INTRODUCING A NEW FEEDER FOR FLEXIBLE PRODUCTS
Additional Information
Sometimes you may experience issues with product skewing under the gate. There are different reasons that this may occur including unevenly worn feed belts, improper wedge placement, uneven wear of the media used in separating the sheets, or the separator being out of level.In an earlier installment, we discussed issues related to feed belts. Assuming that you have inspected your belts and are still seeing a skewing issue, you should visually inspect the gate. Remove the stock from the feeder and from behind look to see if one side of the gate is higher above the feed belt(s) than the other. If it is difficult to tell, do a drag test. Grasp a piece of product with two hands and slide it front-to-back under the gate assembly. A proper adjustment allows for equal drag on the left and right sides of the piece of material.Should you find that one side is tighter than the other, one of two things may be happening. First, you may have uneven wear of the separator medium. Upon visual inspection of the gate, you will need to remedy the situation if you find this to be the case. If you have a gate with O-rings you will want to rotate them. If you have a bar gate, you will need to replace the wedge. In the case of a powered rotating gate, you will need to replace the wheels. Call us for more information 514-744-9351
Proper Gate Maintenance Tech Tips
If you find that one side is higher than the other, and the medium appears to be even, your gate may not be level. If you have a spring-loaded gate that sits in J-hooks lift the gate a little and allow it to snap back into place. If this does not help, and your separator has silver adjustment wheels, turn the opposite adjustment roller counterclockwise 1/8 turn. Next, turn the other adjustment roller clockwise 1/8 turn. Repeat drag tests and adjust as needed until equal drag is achieved. Do not use the adjustment wheels to tighten the gate against the J-hooks, the separator must be allowed to float.
In the case of a powered gate, you may need to loosen the screws holding the assembly and twist the bottom towards the side with greater pressure. The amount of movement available is minimal but might be enough to level the separator.
Another possible culprit for skewing can be found in the wedge that supports the stack of product in the feeder hopper. We will discuss wedges in upcoming tips installments.