Mechanical Conveying Spotlight - December 2009

Belt Conveyors
These belt conveyors are capable of carrying a variety of products in large and small capacities at the required speeds for the application. Common materials handled include chemicals, plastics, and grain. Five different belt conveyor types are offered as part of the standard belt conveyor offerings, from simple frames consisting of channels securely tied and braced with a steel deck plate between the top and bottom run of belt, to frames with double walkway galleries. Modern, synthetic fibers used in the belt construction resist stretching, permitting high belt speeds with capacities from 100 to 5000 tn/hr.
Schenck Process, Whitewater, WI 800-558-0184 www.accuratefeeders.com

Belt Cleaner
The latest addition to the company’s line of Quick Change belt cleaners, the PDQC #1 cleaner provides performance and durability across a wide range of applications. The new cleaner features a more-rugged steel mainframe, a low-maintenance spring tensioner, and a high-volume urethane blade that extends life while maintaining cleaning performance. It uses a one-piece urethane blade featuring a patented Constant Angle Radial Pressure (CARP) design for consistent cleaning across all stages of blade life. The blade features 20% more urethane than competitive blades, yielding a longer life in even the most challenging applications.
Martin Engineering, Neponset, IL 800-544-2947 www.martin-eng.com

Secondary Belt Cleaner
The Wash Box is installed as a secondary belt cleaner and is designed to work on the return side of the conveyor belt. Each steel enclosed box is equipped with a combination of pressure rollers, spray bars, and Razor-Back belt cleaners. It can also be customized to meet exact needs. The nozzles apply a spray of water that softens the carry-back and lubricates to maintain effective cleaning pressure. The system provides excellent cleaning while containing the wash waste fluid. There is a removable inspection and service door on each side, with washdown hose.
ASGCO Manufacturing Inc., Allentown, PA 18102 610-821-0210 www.asgco.com

Bucket Elevator
The Swinglink heavy-duty bucket elevator is used for industrial applications such as soap/detergents, ceramics, ammunition, fiberglass, talc powder, sugar, salt, chemicals, fertilizer, glass cullet, and metal powders. It has buckets that remain in an upward facing position while loading and throughout the circuit allowing the material to have maximum gentle handling. When in a horizontal position, the buckets are overlapped to ensure there is no product spillage and the smooth bucket surface eliminates product trap areas. This provides a means of transfer in a single plane. Heavy-duty buckets are available in stainless steel, carbon steel, and plastic.
Gough Econ Inc., Charlotte, NC 800-264-6844 www.goughecon.com

Sanitary Slat Conveyors
These slat conveyors are ideal for food products that require a high level of sanitation and minimal product degradation. Gently and quietly transporting products uphill, downhill, or horizontally, they can be employed for either short- or long-distance conveying. Featuring a simple design, these conveyors require little maintenance. The slats are available in a wide range of widths and materials and attached to chains that glide on special sanitary UHMW polyethylene chain rails designed to provide precise tracking. The most common construction of the slat conveyor for a sanitary environment is stainless steel.
Triple/S Dynamics, Dallas, TX 800-527-2116 www.sssdynamics.com

Flexible Screw Conveyors
These flexible screw conveyors feed powder and bulk materials to and from packaging lines, bulk bag unloaders/fillers, processing equipment, weighing equipment, and storage vessels, all dust-free. They transport large pellets to submicron powders including free-flowing and non-free-flowing products that pack, cake, plug, smear, or fluidize—with no separation of blends—vertically, horizontally, or at any angle. The rugged screw is the only moving part contacting material, resulting in reduced maintenance and increased reliability. A cap at the bottom end of the conveyor tube can be removed for in-place flushing of the smooth interior surfaces, or for removal of the screw for sanitizing. They are available to food, dairy, pharmaceutical, or industrial standards in stationary and mobile configurations.
Flexicon Corp., Bethlehem, PA 888-353-9426 www.flexicon.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 it 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 unit is matched to individual customer requirements using both the company’s 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. Along with a simple robust drive system, this results in a more uniform repeatable conveying rate and reduced maintenance. Flexifeeders are available at capacities up to 1500 cu ft/hr and single unit conveying lengths of 50 ft.
Vibra Screw Inc., Totowa, NJ 973-256-7410 www.vibrascrew.com

Screw Conveyor Seals
HB standard-sized seals for screw conveyors and similar equipment replace waste pack housings on horizontal, inclined, or vertical screw conveyors. The seals are stocked in five CEMA and 11 metric shaft sizes: from 1½ to 3 7/16 in. and from 40 to 90mm. The seals are designed to perform under 90% of the typical operating conditions associated with screw conveyors. This includes food-grade applications, temperatures up to 500°F, and abrasive products. They accommodate up to ¼ in. of shaft runout.
Woodex Bearing Company, Inc., Georgetown, ME 800-526-8800 www.woodex-meco.com

Flexible Screw Conveyor
This flexible screw conveyor is used to convey product from bulk bag unloaders, bag dump stations, and storage vessels. Available in a range of sizes, the conveyor typically transfers product over distances of up to 40 ft and rates to 10 tn/hr for materials having a bulk density of 40 lb/cu ft. Typical applications include: the refilling of packaging machine hoppers; metered feed into mix tanks, such as lime addition; and gain-in-weight hopper filling.
Vac-U-Max, Belleville, NJ 800-822-8629 www.vac-u-max.com

Aeromechanical Conveyor
This aeromechanical conveyor is designed for high throughput of semifree flowing powders like talc, TiO2, and carbon black, and can convey up to 18 cu ft/min. The conveyor is ideal for bulk bag unloading and loading, conveying powders quickly to process vessels, and reloading feeders. Recent design improvements include clean-in-place housings, independent tensioning, and flood feed inlets. A 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

Aeromechanical Conveyor
This aeromechanical conveyor is a high-capacity, totally enclosed mechanical conveyor that can convey at any angle—even vertically—up to 60 ft at rates of up to 120 tn/hr, in a straight line or in round the corner or Z configurations. It is effectively a mechanical pneumatic conveyor, offering 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 conveyor uses a disk mechanism that fluidizes all flowable solids in a recirculating air stream that provides low-shear conveying of powders or particulates up to 5/8 in.
Spiroflow Systems Inc., Monroe, NC 704-291-9595 www.spiroflowsystems.com

Belt Conveyors
These belt conveyors provide effective control of objects on high-speed horizontal and inclined conveyor belts. A wide range of styles are available to accommodate a variety of belting designs, including fabric, table top, and stainless steel mesh. Units are offered with many design options and can be supplied with ancillary components, such as vibratory feeders, hoppers, shakers, magnetic rails, and separation rolls, to provide a complete material handling system. Belts are manufactured in widths ranging from 4 to 60 in. Lightweight and able to handle high feed rates, they can handle a variety of part sizes.
Magnetic Products Inc., Highland, MI 800-544-5930 www.mpimagnet.com

Elevator Buckets
Style AA industrial elevator buckets are made from prime virgin resins. The range of molded nylon, urethane, and polyethylene buckets is produced from new injection molds, engineered expressly to match the original mill standard design. Twelve new sizes, and 22 existing sizes in ductile iron and cast aluminum, are ideal for use in foundry sand, coal, fertilizer, sand, gravel, and other abrasive applications. Urethane buckets resist the cutting abrasion of materials like glass cutlet, pelletized feed, and oyster shells. Polyethylene is the cost-effective standard for general purpose applications.
Tapco Inc., St. Louis, MO 314-739-9191 www.tapcoin.com

Mechanical Conveying Systems
These mechanical conveying systems are key to the company’s integrated bulk material handling systems. Systems include weigh conveyors, chain-drive live roller conveyors, pharma- and food-grade belt conveyors, material feeders, agitator hoppers, and solid and flexible core screw conveyors. Whether transporting bulk containers or raw material, these systems ensure contaminant-free material is efficiently moved through processing and packaging operations, regardless of material characteristics or flow volume requirements. Specific engineering, fabrication, and design-stage integration of NTEP-certified base weigh devices to NBE weigh conveyors ensure accurate and repeatable weigh accuracy of ±0.01%, up to a total container capacity of 4500 lb.
National Bulk Equipment Inc., Holland, MI 616-399-2220 www.nbe-inc.com

Large-Diameter Tubular Drag Conveyors
These tubular drag conveyors range in size from 3 to 12 in. in diameter. A single tubular drag conveyor can convey from multiple inlets, in multiple directions, and transfer material over 400 ft at over 50 cu ft/min. The units are totally enclosed for clean operation and are engineered with a robust construction. The heavy-duty chain with attached flight design runs quietly and provides consistent gentle handling of a wide range of materials with little to no degradation. The design is capable of successfully handling blended or friable products as well as difficult materials, ranging from cocoa, sugar, and coffee, to hazardous chemicals, and to industrial sludge, copper, and iron.
Hapman, Kalamazoo, MI 800-427-6260 www.ideasthatmove.com

Conveying Systems
Bulk, package, and pallet conveyors are operating within a wide range of industrial and agricultural applications. Multiple standard conveyor designs include flat and troughed, 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

Screw Conveyors
These screw conveyors are available in conventional U-trough and tubular designs. In addition, the split-tubular design offers several features and benefits that facilitate operation and maintenance procedures. The hinged, gasketed, and tubular cover offers the material confinement of a conventional conveyor, with the added benefit of easy cleaning and inspection of the auger. Batch processing is facilitated where there is the need to eliminate cross contamination and removal of any residual material from a prior batch. All units are built to rigorous specifications: trough, shaft, and flighting designs exceed minimum CEMA standards, including heavier-duty material gauge and tighter clearance dimensions.
S. Howes Inc., Silver Creek, NY 716-934-2611 www.showes.com