Customised Bucket Diverter Resolves Granular Over-filling Problem

Phil Black - PII Editor 24/07/2017

304 1 minute read

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While Game Engineering has manufactured its own diverter valves for some while, a bucket diverter is quite different.

There will occasionally be a situation where a customer’s process means that a conventional component is the weak link in an otherwise flawless system. So it was in this particular case where the customer needed to fill bins with a precise amount of granular product.

The existing diverter was causing an element of over-filling. So engineers at Game Engineering designed a variation on the conventional diverter theme; a bucket diverter.

The design of the bucket diverter, like all good ideas, is really simple. Externally, the bucket diverter looks very similar to a conventional diverter valve. However, internally it is completely different.

Instead of a flap operated by either a solenoid or electric motor mounted just above the two legs, a bucket or open box has its pivot point directly below the product entrance to the valve.

The moment that sufficient product has travelled through one leg, the bucket swings across to the other leg. There is no product leakage and the bucket valve can be set up to open and close as aggressively as the process demands.

Game Engineering bucket diverters can be manufactured from either mild steel or stainless steel and, for particularly abrasive products, internal surfaces can be coated with an abrasion resistant coating.

Maintaining a bucket diverter consists of removing the covers and lowering the bucket which is easy to clean or replace. Even though the Game Engineering bucket diverters are manufactured to order delivery is just two weeks.