Upgraded gravimetric feeder said to offer more than double the throughput

That's the claim being made by Maguire, a leading manufacturer of auxiliary machinery for plastics processing, for the advanced model of the company's MGF gravimetric feeder. The company plans to introduce the new feeder during the K 2010 tradeshow this fall.

According to the company, the throughput increase doesn't come with a corresponding size increase. In fact, the advanced MFG has the same dimensions as the firm's established models. The company will introduce the new feeder to the world market at K 2010 at its stand there (Hall 10/A 26). 
 
Used for feeding colorants and additives into plastics processing machines, the new MGF system is driven by a motor that is smaller than the one in the company's previous model of feeder but delivers material at rates of up to 36 kg (80 lb.) per hour, compared with the previous top throughput of 13.6 kg (30 lb.). According to Maguire, the new unit costs the same as conventional volumetric feeders and is nearly 40% less expensive than competing gravimetric models. Volumetric devices currently dominate the industry but Maguire officials argue that gravimetric feeders are less complicated, easier to use, and more accurate.
 
Also new is a networking option so that controllers for the MGF feeders can now be networked with Maguire's Gravimetric Gateway software, which has been used by many users of the company's weigh scale blenders. This program provides a processor with material-usage reports, displays alarms from anywhere in the network, gives access to specific machines from remote locations, and monitors inventory levels. 
 
Load cells are used to monitor the loss in weight of colorant in a hopper (mounted on the load cell) as the material is fed into the processing machine by an auger. Software in the feeder control scans data on color consumption every half-second and automatically adjusts dispensing when a predetermined amount of accumulated error is detected. 
 
A video about the MGF feeder, seen here, shows how the equipment works.