Ease of cleaning and ease of maintenance are paramount to bakers.
When it comes to conveyors, bakers try to minimize the downtime cleaning and maintenance can cause. Bakers can select from hybrid plastic belts, which contain steel rods for sanitation, and stainless-steel belts, which are easy to clean. Plastic belts are trending toward smooth and seamless designs that are less likely to catch debris for easier cleaning and maintenance while limiting wear and tear on conveyor drives.
“I think the main focus of our customers is clean conveyor designs and reduced maintenance,” says Frank Achterberg, president, Capway Systems Inc. “We therefore design all our conveyors using the latest sanitary design specifications. We also incorporate shaft mount motors and plastic type belting that reduces maintenance requirements as well as noise.”
Keith Simpson, marketing manager for Spiroflow Systems, agrees. “Customers are looking for easier to clean solutions. Our Flexible Screw Conveyors, for example, can be made to easily dismantle without tools for thorough emptying and cleaning. Unlike pneumatic conveyors, Flexible Screw Conveyors do not have any filter housings to choke or harbor infestation,” he says.
Maintenance and sanitation time clearly translate to unproductive time for bakers. Terry Benda, president of Benda Manufacturing, includes clean material handling and labor savings as important topics to bakers when considering conveyor systems.
“We have experienced an increase of inquiries for cleaner material handling solutions. The low tension, sprocket driven seam-free belt system has filled that request,” Benda says. “As a result, we have been delivering the low-tension, seamless conveyor belting solution in our open frame design especially when transporting dough, bulk materials and toppings for many of our snack food and baking clients. Sprockets drive the belt and the low-tension design decreases belt stretching and negates the use of mechanical take-up devices.”
Shaffer Mixers & Processing Equipment, A Bundy Company, was incorrectly identified as part of the Henry Group in the July edition of Baking Management's Equipment Focus. Baking Management regrets the error.
MINIMIZE MAINTENANCE
Ashworth Brothers' testing on its new Omni-Pro 075 revealed it can withstand 125 lb. of tension for 100,000 cycles. The system retains the same design features that allow the belt to minimize cage bar wear, maintenance costs and downtime in the most demanding high-tension spiral applications. The shorter pitch of the Omni-Pro 075 is ideal for small products and closer transfers. By eliminating traditional “bridge” welding and using a patented 360° weld, the Omni-Pro 075 is capable of withstanding the highest loads in its class without failure.
Ashworth Brothers Inc.
540 662 3494
www.ashworth.com
BELT HANDLES HEAVY LOADS
Wire Belt Company offers Flat-Flex XT belting, providing extra strength and support for longer belt life. The XT belts are designed with unique “XT” spaces, increasing the number of “z-bend” joints and allowing it to handle heavier loads. Similar to all Flat-Flex style belts, XT offers lower belt mass than competitive style belts. Lower belt mass translates into lower power consumption, faster processing, and more product throughput, increasing profits.
Wire Belt Co.
603 644 2500
www.wirebelt.com
EFFICIENT CONVEYORS
Spiroflow Flexible Spiral Conveyors are a low cost, hygienic and versatile means of transferring bulk materials, like flour, or ingredients, such as salt, yeast and bakery mixes, from storage to process. The conveyor can be controlled volumetrically or gravimetrically from the source vessel or by “gain in weight” at the receiving end. Other types of conveyors, bag dump stations and bulk bag unloaders also are available to move materials to dough mixers and other types of mixing machines.
Spiroflow Systems Inc.
704 291 9595
www.spiroflowsystems.com
ELIMINATE TRANSFERS
SpanTech LLC offers the Intermediate Drive conveyor and Low Profile Idler Assembly as versatile new options in its Designer System® conveyor line. The Intermediate Drive conveyor requires only a 26-in. straight section, and allows gearmotor placement to be determined by the customer. The Low Profile Idler, with its nose diameter of 3-1/2 in., can often eliminate the need for transfers, even for products as small as 4 in. Low Profile Idlers may be used with an Intermediate Drive at both ends of the conveyor.
SpanTech LLC
270 651 9166
www.spantechllc.com
IMPROVE SANITATION
Developed specifically for the food processing and packaging marketplace, Easy Clean™ offers a welded, stainless steel frame design with a chain driven, segmented roller conveying surface. It is engineered to reduce the surfaces where contaminants can collect and permits easy, thorough cleaning. This innovative design meets both USDA and BISCC standards. Anti-microbial plastic materials also are available to inhibit bacterial growth. Easy Clean fills the need for improved cleanliness and sanitation.
Shuttleworth, Inc.
800 444-7412
www.shuttleworth.com
CONVEY AND CLEAN SIMULTANEOUSLY
Benda Manufacturing (BMI) offers a low tension, sprocket driven, seam-free belt conveyor system. The belt's smooth, seamless surface keeps food particles and allergens from being captured, making for an effective sanitary environment. The use of drive and idler sprockets provides a natural guide system that eliminates off-tracking. The system allows for open frame conveying, and is easy to clean, which reduces water and chemical use.
Benda Manufacturing Inc.
708 633 4600
www.bendamanufacturing.com
TURNBELT CONVEYORS
KESS' Turnbelt conveyors are available in 45°, 90° and 180°. The stainless-steel construction and wash-duty components will accommodate Sani-Grid® (or equal) brand of belting. Turnbelts come with stainless-steel drive and tail sprockets, stainless-steel removable catch pans, wash-down duty inline-gear reducer and motor, double slave driven stainless-steel hex bar rollers at discharge end, electrical controls and motor starter in Nema 4X enclosure.
KESS Industries Inc.
800 578 5564
www.kessind.com
NEW BELT TECHNOLOGY
New technologies from Intralox are designed to provide simple ways for processors to solve problems and save money in their plants. These conveyance solutions address current bakery industry needs as they are both easy and cost-effective to implement and have an immediate impact on operating costs. Offered exclusively from Intralox, ThermoDrive® belting is an ultra-hygienic conveying solution that dramatically improves food safety. The continuous, easy-to-clean belting surface facilitates sanitation and has been shown to improve product yields. Also, the Series 2800 Spiralox® GTech is Intralox's highest performance Spiralox belt yet. It delivers the proven benefits of Intralox modular plastic belting on spirals, combined with the additional benefits of increased beam strength, better airflow, and tighter transfer capability.
Intralox LLC
800 535 9948
www.intralox.com
CUSTOM CONVEYORS
Woods Fabrication Inc. offers design, production and installation of individual conveyors or complete conveyor systems. Woods assures a quick design, delivery and installation to accommodate the rapidly changing needs of the baking industry. Woods custom manufacturing includes:
-90° and 180° Radius Urethane Belt conveyors; Table Top Carton conveyors; Sani-Grid Wire conveyors; Urethane Belt conveyors; Woven Wire conveyors; Special Transfer conveyors; Trough Belt conveyors; and Plastic Belt conveyors.
Woods Fabrication Inc.
770 684 5377
www.woodsfab.com
COMPLETE CONVEYOR SYSTEM
Capway Systems develops and produces a full line of bakery and product handling systems for commercial bakeries and confectioneries. Capway's expertise extends from the processing of dough to shipping various kinds of baked products. In the case of turnkey projects, the work is carried out with the close co-operation of manufacturers of dough processing, ovens and packaging equipment. Because our company is completely independent of such outside manufacturers, we can, in principle, adapt our system to any supplier stipulated by the customer.
Capway Systems Inc.
877 222 7929
www.capwayusa.com
INCREASE EFFICIENCY
The Perfect Score Co. designs and manufactures innovative, high quality, custom and standard conveyor systems and control panel integration. The systems utilize the best belting products available. Designed with customers' specific bakery needs in mind, the conveyors provide solutions beyond moving product. The goal is to provide each customer with lower maintenance costs, higher efficiency in product handling, increased output, reduced labor costs, less downtime and maximized equipment life.
The Perfect Score Co. Inc.
440 439 9320
www.theperfectscore.com
