Vibrating conveyor / Oscillating Conveyor

A vibrating conveyor essentially consists of an open or closed trough or pipe, generally horizontal but not always so, and which is elastically supported on a base structure or suspended from an overhead structure by springs. The trough or pipe is caused to oscillate at high frequency and small amplitude by an appropriate drive mechanism.

Vibrating conveyors are commonly employed in industry to carry a wide variety of particulate and granular types of bulk materials. The fundamental action of the vibrating troughs on the bulk material loaded on it is to throw the particles upward in the forward direction so that the material performs series of short hopping movement and propagates at a certain speed.

Oscillating conveyors are utilized to convey sand or other granular particles at a desired rate. The conveyor is generally placed under a vibrating shakeout or a grid to eliminate direct handling of hot sand by the belt conveyor. In the process of reciprocation, the oscillating conveyor cools the hot sand to some extent which increases the life of the return sand conveyor belt.

An important characteristic of vibrating conveyor is the ease with which the flow rate of the conveyed material can be controlled by adjusting the amplitude and or frequency of the vibration. This particular aspects of such conveyor has led to the wide spread application of vibrating trough as feeders employed to supply material in controlled amount to various machines. When the trough is replaced by a screen, the vibratory conveyor may serve as vibrating screen, which has wide application in various industries.

A distinction must be made between feeders and conveyors. A feeder is used as a discharge device under a storage hopper or bin and is subjected to varying head loads. A conveyor requires regulated feed rate and must not operate under varying head load conditions.

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Construction details of Vibrating Conveyor / Oscillating Conveyor:

The conveying fabrication can take the form of open and enclosed troughs as well as tubular designs typically to a maximum length of 5 meters long, per single conveyor. The equipment can be manufactured in carbon steel and some applications which required hygienic applications such as food and pharmaceutical can be constructed in stainless steel.

Troughs can be lined with a various materials to protect from abrasion and aid the transfer of material – suited to their application. For example, when handling rock or metal scrap, the conveyor can be lined with abrasion resistant steel, or when handling foundry moulding sands or recycled waste the conveyor can be lined with plastics and rubber.

Motor drive conveyors provide high volume feeding and efficient product conveying with high throughput rates. Motor drives are generally used when the rate of discharge does not need to be adjusted or when feed the required feed is infrequently on and off.

Vibrating conveyor inbalanced motor

Vibrating conveyor compression springs

Applications of Vibrating Conveyor

Transporting food grains or ingredients to product line
Conveying powders and chemicals between processes and equipment
Removing foundry sands from beneath shakeouts
Conveying chipping, shredding and recycled materials

Advantages of Vibrating Conveyor

Possibility of conveying materials up to 45 m
Vibrating conveyor unit widths from 6 inches to 10 feet, and lengths up to 400 feet
Heavy duty vibrating conveyor designs feature rugged coil spring construction with rocker arm stabilizers
Gentle handling of fragile products
Capacity of conveying different kind of materials without having them mixed
High temperature conveyors available for handling materials up to 2000 deg Fahrenheit
Possibility of performing different processes besides conveying such as classification of products, heating, cooling, de-watering etc.
Possibility of automating processes to extract the product previously conveyed in different points of the equipment
Natural frequency design for low stresses and long life
Continuous structural steel base along length of conveyor
Few moving parts, easy cleanable surfaces, minimum maintenance
Balanced / Isolated units allow mounting in upper structure due to reduced reactions
Polished trough and special coatings available for sticky products
Easy replaceable liners and wear surfaces available
Dust tight construction for safety and comfort available
Manual or automatic bypass gates available
Leak proof troughs eliminate spillage
Quiet operation, low operating costs, energy efficient