, dry-batch and wet-batch processes for sequestering carbon dioxide in concrete material, general method and process for sequestering carbon dioxide in hardening concrete, system and ready-mixed truck to perform such processes and methods for the production of a ready-to-cure carbonated concrete. Compositions comprise a concrete mixture and a CO.sub.2-containing water. The CO.sub.2-containing water comprising water and at least one of blended CO.sub.2 gas bubbles, dissolved H.sub.2CO.sub.3, carbonate ions (CO.sub.3.sup.2), bicarbonate ions (HCO.sup.3−), nanosized alkaline earth metal carbonate and nanosized alkali metal carbonate particles. The concrete mixture comprises a cementitious material, aggregates and at least one CO.sub.2-sequestering chemical for accelerating a CO.sub.2 sequestration speed and maximizing the captured amount of the carbon dioxide.

A solution dispensing system for injecting a fluid into a concrete mixing container, comprising of a sled including a housing; at least one spray head; a solution line coupled to the housing and to the spray head adapted to spray fluid into the concrete mixing container; a support structure adapted to attach to an external rigid frame and aligned with a hopper of the concrete mixing container; a guiding mechanism facilitating a raising and a lowering of the sled into the hopper of the concrete mixing container; and a supply source including a container and a pump adapted to regulate a flow of the fluid in the solution line where the sled is lowered into the hopper of the concrete mixing container and the fluid is delivered to a drum of the concrete mixing container through the spray head.

A nozzle, including a support member and a nozzle boot surrounding at least a portion of the support member, the nozzle boot having a nozzle boot inlet and a nozzle boot outlet spaced from the nozzle boot inlet and a volume between the nozzle boot inlet and the nozzle boot outlet, the nozzle boot being expandable upon the introduction of fluid into the volume, and collapsible upon withdrawal of fluid from the volume. Also disclosed is a method of removing unwanted concrete from a surface by creating tensile stress to concrete adhered to that surface by causing the surface to expand, and a system for injecting fluid (s) into a rotating drum.

Volume of a concrete mix load in a rotatable mixer drum is determined using an in-and-out sensor probe system wherein the probe submerges into and exits from the concrete during mixer drum rotation and provides data to a processor used in the system for calculating volume of the concrete mix load based on the data. To take into consideration any concavity, convexity, and/or cascading surface flow effects that can hinder accurate determination of the concrete load volume, the processor is configured to compare original batch volume and rheology of the concrete load monitored during drum rotation. The calibration of load volume involves a comparison between real-time data and historic data stored in processor-accessible memory, and further take into account the speed and tilt of the mixer drum (such as caused by roadway conditions), the concrete mix design, and other factors.

A concrete mixer vehicle includes a chassis, a mixing drum assembly, and a controller. The mixing drum assembly includes a mixing drum, a mixing element, a collector, and a chute. The mixing drum defines an aperture and a volume. The mixing element is positioned within the volume and is coupled to the mixing drum. The controller is configured to determine a state of the concrete mixer vehicle, determine a state of a mixture delivery system of a batch plant, obtain and apply a setpoint value to an actuator of the concrete mixer vehicle or the mixture delivery system, and activate the mixture delivery system to output material through the outlet of the mixture delivery system such that the material is deposited directly into the volume of the mixing drum to thereby directly charge the concrete mixer vehicle with material.

Method and system to measure and monitor the grey water content in a rotating concrete mixer drum mixer truck using a sensor attached to the interior of the concrete mixer drum. By measuring the grey water content before a batching process takes place, the batched water (and cement content and admixture type and content) can be modified in order to maintain expected performance of the batched load in terms of both strength and rheology, or more simply, some or all of the grey water can be discharged from the concrete mixer drum before batching.

The present invention relates to a new method and system for reclaiming and recycling the concrete residue that remains on key components of a concrete mixing truck in a safe and environmentally responsible manner. Any slurry aggregate remaining on the chutes or other parts of the concrete mixing truck is collected by a concrete collection system that is attached to the concrete mixing truck and includes an augur conveyor enclosed in a housing, whereby the augur conveyor is hydraulically extended either behind or in front of the chutes of the concrete mixing truck depending on a type of mixing truck. The augur conveyor can be raised to a maximum height in order to discharge any collected slurry aggregate from the chutes or other parts of the truck back into a top hopper of the concrete truck to be directed back into the mixing drum of the concrete mixing truck.