1. Question:
How does the inside of the conveyor get cleaned?
Answer:
We clean the inside of the conveyors using a variety of unique and effective methods. The clean and waste conveyors each require different methods to ensure complete and effective clean out.
CLEAN:
- None of the bedding sticks to the chain or gets built up inside the pipe. At the discharge, a gravity discharge allows most of the material to fall out of the conveyor. To assist in ensuring that none of the bedding lies on the flat parts of the chain, we add an air blow-off to completely clean the conveyor chain.
DIRTY:
- We know that the dirty material will stick to the interior of the pipe and the flat parts of the conveyor chain. At the discharge, the majority of the material is knocked off the conveyor by a mechanical vibrator which “taps” the material from the chain and allows the gravity discharge to let the material fall from the conveyor chain. As an additional assist we are currently adding an air blow-off to help remove bedding from the chain.
- To clean out the pipe, we gently scrape the interior of the pipe using “scraper flights”. A scraper flight is an offset flight that is designed to scrape the interior of ¼ of the pipe. Four offset scraper flights scrape all four quarters of the pipe.
- At the end of the shift, after all of the cages are dumped, the chain continues to run. A high pressure and low volume spray wash system with a large diameter drain blasts any remaining bedding from the chain.
2. Question:
What happens if the conveyor plugs with material, especially the waste bedding which is wet and sticky?
Answer:
The conveyor cannot plug with material as the chain continually moves forward, carrying bedding between each flight.
3. Question:
What happens if something jams up the conveyor?
Answer:
Because the pipe is a smooth continuous surface, there is no opportunity for anything to jam inside of the pipe. The only place anything can jam is at the inlet of the conveyor. If something jammed that the chain could not move into the pipe, the motor overload sensor (shock relay) would stop the conveyor before damage could be done to the chain. This sensor stops the conveyor. The conveyor can then be powered again, on manual mode, and then the conveyor can be reversed for a short distance and shut down again, allowing the jam to be safely removed. Once the jam is removed the conveyor can again be run in auto mode. The conveyor is designed to have a minimum 5:1 safety factor and can stop and start completely full.
NOTE:
Many foreign substances have fallen into the conveyor from cages. In almost all cases the foreign substances are simply conveyed away by the conveyor. This includes, but is not limited to: feed pellets, disposable gowns, rubber gloves, shepherd shacks, water bottles, stainless steel water bottle spigots, cage name plates, chimpanzee nyla bones, large animal toys, syringes, pens, and numerous other foreign substances.
4. Question:
What is required for maintenance?
Answer:
During the initial wear-in period (six months) the conveyor should receive a cursory inspection to ensure that the key components are functioning properly. After the wear-in period lubrication of the bearings and reducer are all that is required.
5. Question:
What can go inside the conveyor?
Answer:
Virtually anything left in the cages can go inside the conveyor. No segregation of foreign substances is required. No pre-preparation of foreign substances is required. Some of the foreign materials that have fallen into the conveyor and are simply conveyed away include: feed pellets, disposable gowns, rubber gloves, shepherd shacks, water bottles, stainless steel water bottle spigots, cage name plates, chimpanzee nyla bones, large animal toys, syringes and pens. Because this is a mechanical conveyor what goes into the inlet comes out at the discharge.
6. Question:
What happens if I change the type of bedding I am using?
Answer:
We convey any and all clean and waste bedding with this conveyor. We do prefer to meter “corn cob” clean bedding into the conveyor due to its higher density, but that is considered in the design phase of the system.
7. Question:
How long a distance can I run the conveyor?
Answer:
We can integrate numerous conveyors together, so there is virtually no limit on distance. As well, because each of these conveyors has a separate motor the performance is identical throughout the entire length of the conveyor system.
8. Question:
What do I do for dust collection?
Answer:
The conveyor does not agitate the bedding and does not create dust or airborne allergens. As well, the conveyor is completely sealed from inlet to discharge. If a small bag dump station is used for clean bedding we recommend adding an integral dust collector to keep the clean bedding area free of dust.
9. Question:
How noisy is the conveyor?
Answer:
The material used for the flights has a low coefficient of friction and glides through the pipe. As it is the only part of the conveyor chain that touches the pipe, the conveyor is extremely quiet. Under load (full of material) the conveyor has been measured and has a noise threshold of less then 60 decibels.
10. Question:
Do I need a special dumpster?
Answer:
No you do not. We principally use the local waste haulers dumpsters.
11. Question:
How full does the dumpster fill?
Answer:
The dumpster will fill to the angle of repose of the bedding and this depends on the flow characteristics of the bedding, which is unique to each type of bedding. Some of our clients prefer to use trash compactors or leveling screws to ensure that their dumpsters are filled completely before being hauled away. We can assist with any of these solutions.
12. Question:
How much room does the conveyor take up?
Answer:
The outside diameter of the pipe is 4 ½”. The outside diameter of the flanges are 8 ½”.
13. Question:
What happens if the conveyor gets too much material?
Answer:
So far we have not had any application that exceeds 43% of the load carrying capability of the conveyor. This includes manual and robotic applications. We are typically running the conveyor at approximately 33% of its full speed. If we found an application where it was required, we would simply speed up the conveyor.
14. Question:
What restrictions does the conveyor have for turns?
Answer:
The pipe has a 24” bend radius. If required, we can use a sprocket to make the turn tighter.
15. Question:
What would the typical spare parts consumption be?
Answer:
In current field applications, after three years of continuous operation no wear is visible. We expect that the life of the conveyors parts is a minimum of a decade before any spare parts are required.