Brabender Technologie, Duisburg, Germany, has introduced a new fibre feeder, which is said to break new ground in the metering of long and uneven fibres. While conventional feeders were previously restricted to short and compact bundles of fibres such as, for example, glass fibres, the new feeder is now capable of accurately metering natural fibres, wood fibres, long carbon fibres and film chips.

 

As one of the main fields of application, the new feeder can be used for shredded film strips. These are waste material from plastic film production processes, where the film edges are cut off by film edge trimmers. This results in 10-30 % of unspoilt material, further utilisation of which has until now been difficult. The new feeder allows the remnants to be fed back into the production process as film chips so that they can be recycled. 

 

Feeding of natural fibres is another field of application. The fibre feeder is capable of metering them reliably, accurately and continuously in filling material or wood-plastic composites production processes. Feeding of such long fibres is made possible by using a special fibre screw, a large steep walled hopper and a novel design and special position of the stirring agitator in the hopper. “This unique and innovative design promotes forced ingredient flow into the screw”, explained Norbert Marek, who provided the idea for the fibre feeder. Considering that the flow characteristics of the ingredients differ significantly, design details vary in each individual case. The company maintains confidentiality regarding the exact construction of the feeder. The unit will be featured by Brabender Technologie (Hall 10, Stand A41) at K 2016 which takes place 19-26 October in Düsseldorf, Germany. www.brabender-technologie.com 

 

 

Brabender Technologie’s fibre feeder