Metal Detector for Conveyor

Well, its quality and durablity that you require.

Check out Globalspec or........

Google and Check out some used ones.

http://www.bid-on-equipment.com/Category/Metal+Detectors/Conveyor+Metal+Detectors.htm

http://www.fraingroup.com/sub_cat_Metal-Detector_85_Conveyor_223.html

Why the price difference? Clearly because of the reliability factor. When using a "hobby" detector, if you miss a chunk or two, who cares? But... for a process industry, especially in the food business, they care very much.

Real metal detectors have defined detection windows (size of particle detected) and defined operations. They are not toys.

I have had extensive experience in the food industry with the prodcut line mentioned below.

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If this is important to your business, it is important to do it right.

N of 60 is right. Durability, sensitivity, reliability and liability all play into the equation.

I used regrind LOTS and depending on the source of your regrind stock it can be very clean, but, then again..................not always.

You need to determine if a metal detection system is more cost effective than blade sharpening/replacement for your operation.

Good luck.

... and the lost production time/cost that comes with blade sharpening/replacement.

I once had to set up a system to x ray over 600 boxes of cold cream (facial) due to a bearing wearing out in the assembly. It cost the customer a great more than 10K$. If the problem had been detected before filling the containers he would have gotten by cheaply.

Having worked in the food industry. One thing about the metal detectors, is that the detector has to isolated from vibration from the conveyor.

Down time isn't much of an issue, the grinder only runs about half the day anyways. The cost of a metal detector would take to long to recoup from blade costs. But I've come up with a new idea i'm toying with. Electromagnet roller for the end of the conveyor (it is ferrious metal that is getting in the plastic). Electromanets could probably be stong enough to hold the parts to the conveyor when it goes around the end and then the belt cleat would push the part off of the magnet into a seprate bin. I'm looking around on line at options and trying to come up with a way to do this. I havn't done much research on magnets. I know the magnets in the resin hoppers on the press are not strong enough to hold the parts. (the metal is coming from pins in the mold, the pins are acctualy stuck in the parts)

Are these pins knockout pins or core pins?

Sounds like the fundamental problem is self-inflicted.

Knockouts: Make them bigger. Core pins, increase the taper, or draft angle.

they are core pins, I am not part of mold repair, I just deal with the problems that come from it.

That sounds like an expensive way to run.

agreed, but there is a lot of molds with a lot of cavitys running 24/7, we get one about once a month that goes through and wrecks these blades.

I believe its the source you should be addressing, not a bandaid, so to speak.

I agree the source needs to be addressed but even if that was taken care of there is always some other way something will get in it. I'm just trying to minimize the damage. No matter where it comes from.

AS your giving us more information it is becoming more apparent of your issues.

Not knowing who you answer to but the issue that you should address is the costs of the risk/benefits, of having a metal detector that can do the job to justify it.

Not knowing the costs of the blades or your down time costs as well as the frequency using this information you should be able to justify a metal detector and to figure out your payback from extending the life of your blades should be short order.

Again, you may not need to buy new, but you have to weight the compromises.

There some very good used equipment dealers that you may score a unit for less then $0.20 per dollar. Do a goggle search.

Fixitorelse

Google 'magnetic conveyor'. Some use magnetic head pulleys, some use other arrangements, but all I'm somewhat familiar with use permanent magnets. At some point the belt, carrying the ferrous item with it, separates from the magnet and the captured item drops off.

You may want to google "magnetic separator" or "magnetic separation equipment" to come up with a process that removes the ferrous item near the chute or other device where the product first enters the conveyor. We have magnetic separators in our coal handling systems which employ electromagnets to remove ferrous items as they enter the conveyor belts. Other devices may remove ferrous objects as they pass under the device. I am not sure how much this costs but with energy consumption, it could be somewhat expensive. A study to determine payback vs. installment costs and energy usage would be in order.

Another possibility is some sort of grate for your product to pass through which is made of strong neodymium magnets which should remove any ferrous objects, yet should not add to the energy usage expense.

A thorough research of this topic should result in a money saving answer to your situation.

Good luck!

If the metal is the same size or lager than the plastic you can separate the two by letting the plastic fall at angle from one conveyor on to another with the distance and angle being such that the metal falls in a bin and doesn't make to the next conveyor. If your plant isn't arranged in a way that is practical a section of conveyor can be removed and an air blast used to carry the plastic across the gap but no strong enough to carry the metal. Both of those methods assume the flow of martial is not so heavy that the metal would be carried on any way. Magnetic disk on an axle that that are close enough together to pick up all the metal that run in the same direction as the flow of the material and pick up the metal between two disk and non-magnetic fingers above the the conveyor strip the metal out of the disk an onto a conveyor to dispose of the metal might be the easiest and least expense to install. Unless the metal has enough low level radioactive element such as Phosphorus 40 or carbon 14 is florescent or can be dyed inxpensivly so uv or infrared can spot it. There a lot of ways to skin that cat if you can find one that fits. Red necked farmer

You fail to grasp the problem. The plastic surrounds the metal. They are one.

With iron 4 to 8 time heaver than plastic the tramp iron would have to be awfully small to be unable to separate using methods based on density.

Properly designed they can be passive and just dump the iron on the floor or in a bin. Even if too much plastic must be dumped it can be quickly sorted by hand with a magnet saving the cost of the blades and a more complex separation system.

Red

Not knowing some factors like: (how thick is the plastic that surrounds the metal piece ) or what volume of plastic is on the conveyor, I would suggest a magnitized steel plate or just magnets at the end of the belt that the plastic has to flow over before it drops off into a bin or whatever. A strong enough magnet should likely be able to hold the plastic piece that has the metal in it till the flow stops and then you pick it off and discard it.If this type of system would work for you, I would think you should be able to make something that would work for very little expense. ...........Rescue

I just think you shouldn't rely too much on metal detectors. Besides owning a good metal detector, the most important thing is that you should be very patient. Because you will find much more scraps than treasures.