Mechanical Conveying Spotlight - September 09

Secondary Tensioner
The Duo-Spring secondary tensioner utilizes a patent-pending mounting plate that allows the cleaning blade to be spring tensioned in either a pull-up or push-up position. This specially designed configurability features two different mounting options that leave extra clearance above or below the bracket where necessary. It is available on both the Razor-Back and New Wave III cleaning systems.
ASGCO, Allentown, PA 610-821-0210 www.asgco.com

Conveyor Pulleys
This complete line of heavy-duty conveyor pulleys and components produces maximum protection against premature failure in harsh applications. The line is available as stock and made-to-order with quick delivery. Products available include drum pulleys, wing pulleys, lagging, bushings, take-up frames, and shafting. Heavy-duty drum pulleys are aggressively constructed in either standard duty, mine duty, quarry duty, machined, and engineered drums. Wing pulleys are available in standard duty, mine duty, quarry duty, and quarry duty AR. They are designed to meet the most common types of failure: wing folding, premature contact bar wear, and hub weld fatigue.
Martin Sprocket, Arlington, TX 817-258-3000 www.martinsprocket.com

FDA-Compliant Nylon Elevator Buckets
FDA-compliant nylon elevator buckets are compliant with FDA Regulations Title 21 CFR 177.1500, CFR 175.105, CFR 178.2010, and CFR 177.300. The polyethylene buckets already meet the stringent FDA standards under Food Additives Law and Regulations Nos. 175.300 and 177.2600 and will not leach into or affect the integrity of ingredients used for food products. FDA-compliant urethane buckets are available by special order. All buckets are injection molded from the highest grade of prime virgin resins for high abrasion resistance and impact strength. Nonmetallic buckets are available in five styles.
Tapco Inc., St. Louis, MO 800-288-2726 www.tapcoinc.com

Chain Conveyors and Bucket Elevators
Often used together, the MoveMaster chain conveyor and bucket elevator utilize the ‘En-Masse’ principle. This is where bulk materials are induced to move like a liquid through a dust-tight steel casing that can be designed horizontally, on an inclined plane, vertically, and around bends. This method avoids internal disturbance or pressure on the material and allows for discharge at any opening where the load is permitted to fall away from the flights. The conveyor’s versatility allows it to handle a range of capacities from 10 to 2000 tn/hr and it can also be used as a conventional drag chain. To ensure absolute quality control the chains are made from high-tensile alloy steel forgings. For maximum strength and service life the chain links are heat treated and the flights are precision welded to them.
Schenck Process, Whitewater, WI 800-558-0184 www.accuratefeeders.com

Hydraulically Assisted Bearing
The Dodge hydraulically assisted ISAF bearing is ideally suited for large bulk-handling conveyors. The rugged bearing is easy to install and remove, features two superior sealing systems, and has housings and inner units made of ductile iron for added strength. It utilizes a built-in hydraulically assisted adapter-mounted installation and removal system. To install, simply slip the bearing on the shaft and apply hydraulic pressure to position the bearing on the adapter sleeve. Instead of the time-consuming process of mechanically rotating a lock nut, the hydraulic system quickly and easily pushes the bearing into position. Once installed, the full shaft contact offered by this mounting system reduces or eliminates fretting corrosion. To remove, simply apply pressure to the dismount piston to push the bearing off the adapter sleeve.
Baldor Electric Co., Fort Smith, AR 479-646-4711 www.baldor.com

Dribble Chute Vibrator Application
A belt conveying system often requires cleaning of material from the belt. It is common to use a dribble chute to direct material caught by the secondary belt cleaner back onto the flow of material to minimize carryback. Minimizing carryback improves productivity, lowers cost, and aids in the efficient operation of a transfer point. The dribble chute vibrator application provides for a choice of electric vibrators and includes the vibrator, dribble chute mounting bracket with isolators, and brackets for attachment to the inside dribble sheet. Unique to this system is the positive attachment of the mounting bracket isolators to the user-provided angle mounting on the back of the external dribble sheet. This securely attaches the vibrator mounting and provides for a longer life.
Cougar Industries Inc., Peru, IL 800-262-2106 www.cougarindustries.com

Tubular Drag Conveyor
This tubular drag conveyor allows the user to convey from multiple inlets, in multiple directions, using one conveyor. The robust construction provides years of service, while the heavy-duty chain will run quietly for years without need for replacement. It is totally enclosed for clean operation, while the gentle handling makes it ideal for conveying blended or friable products. The unit has successfully handled a full range of products from cocoa, sugar, and coffee, to hazardous chemicals, industrial sludge, copper, and iron.
Hapman, Kalamazoo, MI 800-427-6260 www.ideasthatmove.com

Flexible Screw and Vibratory Tube Conveyors
Convey-All flexible screw and vibratory tube conveyors feature a rugged design with only one moving part for ease of maintenance and cleaning. Convey-All/FSC flexible screw conveyors are available in 10- to 20-ft lengths and offer a choice of a 3-in.-diam helix screw that nominally conveys up to 150 cu ft/hr or a 4-in.-diam helix screw that conveys up to 450 cu ft/hr. Convey-All/VTC vibratory tube conveyors have only two moving parts for long-lasting operation with low power consumption and are available in 4- to 10-ft lengths with 6- to 10-in. diam tubes; they convey high rates of difficult flowing or friable dry solids at up to 400 cu ft/hr.
Metalfab Inc., Vernon, NJ 800-764-2999 www.metalfabinc.com

Aeromechanical Conveyor
This aeromechanical conveyor is designed for high throughput of semi-free-flowing powders like talc, TiO2, and carbon black. The unit can convey up to 18 cu ft/min. It is ideal for bulk bag unloading and loading, conveying powders quickly to process vessels, and reloading feeders. Features include clean-in-place housings, independent tensioning, and flood feed inlets. The combination of fluidized and mechanically assisted conveying enables high transfer rates at low levels of power.
Aerocon, Belleville, NJ 800-405-2376 www.aeromechanical.com

Flexible Screw Conveyor
The Aero-Flex flexible screw conveyor provides an economical method of metering product from bulk bag unloaders, bag dump stations, and storage vessels. Available in a range of sizes, it transfers powders over distances of up to 40 ft and rates to 10 tn/hr for materials having a bulk density of up to 40 lb/cu ft. Applications include the refilling of packaging machine hoppers, metering feed into mix tanks, such as lime addition, gain-in-weight hopper filling, and bulk bag discharging.
Vac-U-Max, Belleville, NJ 800-822-8629 www.vac-u-max.com

Trough Slider-Bed Belt Conveyors
These trough conveyors use an open-center concave pan section and are available with a variety of belt sizes to quickly move large volumes of bulk material. A choice of smooth belt and textured cleat topped belts are available. The motor is mounted on the side of the conveyor section. Adding options such as in-feed hoppers, spouts, spout extensions, diverters, plow-offs, belt wipers, incline and decline elbows, and covers to the basic unit increases versatility. These conveyors are ideal for: moving grains, sawdust, forages, chips, and other bulky materials; moving material to an exact location with one-way or directional conveying; adjustable elbow or straight-line conveying and plow-off; and moving material at a choice of belt speeds.
Bunting Magnetics Co., Newton, KS 800-835-2526 www.buntingmagnetics.com

Cross Belt Conveyor Trippers
These cross belt conveyor trippers are designed to discharge dry bulk products to each side along the length of the main conveyor. Typical applications include stockpiling and filling of bulk storage bins. Multiple standard conveyor designs are offered including flat and troughed, and slider and roller bed frames. Belting with smooth or patterned surfaces is utilized for horizontal and incline applications, corrugated sidewall belts for steep incline applications, and flat wire and powered rollers for bag and pallet applications.
Chantland MHS, Humboldt, IA 515-332-4045 www.chantland.com

Aeromechanical Conveyor
Also known as a rope and disk conveyor, the aeromechanical conveyor is a high-capacity, totally enclosed unit that can convey at any angle—even vertically—up to 60 ft and at rates of up to 120 tn/hr, in a straight line, or in ‘round the corner’ or Z configurations. The conveyor offers most of the benefits of pneumatic conveyors but without the need for costly air filters to separate product from the conveying air. The high-speed unit uses a disk mechanism that fluidizes all flowable solids in a recirculating airstream that provides low-shear conveying of powders or particulates up to 5/8 in.
Spiroflow System Inc., Monroe, NC 704-291-9595 www.spiroflowsystems.com

Conveyor Monitoring System
SmartArm is a wireless performance monitoring system for Iso-Flo vibratory conveyors that enables users to monitor asset or equipment shaker condition at any computer workstation. The system measures and reports speed and stroke to provide real-time analysis of shaker function, line-flow conditions, and trends at-a-glance. The SmartArm client also shows an alert when speed or stroke are out of tolerance. Empowering the shift from traditional time-based preventive maintenance to condition-based predictive maintenance, the system not only prevents downtime and reduces labor, but also provides the opportunity to improve process efficiencies.
Key Technology Inc., Walla Walla, WA 509-529-2161 www.key.net

Heavy-Duty Flexible Conveyors
The Flexifeeder line of flexible screw conveyors offers an expanded capability with less frequent maintenance. Each conveyor is matched to the individual customer requirement using both the company’s extensive installation database and complimentary lab testing. The use of controlled vibration at the inlet hopper eliminates material packing and tunneling and encourages more-even loading of the conveying screw. This, along with a simple robust drive system, results in a more uniform repeatable conveying rate and reduced maintenance.
Vibra Screw, Totowa, NJ 973-256-7410 www.vibrascrew.com

Flexible Screw Weigh Batching System
This weigh batching system for mezzanines and other low-headroom areas utilizes low-profile flexible screw conveyors configured with motor drives at the inlet end of the conveyor, thereby reducing height and width requirements at the discharge end. The automated system is comprised of eight low-profile conveyors fed by roof-mounted storage vessels. Each group of four conveyors feeds either of two gain-in-weight hoppers that gravity discharge through the mezzanine floor to a ribbon blender on the plant floor. A system controller starts and stops each conveyor to weigh ingredients in sequence, then opens the slide gate valve to discharge the batch.
Flexicon Corp., Bethlehem, PA 888-353-9426 www.flexicon.com

Rectangular Tube Horizontal Motion Conveyor
The Slipstick rectangular tube conveyor can be equipped with discharge UHMW gates, inlet and outlet seals, access ports, and available lengths of up to 200 ft and capacities of over 200 tn/hr. The unit provides gentle and sanitary transportation of fragile materials such as food products, agglomerated powders, and extruded, flaked, or pelletized products. It won’t damage fragile materials, compact compressible materials, aerate finely divided materials, or segregate material mixtures by size or density.
Triple/S Dynamics, Dallas, TX 214-828-8604 www.sssdynamics.com

Sanitary Screw Conveyor
This screw conveyor was designed specifically for applications requiring a strict sanitary environment, such as food ingredients. The unit is easy to clean, easy to service, suitable to handle multiple ingredients, and capable of passing USDA and FDA requirements. Design specifications depend on existing plant layout, material characteristics, or both. Lab testing can identify unique conveyor design requirements. How the conveyor is constructed depends on the viscosity, angle of repose, particle size, chemical makeup (caustic versus acidic), etc. Conveyors can be constructed from steel, stainless steel, or exotic steel.
S. Howes Inc., Silver Creek, NY 888-255-2611 www.showes.com