Inventive Maintenance Systems Prolong Equipment Lifespan
Products reduce wear and tear, minimize downtime spent fixing equipment, and create overall smooth operations to improve your shop’s machine and tool accuracy.
Posted: April 4, 2024
Mobile Tilt-down Flexible Screw Conveyor System
A new Tilt-down Flexible Screw Conveyor System from Flexicon Corp. (Bethlehem, PA) is mounted on a portable base with a multi-purpose hood and an integral dust collector. This allows manual dumping from handheld sacks as well as discharging from bulk bags, subsequently transferring material to elevated downstream process equipment and storage vessels at multiple plant locations, dust free.
Discharging from bulk bags requires the user’s forklift or plant hoist to suspend the bag above the dust hood, allowing the bag spout to be cinched by an iris valve, untied and then released gradually to prevent uncontrolled bursts of material from the bag. Alternately, hand-held sacks can be rested on a fold-down support tray, slit open, and manually dumped into the hopper.
Airborne dust generated by either process is drawn away from the operator’s area through the dust hood by a side-mounted BAG-VAC® dust collector vented from the hood. To maintain operational efficiency, reverse-pulse air jets on a timed cycle remove accumulated dust build-up on filter surfaces, dropping it to the bottom of the dust collector for later removal and disposal.
The flexible screw conveyor features an inner stainless-steel screw of specialized geometry to propel both free- and non-free-flowing bulk materials including products that pack, cake, smear, seize or fluidize, with no separation of blends.
The support boom and conveyor assembly can be tilted down to maneuver through standard doorways and aisles, and around corners for use anywhere in the plant. A low center of gravity maximizes stability during operation and when rolling the unit between multiple processing tasks and wash-down stations.
When fully lowered, the tilt-down mechanism positions the clean-out cap of the conveyor tube higher off the plant floor, and the conveyor’s discharge closer to the floor, allowing removal and re-insertion of the flexible screw from standing height during cleaning and inspection.
New Degreaser Tackles Tough Industrial Cleaning Projects
Madison Chemical (Madison, IN) introduces ProClean DEGREASER, a liquid, moderately alkaline, multi-purpose detergent for general purpose cleaning and degreasing in challenging industrial and manufacturing environments. With superior wetting and penetrating properties, this versatile, water-based degreaser quickly and completely removes oil and grease. It is effective under hard water conditions, and rinses completely. The product is well suited for use with floor scrubbers, manual cleaning processes, immersion tanks, foam generating equipment, low and high pressure non-recirculating sprayers and more. When used according to manufacturer’s directions the product does not exhibit a noticeable odor nor leave a visible residue. ProClean DEGREASER is ideal for manual cleaning of machinery and equipment, floor cleaning, and general-purpose cleaning in food and beverage processing facilities.
Water temperature and dilution will vary depending upon soil loading and the specific nature of the application. Madison Technical Sales Reps are available to assist with SOPs for concentrations and temperatures based on actual conditions.
New Fast-acting, Powerful Rust Remover Soaks Away Rust Safely
Environmentally friendly Rust Revenge, new from Daubert Cromwell (Alsip, IL), is a water-based, non-acidic, ready-to-use soaking liquid that removes rust without mixing or scrubbing. Tested and approved by leading OEMs, Rust Revenge begins to work in as little as five minutes. It is non-toxic, biodegradable, reusable, and entirely safe for use in the workplace.
Rust Revenge is a low-foaming rust remover and descaler that solves a common problem in metalworking industries. It is highly effective at removing scale, hard water deposits and build-up. It is ideal for de-rusting metal equipment and machinery in automotive, heavy equipment, military, and all types of manufacturing applications.
Odor-free, ph-neutral Rust Revenge contains no VOCs or HAPs, acids or bases. Use it directly as supplied, without further dilution. Intended for dip or immersion tanks, adding to spray wash systems, and spot-treating problem areas on metal surfaces. For best and long-lasting corrosion protection, package the clean part in Daubert Cromwell VCI film or paper. Rust Revenge is available in 1-gallon, 5-gallon, and 55-gallon containers, plus totes.
Resource-saving Ultra-fine Filtration Technology for Regrinding Precision Tools
Cleanly filtered cooling lubricants play a decisive role in the regrinding of tools and represent an important quality factor. The filter manufacturer Vomat (Treuen, Germany) uses high-performance ultra-fine filtration technology to ensure that purified cooling lubricants of the highest purity are always available throughout the entire production process. The Vomat FA 70+ small system is particularly suitable for regrinding. This single-station solution in compact dimensions combines special design features that enable tool manufacturers and resharpeners to produce in a resource-saving and profitable manner.
The dovetailing of climate and environmental protection with production efficiency and profitability in industrial metalworking is becoming increasingly important. One piece of the mosaic is the regrinding of cutting tools. This process helps to reduce the environmental impact at various stages of the tool life cycle, which in turn helps to reduce the CO2 footprint.
This leads to increased demand from the industry for tool reconditioning services from tool manufacturers and companies specializing in regrinding. This is because professional reconditioning and resharpening of high-priced precision cutting tools maintains their performance beyond their initial use and the performance potential is fully exploited thanks to the extended life cycle. Steffen Strobel, Sales Manager at machine manufacturer and filter manufacturer Vomat: “We welcome this trend, as it effectively saves resources. At the same time, the integration of climate and environmental protection into production profitability is also becoming increasingly important in the production of cutting tools and their resharpening. More and more tool grinders and resharpeners are attaching importance to the fact that their machines not only offer high efficiency and quality, but also produce sustainably. This applies not only to tool grinding machines, but also to peripheral systems such as coolant filtration systems.
The FA 70+ stand-alone solution for tool resharpening compact system (dimensions L x W x H: 1300 x 1100 x 1200 mm) has a maximum filter capacity of 70 liters/minute and provides clean oil in NAS 9 quality over a long filtration period. Optional additional modules such as an integrable 7 kW cooling unit with a control accuracy of +/- 1.0 K as well as magnetic and disposable filters enable customer-specific complete system solutions. The residual sludge is disposed of manually using special bag containers.
Vomat systems automatically control the filter flow and backwash cycles as required. This extends the service life of the filter elements and saves energy and costs. At the same time, less heat is added to the medium, which in turn requires less cooling capacity and further reduces energy consumption.
