Various forms of feeder are employed to discharge bulk storage hoppers. The function of feeders as a flow control device from bulk storage hoppers normally allows many other benefits to be exploited as a result of the ability to serve elongated outlet slots. Additional storage capacity or headroom savings can be secured from the expanded longitudinal cross section. A plane flow hopper section to the slot shaped outlet of a feeder also offers extra storage capacity due the shallower walls that can be used and reliable flow of poor flowing products is secured through smaller outlets than with a hopper that generates radial flow to a square or circular outlet. However, to secure these benefits the feeder must generate ‘live’ flow across the total area of the hopper outlet. This is secured by the feeder providing incremental extraction capacity in the direction of feeder discharge. This service cannot be provided in the forward and reverse direction of feed by a conventional feeder, which also can only deliver to one point at a time, hence a conical or pyramid hopper is necessary to supply a reversing feeder, instead of the more flow efficient wedge shape.
Some feeders used to discharge hoppers are required to reverse to serve two different locations or reject product, rather than delivering to its normal process or destination. A further use of two-way feeding is as an alternative to feeding from a hopper to two locations by means of a bifurcated chute and a two–way valve that takes up valuable or limited headroom and requires the use of inclined chutes.
Features that are incorporated to optimise extraction profiles, extend holding capacity and minimise the running loads of feeders serving extended outlet slots adversely affect reverse feeding. The hopper and feeder design can therefore be severely compromised if the feeder is required to reverse, such that it is usually impractical to exploit the flow and storage benefits of an elongated slot outlet and plane flow hopper section. A further limitation of conventional feeders with the duty of serving two opposite locations from a feeder is that their separate supply locations are invariably exclusive, the feeder being able to deliver only to either one or the other of the receiving point.
Ajax Equipment has developed a feeder system to overcome these limitations that, in its simplest form, will provide progressive extraction from an outlet up to three times longer than it is wide when feeding in either a forward or reverse direction. A more refined version of the technique has the unique features that the feeder can extract progressively from an outlet up to four times longer than its width and also have the capability of delivering to supply either of two receiving point at opposite sides of the supply hopper, or both at the same time, without either loss of discharge rate to either or of compromising the ‘live’ extraction from the total length of the elongated slot outlet of the hopper.
These benefits of increased storage capacity, reduced headroom requirement, reliable flow through smaller outlet widths and abilityto serve two ourlets individually, or at the same time, are obtained by the new feeder system by exploiting both mechanical and technical features of feeder operation.
For further details contact Ajax Equipment Ltd. Mule Street, Bolton. BL2 2AR.
Unique Two-way Feeder
Various forms of feeder are employed to discharge bulk storage hoppers. The function of feeders as a flow control device from bulk storage hoppers normally allows many other benefits to be exploited as a result of the ability to serve elongated outlet slots. Additional storage capacity or headroom savings can be secured from the expanded longitudinal cross section. A plane flow hopper section to the slot shaped outlet of a feeder also offers extra storage capacity due the shallower walls that can be used and reliable flow of poor flowing products is secured through smaller outlets than with a hopper that generates radial flow to a square or circular outlet. However, to secure these benefits the feeder must generate ‘live’ flow across the total area of the hopper outlet. This is secured by the feeder providing incremental extraction capacity in the direction of feeder discharge. This service cannot be provided in the forward and reverse direction of feed by a conventional feeder, which also can only deliver to one point at a time, hence a conical or pyramid hopper is necessary to supply a reversing feeder, instead of the more flow efficient wedge shape.
Some feeders used to discharge hoppers are required to reverse to serve two different locations or reject product, rather than delivering to its normal process or destination. A further use of two-way feeding is as an alternative to feeding from a hopper to two locations by means of a bifurcated chute and a two–way valve that takes up valuable or limited headroom and requires the use of inclined chutes.
Features that are incorporated to optimise extraction profiles, extend holding capacity and minimise the running loads of feeders serving extended outlet slots adversely affect reverse feeding. The hopper and feeder design can therefore be severely compromised if the feeder is required to reverse, such that it is usually impractical to exploit the flow and storage benefits of an elongated slot outlet and plane flow hopper section. A further limitation of conventional feeders with the duty of serving two opposite locations from a feeder is that their separate supply locations are invariably exclusive, the feeder being able to deliver only to either one or the other of the receiving point.
Ajax Equipment has developed a feeder system to overcome these limitations that, in its simplest form, will provide progressive extraction from an outlet up to three times longer than it is wide when feeding in either a forward or reverse direction. A more refined version of the technique has the unique features that the feeder can extract progressively from an outlet up to four times longer than its width and also have the capability of delivering to supply either of two receiving point at opposite sides of the supply hopper, or both at the same time, without either loss of discharge rate to either or of compromising the ‘live’ extraction from the total length of the elongated slot outlet of the hopper.
These benefits of increased storage capacity, reduced headroom requirement, reliable flow through smaller outlet widths and abilityto serve two ourlets individually, or at the same time, are obtained by the new feeder system by exploiting both mechanical and technical features of feeder operation.
For further details contact Ajax Equipment Ltd. Mule Street, Bolton. BL2 2AR.
Tel 44 (0)1204 386723 or email sales@ajax.co.uk ■