FDBusiness.com

Bulk handling specialist Flexicon Europe has introduced a new Mobile Half-Frame Bulk Bag Unloader that integrates a multi-purpose hopper with a flexible screw conveyor to create a unit that can improve plant efficiency by easy re-positioning to accommodate alternative bulk delivery stations as well as manual sack discharge

Flexicon is able to supply the new bulk bag unloader in a choice of build material such as carbon steel with durable industrial coating or stainless steel to industrial, food, dairy or pharmaceutical standards, ensuring it can support diverse processing operation.

The mobile bulk bag unloader brings added flexibility to in-plant powder, flakes and granular materials delivery systems. The hopper is designed to accept material from either manually dumped sacks or direct overhead bulk bags suspended by forklift or hoist. During discharge the integral Flexicon screw conveyor transfers material to downstream processes and storage vessels.

For manual dumping in conjunction with, or independent of, bulk bag discharging, the operator raises a hinged bag-dump support shelf and a hinged hopper door, and pours material through a coarse screen into the hopper.

For overhead discharge the bulk-bag-to-hopper interface consists of a SPOUT-LOCK clamp ring positioned above a pneumatically actuated TELE-TUBE telescoping tube, dust-tight connections and unrestricted flow between the bag spout and hopper coupled with automatic tensioning of the bag as it empties allows unrestricted flow and complete bag evacuation.

The telescoping tube raises the clamp ring assembly that seals the clean side of the bag spout to the clean side of the telescoping tube, and then lowers until the bag spout is pulled taut. Once the spout is untied, the telescoping assembly exerts continual downward tension on the spout, elongating the bag as it empties.

The high-integrity seal between bag spout and clamp ring allows full-open discharge from bag spouts of all popular diameters.

During material discharge FLOW-FLEXER bag activators raise and lower opposite bottom edges of the bag at timed intervals, loosening compacted materials and promoting material flow into the bag discharge spout. As the bag lightens, the stroke of the bag activators increase, raising the bag into a steep “V” shape promoting complete evacuation of material.

An integral BAG-VAC dust collector is a feature of the new mobile bulk bag unloader, creating negative pressure within the dust-tight system to collapse empty bags prior to retying and disconnection, eliminating dust emitted during manual flattening of empty bags.

The integral flexible screw conveyor transports both free-flowing and non-free-flowing bulk materials including products that pack, cake, smear, seize or fluidize. The conveyor support mast cantilevers from the frame, and runs parallel to the conveyor tube, allowing the caster-mounted system to manoeuvre in restricted areas.

The new mobile bulk bag unloader is the latest addition to the company’s comprehensive range of full-frame bulk bag dischargers, stand-alone flexible screw conveyors, pneumatic conveying systems, bulk bag conditioners, bulk bag fillers, bag dump stations, drum/box/container dumpers, weigh batching and blending systems, and engineered plant-wide bulk handling systems with automated controls.