CHICAGO — Granulator and related equipment suppliers have made their machines more energy efficient, more versatile and less noisy.
Conair Group's new SPC-400 Dagger beside-the-press granulator is aimed at molders of electrical parts, compact discs and similar products made with expen- sive resins on presses of 50 tons or smaller. The Pittsburgh-based firm claimed the Dagger is compact, quiet, energy-efficient and produces very little dust or fines.
The two-stage Dagger has rotating fingers in the first stage to break up small sprues and runners. A slow-speed oscillating cutter then dices scrap to uniform size and quality, allowing molders to meter granulate back into the process more precisely.
Cumberland Engineering debuted a series of compact, low-speed granulators at NPE 1997, held June 16-20 in Chicago. The 700 line features a multiple-knife, scooped-helical rotor with oversized flywheel for cutting efficiency. A new, low-profile in-feed design accommodates robot and other feeds with optimum flyback control. Granulation at 150 revolutions per minute minimizes dust and fines.
The company said its new 1842 granulator with a heavy-duty cutting chamber offers flexibility and higher performance ``at a realistic cost.'' The new C-1000 also offers flexibility plus features low-heat granulation through reduced friction, energy efficiency and less downtime. It can handle large purgings, sheet, pipe and a variety of waste.
Cumberland, a division of John Brown Plastics Machinery, also introduced beside-the-press granulators it claims increase productivity while cutting maintenance costs. The 1200 series has a scooped rotor for positive feeding at 700 pounds an hour. The 1600 series has an optional second flywheel for extra cutting force and can process 1,200 pounds per hour.
Cumberland recently entered shredder-granulator systems in a joint development agreement with Hempstead Industries Inc. of Birmingham, Mich. The partners will focus on large, heavy-duty reclaim and recycling operations. The firm said it will offer systems as large as 36 inches by 84 inches. Benefits include elimination of band saws for precutting, reduced fines and less maintenance and noise.
South Attleboro, Mass.-based Cumberland said it recently invested nearly half a million dollars in its testing facility to help customers choose the right granulator for the job.
Granutec Inc. expanded its 2000 line with the TFG2530, a tangential-feed, large-throat machine. The feed opening is 25 inches by 30 inches for bulky injection molding and blow molding scrap. The East Douglas, Mass., company said tangential feed ensures continuous feeding, high capacity and no flyback or parts bouncing.
Granutec also debuted Robo 810, a versatile granulator that can take robot feeding of sprues and runners. It has low and high rotor speed control allowing continuous and batch feeding, respectively. Robo 810 is available with a staggered or three-blade slant open-rotor design.
New Herbold Inc.'s SX models are heavy-duty granulators that can handle 6,600 pounds an hour, the Sutton, Mass., company said in the SX's debut at NPE. They feature a chevron-type rotor and stator knife for higher throughput, reduced energy use and lower noise levels. The machines are available in five sizes, with working widths to 78 inches.
New Herbold also introduced its ZM-500 series of pulverizers for fine grinding of virgin or regrind polyethylene, rigid vinyl and other plastics. It claims that ZM-500 offers short residence time in the grinding chamber, minimal thermal degradation and easy-to-replace wear parts.
The company touted its new WS series of one-shaft shredders for economical shredding of film, hollow parts and mixed plastics. The line features a low rotor speed and heavy-duty construction.
New Herbold's PC Plastcompactor is a new series for film, shavings and foamed material. Processors first reduce scrap size in a granulator, then feed it into the Plastcompactor, where it is heated to the softening point. A secondary granulator cuts it to required granule size. Plastcompactor is designed to minimize thermal stress of the material.
Polymer Systems Inc. debuted several granulators, including a new slow-speed series suited to press-side reclamation of sprues where robots are used. The Berlin, Conn., firm said the 200-revolutions-per-minute rotor speed means quiet operation even when processing 40 percent glass-filled polyphenylene oxide.
The firm improved tangential-feed and mating-hopper design in its new Premium Shurfeed granulators, to eliminate flyback. The series features higher energy efficiency from better use of the rotor's inertial and kinetic energy, from steep-angle rotor knives that slice rather than chop, and from more efficient motors, according to the company.
Polymer Systems said it broadened its range of wear-resistant technologies for glass-filled materials granulation. It offers abrasion-resistant front and back cutting chambers, tungsten carbide and cobalt coating, hard-faced rotors and screens and elimination of sharp angles between the hopper and cutting chamber.
For bulk scrap, Polymer Systems has new two-stage shredder and granulator units that cut labor costs and reduce granulator noise.
Size Reduction Machinery Inc. announced it will offer the Holzmag single-pass shredder and granulator for sale in North Amerca. The Vancouver, British Columbia, firm, an affiliate of Expon Engineering in Vancouver, said the machine's features include a large cutting surface, shock-resistant cutter mounting, an all-hydraulic drive on the cutting rotor with electrical overload sensors, and the capability to handle a range of feedstocks.
