Design and Construction of an Electrically Operated Paint Mixing Machine

Abstract

An electrically operated paint-mixing machine was developed. The machine consisted of a mixing drum with a capacity of 30.6 L. The test was carried out by mixing 25%, 50%, and 75% of the total mixing capacity of the machine, and the time taken for the constituents to be thoroughly mixed were recorded. The mixer member (agitator) was used to mix the paint components by the use of an electric motor. For easy mixing of denser paint components i.e. paints with high viscosity, particularly oil-based (or enamel) paint, a hydraulic lift, with a travel height (distance) of about 40 cm, was introduced to move the mixing disc vertically in the upward (up to a height of 19 cm above the drum) and downward direction (up to a height of 15 cm above the bottom of the drum) to prevent clogging of the paint components while mixing. The hydraulic mechanism also allows the operator to remove the drum after mixing as well as to install the drum in place before starting the mixing operation. The machine was powered with a 0.74 hp (550 W) electric motor, which transmitted the rotary motion of the driving component through a V-belt to the driven component which was supported with two bearings. The test results obtained from the running of the machine showed that the time taken to mix thoroughly 30.6 L of paint constituents was 102 minutes. This was done to study the reliability and the time taken to accomplish the thorough mixing of the paint components. To achieve this, the volume of paint constituents (L) ranged from 10.2 L at 35 minutes to 30.6 L at 102 minutes. This finding elucidates the ability to tackle the problems of mixing paint locally by hand and by manually operated machines, which are not only primitive but both time and energy consuming, and as well serves as an innovation in the paint industry.