Material Handling: Screw Conveyor Goes Mobile, Adds Trough Hopper

Two new models of flexible screw conveyors are available from Flexicon Corp., Bethlehem, Pa. First, a mobile, sanitary version can be tilted down and rolled to serve multiple functions. Using a manual jack screw, the support boom and conveyor can be raised for discharging into vessels or other process equipment. Fully lowered, it can be rolled through doorways as low as 7 ft and aisles as narrow as 42 in.

Sanitary features include a caster-mounted frame, support boom, and hopper grate of 316 stainless steel; sanitary quick-release cleanout cap; quick-disconnect discharge-box access cover; stainless control panel with stainless conduit and liquid-tight compression fittings, allowing washdown during changeovers and/or conveying of corrosive materials.

Second is a screw conveyor with a trough hopper. It can receive materials from multiple outlets of feeders, grinders, blenders, and other process equipment. The hopper has an extended charging adapter that exposes 45 in. of the flexible screw rotating within an inclined, U-shaped trough to charge material entering the hopper at any point.

The hopper has a stainless-steel grate for worker safety, and to prevent oversized particles from entering the conveyor. Smooth, crevice-free surfaces of the screw and tube interior allow in-place flushing with water, steam, or cleaning solutions through a lower cleanout cap and/or upper discharge housing. The flexible screw can also be removed for separate sanitizing and inspection of the polymer conveyor tube and stainless-steel hopper, as well as the screw.