The Auger Work Principle

12 Aug.,2022

 

The Auger Work Principle

Aug 21, 2018

The principle of the vertical auger filling machine is very simple.
The basic filling head comprises four primary components:


The auger drive: controls the speed and revolutions of the auger

The agitation drive: drives the counter-rotational slow speed agitation blade

Hopper : holds the product to be filled

Auger: rotate vertically in the hopper to feed product into and through the funnel


      




The lower parallel flights of the auger within the funnel are machined to a constant pitch so that each pitch has a precise volume. The auger drive rotates the auger at a constant speed to produce a continuous dosing flow. The agitation blade, separately driven and controlled, rotates in the opposite direction to the auger, de-aerating and homogenising the powder, and breaking any bridge which, in non-free flowing powders, tends to form. The agitation blade extends down to the throat of the funnel preventing rat-holing and cavitation and ensures that the auger flights are consistently filled. Start/stop signals to the auger drive control the number of revolutions.
If an auger with flights of perfectly even pitch, evenly filled with powder of constant bulk density and even particle distribution, rotates a precise number of revolutions, theoretically there would be zero deviation in dose from one cycle to another. In the majority of applications, where these conditions more-or-less apply, volumetric filling via flux vector inverter drive is entirely appropriate. Typically, accuracies in the range of ± 0.5% to 2% can be expected.
Where such factors as variations in bulk density and particle size/distribution, high cost, or criticality of dose demand closer tolerances, weigh-filling technology and alternative drives can be employed.