The activator is an innovative method to reliably prevent bridging and rat-holing of cohesive bulk materials in stainless steel hoppers without internal hopper agitation. The pharmaceutical design is a non-product contact device, consisting of a patent-pending vibratory drive and intelligent control unit, designed specifically to work with the company’s pharmaceutical line of gravimetric loss-in-weight feeders. The unit will be on display at Interphex 2010, April 20-22, Jacob Javits Convention Center, New York, booth 2505. In applications involving difficult flowing materials, the unit eliminates the need for mechanical agitators with secondary motors and gearboxes, as well as the need for flexible side wall agitation devices or aeration pads. The patent-pending self-tuning algorithm implemented in the unit monitors the system continuously adjusting the frequency and amplitude of the activator to maintain flow within the hopper. In this manner, bridges and rat-holes are prevented before they can form. The pharmaceutical design activator is mounted outside the product contact area, thus reducing additional cleaning which might result with internal agitators or flex wall type devices, according to the manufacturer.
