Hygienic conveyors for fruits and chips

Innovations on Key Technology’s conveyors focus on food safety and reduced maintenance cost

THE Iso-Flo conveyor from Key Technology boasts a number of upgrades to its design. It carries oil-free electric vibrating motors, an innovative patent-pending vector lock screen clamp, elastomer isolators, scalloped flat bars, plate frame design, and a unique internal ground arm. The Standard Utility Shakers for processing potato chips, potato strips, and fruits and vegetables, have these sanitary features.

The oil-free electric vibrating motor eliminates the gear box, drive belts, and motor oil from the process. This out-of-balance motor improves equipment hygiene by eliminating the oil that can inadvertently contaminate product, especially when the equipment is mounted over other equipment.

A hybrid design allows the vector lock screen clamp to perform multiple functions simultaneously. This patent-pending mechanism, used to secure an Iso-Flo conveyor’s screen in place, is easier to open and close. It allows an operator to lock and unlock a screen with one hand and no tools to swap out screens more quickly and easily.

Other features eliminate laminations and enclosed hollow bodies that can harbor bacteria. Scalloped flat bars are continuously welded, replacing skip welding. The new plate frame replaces traditional tube frames and elastomer isolators replace coil spring isolators that can trap product and rust. The new isolator-brackets feature an “easy slide out” capability that enables the processor to remove isolators during maintenance without a forklift. The new internal ground arm replaces a traditional ground strap that is prone to breakage and can cause product to hang up. Equipment stickers, which can flake and fall into product zones, are eliminated.

Key’s Standard Utility Shakers, which include all of these hygienic improvements, are available in two sizes, 61 cm and 91 cm wide, both 1.8 metres, and with or without screens. The Model 2472 offers 10 0.93 square metres of screen area and the model 3672 offers 1.4 sq meters of screen area. These standard shakers feature geometry that enables multiple shakers to be nested in a line maximising the versatility of the two standard shakers to meet the needs of each application. The shakers with screens include drip pans to capture water or fines. Key offers customized Utility Shakers in other sizes and configurations.