Keep it moving – hopper feed chute design improves material flow
Finally there is a way to make sure that even the most challenging feed material reaches the extruder screw without clogging or caking.
Even light, fluffy or moist compounds must feed continuously into the extrusion equipment to ensure a high-quality end product. Inconsistency also affects productivity and material can even clog before it reaches the packers above the feeding screw that are designed to help achieve perfect flow.
Diamond America’s research and development team has recently designed a hopper chute that helps convey feed material all the way to the screw, all the time. The technology works even for the very large chutes required to accommodate long production runs and keeps the operation safe.
Over the years, many methods have been tried in attempts to achieve consistent, trouble-free feeding; the addition of vibration to keep the solids agitated, augers for feed control and even blasts of air to prevent caking. Each of these methods has some merit but none work as well as the new, improved chute configuration from Diamond America, illustrated here.
The first thing to notice is the individual wheels that have been added to shafts throughout the hopper. These allow for the addition of cogs, if required, that can be shaped to suit the properties of the material being fed.
“We have the experts and resources to devise solutions like this for the extrusion of even the most difficult materials,” says Mr. Mike Magee, President of Diamond America custom extrusion equipment suppliers. “Our mission is to help companies all over the world optimize their processes by determining the best extrusion equipment for their specific materials and applications. We provide durable, high-performance solutions that operate efficiently and cost effectively, rising to meet the challenge of tricky feed materials for our clients to help them overcome even the toughest material flow issues.”
The post Hopper Feeder Chute appeared first on Diamond America.
