Basic Operation
by: Roger Hultquist, CEO
The Feeder
We offer 4 Disc Feeder Sizes: 50, 100, 150, and 200 Series Feeder
The Orbetron Disc feeders are designed for feeding in a continuous or batch mode. This is achieved by the integration of our OC50 PLC controller and mechanical feeder construction. Operation will be in volumetric or gravimetric mode. In this article we will go over defining each part of the feeder, it’s capabilities, and industry/application uses.
Design
1. Motor/Housing
a. Stepper Motor (standard) Optional AC or DC
b. Gear housing
c. Bi-clamp to secure the Disc Housing
3. Material Hopper
a. Easy clamp design for mounting to Disc Housing
b. Optional integrated screen to capture clumps and foreign particles
2. Disc Housing
a. Feed housing
b. Feeding disc
c. Material “Y” plate
d. Feed tube
4. Configuration
a. Designed to fit on to your process machine
b. Multiple feeders for multiple material feeding
b. Optional high/low level sensors.
The basic theory of operation will be as follow
1. Motor/Speed Pick-up
The controller and feeder are both powered externally by 24Vdc. A power supply for the controller converts 115Vac to a steady supply of 24Vdc.
The motor and speed pick-up are connected to the controller via inline quick disconnect plugs and receptacles
24Vdc motor and drive board for stepper motor (optional AC/DC motor drives as required)
2. Controller capabilities
General operational page will consists of a RUN, STOP, CALIBRATE, MENU, ALARM, PARAMETER icon.
RUN = operation mode
STOP = no operation
CALIBRATE = Ability to establish g/rev to control speed of motor based upon set input
ALARM = Establish alarms based upon certain faults TBD during programing
PARAMETERS = Enter all necessary setup information to operate motor correctly
Orbetron supplies disc feeders to different markets and has different options based upon the following points
- Material Characteristics
- Mounting requirements based upon the process
- Loading of material into material hopper
- Process Rates
3. Industries and Applications
Our systems have been engineered to work in many industries giving you the ability to create the right feeder for you. Below shows these industries with its uses.
Plastics – Injection Molding including general molding, micro molding and blow molding. Extrusion includes building products, films/sheet, pipe/tubing, fiber/nonwovens, wire/cable and compounding, Integration into batch blenders
Chemical – Specialty applications with powders and granulate materials, adhesives, compounding, toner feeding
Food – Ingredient feeding, Organic ingredients such as Flours, Spices, Pet Food, and packaging
Pharma – Ingredient feeding
R&D – Low rate feeding applications for trials
Health & Beauty – Specialty materials for consumer use; cosmetics, grooming, home care products, medical devices
Orbetrons stands by our systems, the design, engineering and manufacturing insures you are getting the right product for your application needs. Contact us today and learn more about how we can help you get feeding with Orbetron at sales@orbetron.com or fill out the form below to inquire about what we offer. STAY TUNED FOR 12/20/19 for our next blog going more in-depth about our Disc Feeder within the injection molding industry and Batch Blending.