Unitrak Newsroom

Spin-lift stationary-screw Olds elevator joins our line-up

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 20:30:21 GMT

Announcing the addition of the revolutionary spin-lift Olds elevator to the UniTrak Powderflight line, president Bill Gorsline stated: “The Olds elevator fits very well between our TipTrak bucket elevator and the Powderflight aeromechanical conveyor.”

Unlike conventional screw elevators, the UniTrak Powderflight Olds elevator employs a cylindrical casing rotating around a fixed stationary screw. Material enters the casing through intake scoops and slides gently upward with minimal transport friction.

Only one moving part contacts the material—the tubular casing with attached in-feed scoops and delivery slinger, rotating around the static screw. Generous clearance between the screw and tube prevents casing wear, damage to material, and metal-on-metal contact.

At the top, material flows from the casing in a 360° pattern, into a discharge head with a chute or spout which can be custom-configured to the application and product characteristics. The infeed hopper is also customizable.

An optional Variable Frequency Drive enables the Olds elevator to be used as a doser/feeder. Various feed rates to be precisely controlled and the elevator can also accept signals from upstream or downstream equipment.

The one square metre footprint also provides bulk-handling solutions where a TipTrak™ cannot be used. “The Olds elevator has a small footprint, similar to a Powderflight™, Gorsline said, “…but, unlike our aeromechanical conveyors, the Olds can be operated continuously for 24 hours.”

“A TipTrak bucket elevator requires a lower horizontal section to provide a controlled infeed to the buckets on a horizontal plane”, said Gorsline. “Many factories and plants don't have floor space available to accommodate this, but the Olds elevator operates very comfortably in restricted space.”

“Investment cost for an Olds elevator is mid-way between a Powderflight™ and a TipTrak™”, stated Marketing Team Leader, Marie Lytle. “Many of our customers don't need to transfer product horizontally as well as vertically, and the Olds can be a superior alternative solution for them. That said, the TipTrak—with no transfer points—is still the best choice when you do have to go both horizontal and vertical.”

The Olds elevator is proven equipment, with installations delivering years of service in Australia, the United States and Mexico.

Food products tested successfully to date include: animal feed pellets; barley; dried bean; bread crumbs; chocolate chips; coffee beans; soluble coffee; corn;, dog food; flour; guar powder; macadamia nuts and shells; malititol (sweetener); peanuts; rice; sugar; timothy seed; wheat.

Other products conveyed by Olds elevators include: - boiler ash; calcium carbonate; carbon black; ceramic beads; coal fines;, epoxy resin; fertilizer; gypsum; lime; plastic; sand; sawdust; shredded rubber; soap powder; steel shot; sulphur pastilles; titanium chips; wood pellets.

UniTrak Powderflight Limited is licensed to market and manufacture the Olds elevator in the UK and EU.

Marie Lytle Interviewed from PTXi 2008, Chicago

Wed, 07 May 2008 18:08:48 GMT

Interview with Marie Lytle of UniTrak Corp. in Chicago, IL.

Welcome to our brand-new UniTrak Website

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 17:24:48 GMT

If you’ve ever been involved in building or rebuilding your company website, you know first-hand how much time, thought and effort the project can consume. But it’s well worth it when the new site launches, and you know you’ve provided a better on-site environment for your visitors.

As an ISO 9001:2000 company, our pursuit of excellence includes your online experience at unitrak.com. Our previous website served well, but three years is a ripe old age on the Web. It was time to rethink, retool, and apply what we’d learned—and what our customers had told us—during the old site’s life. This is the third generation of our site developed and built with SitePosition Search Marketing of Toronto, and we're very pleased with new functionality it offers.

The most significant change is our adoption of a “solutions by industry” path to determine the correct product for a specific bulk materials handling challenge. Listening to our website visitors, we understood that while you may come to our site knowing you need a particular type of conveyor, you are more likely to arrive at unitrak.com knowing only that you have a challenge with a particular material or circumstance. Our new site accommodates both incoming information requirements.

We have also incorporated new, user-friendly state-of-the-Web features, such as image galleries, drop-down navigation menus, and accordion panels that open with a click and greatly reduce or eliminate scrolling down.

Our new website is just one expression of our commitment to continuous improvement. We hope you’ll take a few minutes to browse the site, and we welcome your feedback, pro or con. Please feel free to comment or make suggestions.

Bill Gorsline,
President and CEO,
UniTrak Corporation Limited

New mini buckets solve candy color split delivery

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 21:58:34 GMT

How does one of the world's largest confectionary and candy manufacturers use its bucket elevators to get equal amounts of red and green candy into one package?

Answer: With the new TT250 mini bucket. Measuring just 4 by 3 inches, with a volume of 250 ml, the tiny bucket was design/built by UniTrak to solve the packaging-line dilemma.

The client was running TipTrak 500 bucket elevators, but their marketing department had created a package to contain equal quantities of two different colours of candy. UniTrak was asked how to convey the product without mixing, or creating unequal portions.

"Our client's initial thought was that we could weld a central divider into the existing buckets" says UniTrak founder and CEO, Bill Gorsline, "but we had concerns about plastic weld aging. Creating and retrofitting twin mini-buckets and new belt assembly was a lot more involved, but it was the right way to go."

The solution was achieved at relatively low cost, says Gorsline, and the retrofitted TT500s retain the hallmark features and performance of all TipTraks-including no-spill interlocking buckets, and the unique lubrication/maintenance-free UniTrak "chain" of moulded nitrile around multiple strands of stainless steel aircraft cable.

"Designing and engineering the mini bucket has added a new size of bucket elevator to the TipTrak line," says Gorsline. "Our new TT250 is, essentially, a scaled down TT500, with an in-feed leg measuring just seventy-four by seventeen-and-three- quarter inches, and a footprint of only nine square feet."

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Conveyors at the Powder Show in Chicago

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 21:45:59 GMT

Powderflight delivers high output and wide versatility for affordable cost and low energy use.

Port Hope, ON - May 4, 2006 -- UniTrak Corporation Limited, manufacturers of the TipTrak bucket elevator line, announced today that they are marketing Powderflight® aeromechanical conveyors in North America, and will introduce the line at the Powder Show in Rosemont (Chicago), May 9 - 11, 2006. Powderflight® conveyors are part of the product line of UniTrak's subsidiary in the United Kingdom-UniTrak Powderflight Limited.

The aeromechanical conveyors handle anything from chalk to lead shot, but in UniTrak President Bill Gorsline's words "They hit peak efficiency handling fine powder or granules. They handle a wide variety of materials, with minimal product degradation and no separation of blended materials." Gorsline described typical applications as "Filling silos or tankers, batching various products into a mixer, feeding reactor vessels, or from mixers or reactor vessels to bulk bags. It's a very versatile conveyor, and it has a small footprint, so it can provide solutions in some very tight spaces."

Gorsline stated that Powderflight's ability to operate efficiently at all angles is a major asset. "Any angle—zero to ninety. Ninety degrees vertical is the most efficient configuration, and Powderflight can go to vertical without any loss in capacity. The range of configurations and system layouts is virtually limitless, and integration into a process line is easy using standard components."

Powderflight® conveyors are manufactured in three models, varying by capacity: Model M75 will handle 6 cubic feet per minute; M100 - 13 cubic feet; M125 - 25 cubic feet.

Asked about through-put, Gorsline stated, "An M100 will take roughly two hours to empty a 24-ton bulk carrier. For emptying bulk bags, we'd expect to handle four to six bags an hour."

Powderflight has well-established credentials in Europe, says Marie Lytle, UniTrak's Marketing Team Leader. "It's earned a solid reputation as a reliable, affordable machine that delivers predictable, high-efficiency, dust-free handling for a wide variety of food and chemical materials."