Tag: Line Vac

Where Does It Go?

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment
The Line Vac conveys scrap trim quickly and easily, and can be sized for most any product.

The EXAIR Line Vacs can be used for anything from launching bean bags to more popular uses like removing scrap, trim or conveying dry goods. An example of this is shown below where chips from drive train differentials are removed using this setup with a 2” Line Vac. The Line Vac is positioned at the top of this purpose built assembly and the bottom shroud fits over the differential housing of what will become a drive axle. It has internal nozzles to generate positive air flow within the housing in order to direct the chips into the suction side of the Line Vac.

For some applications like this, the discharge side of the Line Vac is connected to a hose and aimed into a bin or some form of a container without a lid, or filter, anything to simply catch the larger pieces of swarf. In other operations, the output flow may go straight into something as small as a 5 gallon bucket.   Rather than blowing all of this debris, sand, or dirt into an open-top container and risk it being released back into the local area, or missing the container and falling onto the floor, it can be channeled into a container with one of our Drum Covers.

The Drum Cover is a general purpose filter material that will trap debris inside either a 30 or 55 gallon open-top container that has a rolled lip on it. The spout of the Drum Cover can accept up to a 3″ flexible conveyance hose and includes several hose clamps to be able to secure the discharge hose down into the container. This means you could also put two or three smaller hoses if it is a small trim or debris removal, and combine all into a single container to simplify the cleanup. These have also been used to help convey adhesive backing paper out of an automation zone and into an area where operators can easily stay out of the way of production equipment and remotely empty waste bins.

                        We have seen this work in multiple applications from collecting sand from a drilling operation that was being performed on a sand casting, to material trim removal and metal chip removal from machining operations.   If you want more information on these or have a similar application, feel free to contact me.

Brian Farno, MBA – CCASS Application Engineer

BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

EXAIR’s Threaded Line Vacs™

Published on by John BallLeave a comment
Which of these Line Vacs has higher performance? We can’t be sure without checking the generator!

As an Application Engineer, I get the pleasure of speaking to many people about trying to find a safe, simple, long-lasting transfer system to suit their applications.  Plants will have operators that climb steps to dump bags of material into hoppers above, which is a safety concern.  They might need a compact way to remove scrap from their process.  Or they have budgetary constraints to convey material from point A to point B. If your company has to tackle any of these issues, EXAIR may have a solution for you.  Our Line Vacs™ can attach easily to standard hoses, pipes, or sanitary flanges.   These inexpensive conveyors are designed to make conveyance safer and ergonomically better for your operators.  

Line Vacs use compressed air to generate a vacuum by a Venturi effect.  This unique design generates high velocity to create a powerful vacuum on one side.  Once the material reaches the throat area of the Line Vac, the compressed air will carry the product the rest of the way.  We can reach horizontal distances up to 100 feet (30 meters) and vertical heights up to 20 feet (6 meters).  EXAIR manufactures a variety of Line Vacs in different sizes, styles, and materials.  In this blog, I will cover the Threaded Line Vacs. 

As mentioned above, EXAIR has a variety of connection types.  The Threaded Line Vacs are designed to convert standard pipes into powerful conveying systems.  We offer them as a standard Line Vac in aluminum, 303 stainless steel, and 316 stainless steel.  They range from 3/8” NPT up to 3” NPT.  We also have the Heavy Duty Threaded Line Vacs that are engineered to move abrasive materials with an increased conveyance rate.  They range from ¾” NPT up to 3” NPT.  The construction is made from a hardened alloy material to resist wear from abrasive bulk products like steel parts, sand, glass, ceramic, sandblasting material, etc.  With the compressed air inlet on the side, the Threaded Line Vacs can fit in line with a conveying pipe. 

To make these Line Vacs more practical, EXAIR sells them in a kit format which includes a properly sized filter, regulator, and a mounting bracket.  This adds value to mounting, controlling, and protecting the Line Vac for years to come.  The Line Vacs have no moving parts and are a great product to use in rugged industrial applications.  You will not have to worry about any motors or bearings prematurely wearing out.

For our U.S. and Canadian customers, we are running a promotional ad.  You will receive a 2” Flat Super Air Nozzle, a $92.00 value, for free from now until the end of October 2024 with a qualified Line Vac purchase online.  If you would like to discuss your conveying application further, please contact an Application Engineer at EXAIR.  We may have a simple solution for you.

John Ball
Application Engineer
Email: johnball@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_jb

The Advantages of Heavy Duty Line Vacs

Published on by Al WooffittLeave a comment

EXAIR‘s Line Vacs are a great option for replacing a ‘bucket and ladder’ operation when it comes to conveying bulk material. For most of these applications, the material being conveyed isn’t too heavy, nor is the distance too far. There are some applications where the parameters are a little more challenging. For cases like these, we have our Heavy Duty Line Vacs

Heavy Duty Line Vacs use compressed air to generate a vacuum with the Venturi effect.  Our unique design generates a high velocity airflow to create a powerful vacuum on the suction side.  Once the material reaches the throat area of the Line Vac, the compressed air will carry the product the rest of the conveying distance to the discharge. Where Heavy Duty sets itself apart from other models is through two key features:

Threaded Heavy Duty Family
  1. The Heavy Duty is made from a hardened alloy construction for increased abrasion resistance. This makes them ideal for materials like sand, ceramic, glass, garnet, tumbling media and steel shot.
  2. The Heavy Duty produces higher vacuum levels, allowing them to convey further, faster, or to convey heavier materials.

With models ranging from 3/4″ to 3″ OD, with either smooth bore or threaded connections, we have many options for many applications. If you would like to discuss if a Heavy Duty Line Vac is right for your conveyance application, give us a call!

Al Wooffitt
Application Engineer

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Twitter: @EXAIR_AW

Applications and Industries for EXAIR’s Line Vac Pneumatic Conveyors

Published on by Tyler DanielLeave a comment

If you’re performing any type of manual transfer of raw material in your processes, it might be time to take a closer look at an EXAIR Line Vac. The Line Vac is designed as an ideal solution for the transfer of bulk materials from one point to another. The best part about the Line Vac is there are absolutely no moving parts to wear out, no maintenance at all, and the flow of material can be fine-tuned by regulating the air pressure just upstream.

The Line Vac is capable of moving large volumes of material over long distances with just a small amount of compressed air. The compressed air is injected through directed nozzles that produce a vacuum on one end and high-volume output flows on the other instantaneously. The Line Vac is offered in several different materials, sizes, and with a few different options for connection style.

The Line Vac works best when replacing what we refer to as a “bucket-and-ladder” operation. When replacing any form of manual transfer, the Line Vac not only increases production throughput but also makes the process safer. Whenever an operator must lift a container of material to dump it, oftentimes climbing up a ladder to do so, there’s a potential injury risk that can be avoided.

We’ll often see customers in the plastics industries manually filling the hoppers for an injection molding process. Rather than doing this manually, the Line Vac presents a simple and easy solution for conveying bulk material from the floor directly into the hopper.

One such industry that has seen some success with the EXAIR Line Vacs is coffee manufacturers. Using the Line Vac to convey raw, green coffee beans into a roaster is one example. Or, as was the case for a client in Colombia, using the Line Vac to transfer whole and ground beans automatically here in this video:

It’s not just about moving bulk materials, but the Line Vac can also be used to remove scrap trim in the converting industry. The application below shows one of our aluminum Line Vacs removing scrap trim and depositing it away from the process in a waste container.

We’ve seen the Line Vac used to strip any remaining wire or yarn off of a remaining spool for reuse. They’ve also been used by electrical contractors to run wire through underground conduit:

Heavy Duty Line Vacs operate in the same manner as our standard or threaded units, but are constructed of a hardened alloy steel engineered for use with abrasive media. The Heavy Duty Line Vacs are offered with both smooth or threaded connection styles and also provide a boost in conveyance when compared with our other Line Vacs. The Heavy Duty Line Vacs are ideal for any media that is abrasive in nature or for applications requiring higher conveyance rates over longer distances.

The Sanitary Flange Line Vac incorporates ISO 2852 compatible flanges on both the intake and outlet of the Line Vac. In the food/pharmaceutical industries, these types of connection styles are common to allow for easy removal of the system for sanitization purposes. An application I worked on recently involved a customer in the Food & Beverage industry that needed a solution for transporting bulk bags of salt. They’d looked at a high capacity conveyor system to serve this need, only to find out that it cost nearly 10x that of the Sanitary Flange Line Vac. The Model 161200-316 was used to convey this salt easily for them without the need to purchase a large and complicated system.

EXAIR’s Line Vacs are all on the shelf and ready to ship same-day from stock. If there’s a process in your facility that could benefit from an automated pneumatic transfer solution, give us a call! We’ll be happy to help you determine the proper size based on the application parameters.

Tyler Daniel, CCASS

Application Engineer/International Trade

E-mail: TylerDaniel@EXAIR.com

X: @EXAIR_TD