TECHNICALARTICLE SERIES

SOUTH AFRICA

FLEXICON AFRICA (PTY) LTD P.O. Box 10450 Linton Grange Port Elizabeth 6015 South Africa Tel: +27 41 453 1871Fax: +27 41 453 1670E-mail: sales@flexicon.co.zaWeb: www.flexicon.co.za

CHILE

FLEXICON CHILE LTD Avenida Andres Bello #1051 Oficina #1602 Providencia Santiago ChileTel: +56 2 2415 1286 Fax: +56 2 2415 1393E-mail: ventas@flexicon.comWeb: www.flexicon.com

SINGAPORE

FLEXICON SINGAPORE PTE LTD27 West Coast Highway#02-22Singapore 117867Tel: +65 6778 9225Fax: +65 6690 8850E-mail: sales@flexicon.com.sg

GERMANY

FLEXICON (EUROPE) LTD Matthäusstrasse 13 63743 Aschaffenburg GERMANY Tel: +49 170 8 187 613 E-mail: vertrieb@flexiconeurope.deWeb: www.flexiconeurope.de

AUSTRALIA (SYDNEY)

FLEXICON CORPORATION (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTDSuite 5, Level 3 45-47 Hunter St.Hornsby, NSW 2077 Australia Tel: +61 (0)7 3879 4180Fax: +61 (0)2 9477 5548E-mail: sales@flexicon.com.auWeb: www.flexicon.com.au

AUSTRALIA (BRISBANE)

FLEXICON CORPORATION (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD 78 Westgate Street Wacol, QLD 4076 Australia Tel: +61 (0)7 3879 4180 Fax: +61 (0)7 3879 4183E-mail: sales@flexicon.com.auWeb: www.flexicon.com.au

USA

FLEXICON CORPORATION 2400 Emrick Boulevard Bethlehem, PA 18020-8006 USATel: 1 888 FLEXICON (1 888 353 9426) Tel: 1 610 814 2400Fax: 1 610 814 0600E-mail: sales@flexicon.comWeb: www.flexicon.com

UK

FLEXICON (EUROPE) LTD 182 John Wilson Business Park Harvey Drive Whitstable, Kent CT5 3RB United KingdomTel: +44 (0)1227 374710Fax: +44 (0)1227 365821E-mail: sales@flexicon.co.ukWeb: www.flexicon.co.uk

SPAIN

FLEXICON (EUROPE) LTD Méndez Núñez 3-5, Principal 08003 Barcelona Spain Tel: +34 930 020 509E-mail: ventas@flexicon.esWeb: www.flexicon.es

Brittle Pasta Handled Gently,Automatically with BoxDumpers, Tubular CableConveyors

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Brittle Pasta Handled Gently, Automatically with BoxDumpers, Tubular Cable Conveyors

Three tubular cable conveyor circuits and twoautomated box dumpers move brittle pasta to threesanitary packaging lines at high rates withoutproduct breakage or dust.

CHARLEROI, PA — To move brittle pasta from Gaylord containers to threepackaging lines at high rates without product breakage or dust, Quality PastaCompany installed two Open-Chute Box Dumpers and three Flexi-Disc®Tubular Cable Conveyor (TCC) circuits, in which low friction polymer discsattached to a stainless steel cable gently slide the pasta through smoothstainless steel tubing.

"The TCCs transport pasta with a breakage rate of less than 1%," says ToddKish, operations manager. "Consumers are knowledgeable about productquality and do not want to see breakage in the pasta they buy," adding, "manycompetitors load pasta into hoppers with plastic shovels for discharge toconveying lines, which is labor intensive and increases breakage."

Since the TCC is an enclosed system, it also prevents the release of dust andother particulates into the sanitary packaging area.

How pasta moves from bulk boxes to retail packages

Pasta arrives in Gaylord containers — double- or triple-wall corrugated bulkboxes — that weigh 800 to 1300 lb (363 to 590 kg). After quality assuranceinspection and weighing of the containers, the material is stored until ready forpackaging. Kish says the company schedules as much packaging ofindividual pasta types as possible each day to reduce product changeover anddowntime.

The two Open-Chute Box Dumpers from Flexicon Corp. automatically raiseand tilt the Gaylords, which discharge pasta into 8 cu ft (227 l) hoppers. Pastadischarges from the hoppers onto vibratory tray feeders that control the rate atwhich material flows into the inlet adapter of each Flexi-Disc® conveyor, alsofrom Flexicon.

A proximity level switch connected to an indicator light in the PLC control panelalerts operators to low material levels in the large hopper.

One box dumper additionally serves the cup pasta line. "The cup pasta isfragile and we only package 2,000 lb. (907 kg) of the product per day," saysKish. Using two dumpers for three lines also leaves more floor space foroperation, he adds.

"The system supplies ample product to our cartoning lines without muchmaintenance or difficulty," Kish says.

Each 4 in. (102 mm) diameter TCC circuit runs in an "S" shape startinghorizontally, rising 8 ft (2.4 m) vertically, and continuing 2 ft (0.6 m)horizontally, ending at a drive wheel discharge housing from which materialflows through a metal detector and into a packaging machine hopper. Thevertical leg includes two 3 ft (0.9 m) transparent sections for operators tovisually monitor performance of the system.

The cable-disc assembly's direction of travel is reversed at the discharge endof the circuit by the drive wheel, and at the intake end of the circuit by atensioning wheel that keeps the cable taut throughout the system.

Because the tubular cable conveyors fully evacuate material, cleaning and

Open-Chute Box Dumper empties a Gaylord into thelarge hopper from which pasta moves on a vibratorytray feeder into the smaller hopper and inletadapter of the Flexi-Disc® tubular cable conveyor.

product changeover can be accomplished in 15 to 20 minutes, says Kish.During changeovers, workers clean the TCC lines with antibacterial swabsand flexible sponges.

Portable flexible screw conveyor transports cheesepowder

Quality Pasta also employs a portable, caster-mounted 15 ft (4.6 m) ft long,4.5 in. (114 mm) diameter flexible screw conveyor from Flexicon with a 5.5 cuft (156 l) capacity hopper to transport powdered cheese for packet packagingand inclusion in some product boxes. The hopper includes a tray support formanually emptying bags and is designed for poorly flowing materials. Betweenthe conveyor discharge and packaging machine, material passes through ametal detector.

The inner screw of the conveyor is the only moving part contacting thepowdered cheese, and is driven above the point at which it exits the conveyor,preventing material contact with bearings or seals. The spiral is speciallydesigned to move non-free-flowing materials such as cheese powder.

Portability is important for the “cheeser” line sanitary conveyor, Kish explains,because it is removed from the cheese room for regular cleaning of the innerspiral, as well as for kosher cleaning.

The company sells seven branded pasta products, in noodle, shell andmacaroni form. Offerings include high protein macaroni and cheese, andshells and cheese lines, and a microwaveable macaroni and cheese cup. Kishsays 95 percent of products are sold to retailers and the balance toinstitutional users.

Quality Pasta Company LLC855-878-9630info@quality-pasta.comwww.quality-pasta.com

Overall view of third tubular cable conveyor lineshows the hopper and intake at the tensioningwheel end (left), the conveyor’s horizontal andvertical 'S' shape, and discharge at the drivewheel end (right) into the cup packaging line.

A clear section of vertical tubing permits visualmonitoring of system performance and productquality during transport.

Tubular cable conveyor curves to vertical anddischarges at the drive wheel end into the cuppackaging line.

Portable "cheeser" line includes a 5.5 cu ft (156l) hopper and 15 ft (4.6 m) long Flexicon screwconveyor for packet packaging of cheese powder.

Quality Pasta products include high proteinmacaroni and cheese, shells and cheese, andmicrowaveable macaroni and cheese.