Material Handling Systems

A pneumatic loader lift option available for Maguire blenders with removable bins speeds cleaning and changing of blender bins by lifting loaders atop the bins to enable easier access.

Accumulated material in a vibratory tray can result in deflection, affecting performance and possibly causing feeder damage. Be forewarned of such impending productivity problems with the Deflection Monitor from Eriez Mfg. Co. (Erie, PA). The unit can detect abnormal amounts of material on vibratory trays or when some feeder components are failing. It detects changes in tray deflection, and alerts users or shuts down the feeder so the tray can be cleaned to improve performance and reduce costly downtime.

One person can easily handle sacks weighing up to 125 lb with a vacuum tube lifter operated via fingertip controls on an ergonomic handlebar. The VT Series Bag and Sack Lifter from Anver Corp. (Hudson, MA) is available in either electric or pneumatic vacuum station versions. This versatile lifter provides a 100% duty cycle for production use and has a quick-connect coupling that accepts a variety of vacuum pad attachments. Pricing is from $4995.

BinMaster, a maker of bulk material inventory monitoring devices, announced its newest product, BinLink, a web-based monitoring solution for bins, tanks, and silos that enables remote wireless inventory management of the stored material from any computer with web access.

An auto-cleaning function has been designed into the new blender range from Ireland’s TSM Control Systems (Dundalk, Ireland). This option could interest processors requiring quick recipe changes. With the "auto-cleaning" integrated feature it is possible to change from one recipe to another without any cross examination of materials. The blender is no longer the limiting factor; instead, the purge time of the process unit determines the time required for color change.

FA-O Series low-profile flat deck tables from Cleveland Vibrator (Cleveland, OH) enable efficient compacting of drums and boxes containing pelletized plastic through adjustable vibration intensity. The series also offers quiet operation and a range of load-carrying capacities. Power is either by air or electricity. Deck widths range between 24 and 48 inches, deck heights between 7 and 14 inches, and load capacities between 300 and 4000 lb. Custom-designed table sizes are also available for heavier loads.

The latest AccuMeter series of continuous loss-in-weight feeding systems from Sterling (New Berlin, WI) is said to be designed to meet the needs of today’s processor by ensuring product quality through tight control of the manufacturing process. Most pellets, regrind, powders, and liquids can be metered into the process, even at very low levels (>50 g/hr). Dosing accuracy is ±0.5%.

An addition to Process Control Corp.’s (Atlanta, GA) portfolio, the XU Series continuous loss-in-weight powder blenders allow gravimetric blending of nonfree-flowing powder materials with free-flowing powder and pellet materials with reportedly unprecedented metering and mixing accuracy. The XU is the first to be designed by the vendor for all powder feeders in a four- or six-element configuration.

AEC (Schaumburg, IL) has released the AccuMeter Series continuous loss-in-weight feeding system. Most pellets, regrind, powders, and liquids can be metered into the process using this system, even at very low levels (>50 g/hr).