Equipment Round Up: June 2015

June 17, 2015
A monthly round-up of manufacturing equipment hand-picked by editors of Food Processing.

Check out the Food Processing Products Section for more information on the following Equipment Products

  • Flexicon Flexi-Disc Sanitary Tubular Cable Conveyor
  • Pump Solutions Group Mouvex A6 Eccentric Disc Pumps
  • Goodway Dry Vapor Steam Cleaners
  • Cableflow Tubular Cable Drag Conveyors
  • Thermoformed Plastic Food Packaging Trays And Lids
  • Optima Packaging Group's On-site Carton Can-Making

Dynamic Conveyor Corp Synchronized Sidewall Belting

Gain improved control and containment of small or fragile food products with the company’s synchronized sidewall belting. The sidewalls are hermetically sealed to the ThermoDrive belt, reducing the gap between the sidewalls and flights to 5mm, which reduces product damage that can be caused by static sidewalls. ThermoDrive solid surface belts are homogeneous thermoplastic with 100 percent closed surfaces, making them suited for hygienic food-processing applications. Unlike traditional flat belts, these belts drive on sprockets like a modular plastic belt and are not under tension, enabling easy lifting for food conveyor cleaning and solving nearly all traditional flat belt problems.

Dynamic Conveyor Corp.; Muskegon, Mich.
800-640-6850; www.dynamicconveyor.com

Multi-piston depositor

Take up less space than conventional filling machines with the 4P-16V filling machine. They're suitable for integrating with horizontal vacuum formers, tray sealing lines and with automatic conveyors to accurately fill a wide range of pumpable products, including sauces and marinades, salsa, entrée items such as macaroni and cheese, gravy or virtually any other pumpable product with or without particulates. The 4P-16V uses the latest easy to operate and sanitize features including PLC control with color touch screen operator interface, positive shut off spouts with blow off and moving spouts.

Hinds-Bock Corp.; Seattle, Wash.
877-292-5715; www.hinds-bock.com

Tank cleaning savings calculator

Validate whether switching a tank cleaning device will result in reduced water usage, time spent cleaning and tank downtime with the company’s downloadable savings calculator. Potential customers enter their tank information and are immediately given probable time and water savings if they switched to a Gamajet or Toftejorg tank cleaning device.  The tool is also free for a limited time as a free 4 GB flash drive upon request.

Alfa Laval Tank Equipment Inc.; Exton, Pa.
610-408-9940; www.alfalaval.com

Washdown station

The Silent Type Venturi Mixing (STVM) washdown station is said to increase uptime. With a single moving part, the thermal actuator within the STVM valve cartridge ensures long, uninterrupted use and silent operation, even in high mineral content water conditions. Rather than disassembling the entire unit for cleaning and service, operators can use any standard wrench to remove the STVM cartridge for quick and easy cleaning and reinsert it into the washdown station to continue use.

ThermOmegaTech; Warminster, Pa.
877-379-8258; www.thermomegatech.com/washdown

Fresh masa system

Produce corn masa without the simmering, soaking and washing with the patent-pending Masa Maker system. The system needs no steam generator, simmer kettles, soak tanks or washers and eliminates water discharge and sewage fees, allowing tortilla and snack manufacturers to produce customized masa almost on demand, eliminating the long lead times for dry corn preparation. The system can be customized for different formulations and different types of corn products.

Heat and Control Inc.; Hayward, Calif.
800-227-5980; www.heatandcontrol.com

Recipe weighing belt

Weigh up to 10 components with the company’s recipe weighing belt. For each component, the desired target weight can be stored in the recipe. The current weight of the component and target weight are indicated by light signals and the display on the touch panel. The operator confirms the weight by a stable foot switch and immediately receives the weight of the next component. According to the weight of the last component, the product is discharged to the left or right by pressing the foot switch. As soon as the belt is empty the next batch can be weighed.

Kronen GmbH; Rhein, Germany
+49-0-7854-9646-47; www.kronen.eu

J-cutting unit

Further improve yields and reduce labor costs with the Automated J-Cutter Unit for the company’s Opti-Ltd Whole Leg, Thigh & Drumstick Deboning System. The cutter unit makes an extremely accurate pre-cut along the drum and thighbone to improve boneless leg meat yields. The unit helps eliminate risk of injury by performing the cut mechanically, but also greatly reduces the number of employees needed per shift. The unit offers simple design and construction, the all-mechanical design reduces maintenance cost and the openness of the design makes it easy to clean.

Foodmate; Ball Ground, Ga.
678-819-5270; www.foodmateusa.com

Energy efficient powder mixing

The Hybrid Powder Mixer combines pump and powder dissolving technologies in a single versatile unit. The manufacturer claims it is the only hygienic powder mixer capable of drawing powder into the unit while simultaneously pumping the resulting process liquid at pressures up to 4 bar, making the need for a separate discharge pump obsolete. Mixing and pumping both wet and dry ingredients into a homogenous blend can - depending on viscosity - require up to four separate electric motors, consuming a lot of energy. This unit uses a single motor drive, making it more energy efficient. It effectively pre-blends the powder and liquid before the mixture enters the high-shear stage, which contributes to faster and more effective dissolution.

Alfa Laval; Richmond, Va.
866-253-2528; www.alfalaval.com

Biobased lubricant

EcoLine food machinery lubricating grease is a certified biobased, high-quality, corrosion-inhibiting lubricant formulated with renewable American-grown natural seed oil. This safe lubricating and rust preventative grease is specifically formulated to meet and exceed the demands of major food and meat processing plants. This FDA-approved lubricant provides corrosion protection for ferrous and colored metals while its biodegradable formula reduces damage to the environment. The product conforms to USDA H-2 criteria and USFDA regulations 21CFR.

Cortec Corp.; Zagreb, Croatia
+385 14 854595l; www.cortecvci.com

Conical hopper in forkliftable base

The Powder-Saver hopper container allows powders, granules, flakes and other dry products to be accurately dispensed in measured amounts to prevent material waste and meet required batch or shot weight specifications. Suitable for foods, beverages and other applications, it features a proprietary design setting a conical, plastic hopper with a slide gate valve set within a squared, companion, forkliftable base. The durable, removable base allows the entire hopper to be safely moved by lift truck, stacked covered during transport and racked for neat, orderly storage and warehousing The hopper container, base and cover are rotationally molded from waterproof, chemical- and UV-resistant polyethylene plastic. The unit holds 31 cu. ft. of material and includes molded-in fill level indicators for visual monitoring.

ModRoto; Ashtabula, Ohio
800-829-4535; www.modroto.com

Explosion-proof light curtains

Explosion-proof safety light curtains meet safety regulations for explosive environments by completely mitigating the risk of explosion. Three different safety light curtains (deTec4 Core, C4000 Select, or C4000 Advanced) with different protective field heights are available to safeguard a variety of applications, and in protective field heights of 600mm, 900mm, and 1200mm. The deTec4 Core version is also available in a protective field height of 1500mm. They all feature a durable design with flexible adjustment and are pre-mounted and prewired into the enclosure for easy installation and alignment. The enclosure also features IP 66 enclosure rating that protects the safety light curtain from water and dust.

Sick USA; Minneapolis
952-941-6780; www.sickusa.com

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