The Application:

A leading contract packager and manufacturer of food ingredients contacted Material Transfer, requiring container dumpers to empty containers of brownie and cake mixes into hoppers which fed existing packaging equipment. The new dumpers needed to accept containers loaded via pallet jack at floor level, and provide a “sealed discharge” of the containers under a 10 ft ceiling height. The dumpers also needed to be moveable, to allow for regular wash down of the equipment and process area.

The customer’s existing container dumpers, supplied by another manufacturer, leaked product between the container and the dumper pour hood, resulting in loss of product, and additional cleaning time. The existing dumpers were difficult to clean, required loading with a forklift, and the cycle times were too long. The existing dumpers couldn’t provide a reliable docking seal beneath the pour hood discharge valve because of a lack of dump carriage control.  

Custom Designed Solution:

A local representative of Material Transfer visited the customer’s site, discussed the customer’s needs, and submitted a quotation request to Material Transfer. Material Transfer called the customer to review additional details, desired equipment features, then provided an equipment proposal, complete with a concept drawing, CD-ROM equipment video, and photos of similar units with exclusive Material Transfer features. 

The customer invested in two Material Transfer, Low Level Lift & Seal Container Dumpers with a 60 deg dump angle, 304 stainless steel pour hood, 16 in. square roller gate, and a pallet jack moveable base. The containers are easily loaded into the unit with a pallet jack at floor level. Custom chamferred guides on the loading skip center the container beneath the pour hood for a proper seal. The exclusive MTS Lift & Seal system then raises the seal carriage vertically, hydraulically docking the top of the container against the pour hood. A custom hydraulic circuit ensures the container is securely docked to the pour hood, and automatically compensates for variations in container height.

The units feature wash down duty tubular carbon steel construction with Steel-It epoxy finish, and a 5 GPM Parker hydraulic system with Material Transfer exclusive two-speed operation for reduced equipment cycle times.