Flexicon Corporation: Bag dumping system

Bags are staged on a stainless steel tabletop and then transferred through a plastic strip curtain into a dumping enclosure comprised of a glove box, empty-bag chute and dust collector atop a receiving hopper.

The dust collector maintains negative pressure within the enclosure, preventing the escape of dust through the curtain, while containing dust generated during bag opening and dumping activities.

A bag infeed chute through the sidewall of the enclosure allows the operator to pass empty bags directly into the bag compactor, causing dust generated from compaction as well as dumping activities to be drawn onto the system's two filter cartridges.

An automatic reverse-pulse filter cleaning system releases short blasts of compressed air inside the filters at timed intervals causing dust build-up on the outer surfaces to fall into the hopper, conserving useable product. Filters are readily accessed by removing the interior baffle, and replaced rapidly using quick-disconnect fittings.

The compactor employs a large pneumatic air cylinder to compress bags into a removable bin that accommodates 50 to 80 bags. The main waste access door, and a flapper door within the bag infeed chute, are equipped with safety interlocks that prevent operation of the compactor unless both doors are closed.

The hopper discharges into an enclosed Flexicon flexible screw conveyor for dust-free transfer of a broad variety of products including free- and non-free-flowing materials from large pellets to sub-micron powders, including products that pack, cake, seize, smear, fluidize, break apart or separate, with no separation of blended products.