Spee-Dee® Streamlines Changeovers With New Hopper Support & Patented Sliding Key
Sturtevant, Wis. — James P. Navin, President of Spee-Dee® Packaging Machinery, Inc., recently announced the addition of a significantly improved hopper support design to the company’s Digitronic® Auger Filler line. “This creative reconfiguration of the hopper support enables our customers to quickly and easily remove the hopper for changeovers and cleaning,” he revealed. The new design will now be included as standard equipment on all Spee-Dee 3500 Series Servo Digitronic Auger Fillers.
According to Timm Johnson, Vice President, Sales/Marketing, Spee-Dee is the only company utilizing this unique hopper support system. “Traditional hopper supports were cumbersome and awkward, necessitating sliding the hopper from front to back. They often required manually forcing the lip of the hopper cover up and back in order to remove the hopper. This innovative support allows the hopper to move straight down and away from the shaft in a single motion, avoiding interference from, and damage to, the cover. Changeover to a different hopper or cleanup between products is now faster and easier.”
Johnson continued, “In addition, we designed the new support to precisely locate the hopper using two alignment pins. Once the tooling is placed exactly in line, it never requires time consuming re-alignment, a dramatic time and cost saving factor on dry fill production lines. The support enhances equipment versatility by mounting multiple hopper sizes in the same amount of space.”
“No discussion of productivity would be complete without mention of our patented sliding key tooling lock,” Johnson stressed. “With the Spee-Dee® sliding key, our customers are able to change the tooling in a filler without changing the hopper, a rarity in our industry. It is both an efficiency and safety feature of the Spee-Dee Digitronic® line,” Johnson explained, “enabling installation and removal of auger tooling without the use of screwdrivers or wrenches. The positive locking mechanism holds tools in place with no up and down motion. Furthermore, the sliding key design will capture a pin if it shears during production, completely eliminating the risk of product contamination from this source. Competitive bayonet locking systems include locking rings and collars with Allen screws that sometimes fall into product,” he concluded.
Spee-Dee® Packaging Machinery, Inc. is a premier quality manufacturer of equipment to measure and fill dry products in consumer size containers (bags, bottles, pouches, cans and cartons). Spee-Dee is the only company to supply both auger and volumetric fillers, and the only company that supplies servo drives for auger and cup fillers. Spee-Dee Packaging Machinery serves a global base of clients in diverse market segments, including the food, chemical, pharmaceutical and agricultural industries. Now in its third decade, the company boasts a star-studded client roster of industry giants and Fortune 500 companies. A history of innovative electrical and mechanical design and programming, coupled with advanced technology and unparalleled customer service, support Spee-Dee Packaging Machinery’s position as an industry leader.
For more information, please contact Timm Johnson, Vice President, Sales/Marketing, Spee-Dee Packaging Machinery, Inc., 1360 Grandview Parkway, Sturtevant, WI 53177, toll free 877-375-2121, 262-886-4402 or fax 262-886-5502. Send e-mail to info@spee-dee.com, and visit Spee-Dee Packaging Machinery’s Web site at www.spee-dee.com.