Uniquely Lee Robust Agitator

Lee Agitator Drives: Built Beyond Customer Specifications

Lee agitators can be designed and built to meet requirements for mixing and agitation of ingredients at viscosities from 1 cP (waterlike materials) to 2 million cP (toothpaste or similar materials). However, every Lee agitator, regardless of its use at lower viscosity rates, is built for sustained mixing operations at a minimum viscosity of 100,000 cP.

This minimum 100,000 cP viscosity standard ensures exceptional performance and long-term reliability when used to mix materials with viscosities below 100,000 cP, which account for a wide range of product applications. This standard provides Lee customers with an extra margin of performance and enhances long-term reliability for daily operation. Likewise, when customers need performance at viscosities above 100,000 cP, Lee agitators can be designed for viscosities up to 2,000,000 cP.

Main Features of Lee Agitator Systems

Optimizing an agitator system means that every component in the drive chain must be engineered to deliver enhanced performance and long-term reliability. Lee agitators are built as a single, robust system with every component capable of performance and reliability in excess of requirements (also see chart on next page):

More powerful motor with higher service rating:

To power our agitator drives, we specify washdown duty, higher horsepower motors with increased service factors, to operate under heavier loads when needed. In addition to providing more than adequate power to mix a range of higher-viscosity products, a more powerful motor reduces amperage draw on the motor, which extends motor life and reduces service costs.

Robust, hollow-bore gearbox keyed in place to the motor shaft for direct drive designs:

Instead of using a weaker, direct coupling to link the motor to the agitator shaft from the gearbox, Lee uses a hollow-bore gearbox. This makes it possible to use a one-piece agitator shaft and eliminate potential coupling failure, a common failure point in conventional mixing vessels.

Heavy-duty agitator shaft and agitator assembly:

Joined to the motor and gearbox are a heavyduty agitator shaft and agitator assembly specifically designed for viscosities of 100,000 cP to 2,000,000 cP, for more durable construction than conventional designs.

Lee Agitator Build-Quality Features

Higher Horsepower Motor

Drive units on Lee mixers use higher horsepower, washdown duty electric motors with higher service factors, to power through higher viscosity batches and eliminate motor wear due to excessive amperage draw.

Heavy-Duty Gearbox

Heavy-duty, hollow-bore gear drives are keyed in place to the motor, to provide a highly secure power linkage from motor to gearbox to the one-piece agitator shaft.

One-Piece Agitator Shaft

A robust, heavy-duty one-piece agitator shaft is keyed directly to the hollow-bore output shaft of the gearbox. This eliminates the need for separate couplings or linkages usually found on two-piece assemblies, which are more likely to loosen and fail, requiring additional service.

Heavy-Duty Agitator Assembly

Agitator blades and crossmembers are fabricated from thicker, heavy-duty stainless bar and round stock, with sanitary and polished welds.

How Higher Agitator Build-Quality Helps Your Processing Operation

This Lee design principle of "over-engineering" its agitator assemblies for use at viscosities higher than customer requirements provides several major benefits to processors and manufacturers:

Higher reliability eliminates expensive production downtime:

The higher build-quality resulting from engineering beyond the customer's rated viscosity requirement assures better longterm performance and greater continuous reliability. When the vessel is used continuously for mixing at viscosities lower than its higher viscosity rating, this overengineering virtually eliminates unexpected, expensive production downtime due to breakdown of key drive components.

Significantly reduced ongoing service costs:

Over-engineering means using higher horsepower motors, larger gear drives and larger diameter agitator shafts and related components. Larger, higher grade components wear more slowly before needing replacement, which extends service intervals and reduces ongoing service costs for your Lee mixing kettle or tank.

Meeting new customer requirements and market opportunities:

Contract manufacturers and processors introducing new products must often be prepared to meet a variety of new mixing requirements in their process operations. A mixing vessel rated for high-viscosity operation helps you accommodate new customer or product requirements for processing products at a wider range of viscosities.

Avoiding expensive emergency repairs:

Over-engineering provides an extra margin of security and performance to your processing operations. For example, when thick ingredients are added to a batch while the agitator is operating, stress to the drive assembly is minimized or eliminated in a kettle rated for higher-viscosity use. Equipment damage risks are also minimized in cases where products, such as partially frozen food ingredients, may be unintentionally added to the kettle during full-speed mixing operation.