Transporting metal chips with Archimedys™

A Canadian company produces large quantities of metal parts by machining. This manufacturing operation generates a large quantity of small metal chips.

In production lines, these chips are evacuated by conveyor belts. Handling is not so easy, as the chips are sticky due to the lubricant used in the process. Cleaning the belts is not simple, and maintenance costs are high due to the numerous cleaning operations.

The best solution is to use an Archimedes screw. Our customer has tested a conventional steel screw and it doesn't work because of the formation of plugs. The steel screw broke. Our partner in Canada, Modulex Solution, proposed a screw conveyor based on Archimedys ™.

The first prototype with a normal screw design encountered similar problems. First of all, the modules had a shape memory effect and the screw regained its shape after several pluggings. Set-up was not easy, but with the modular design of Archimedys™ we were able to find and validate the screw profile capable of handling such difficult products.

As you can see from the video, the chips are transported smoothly and there are no abrasion problems.