Motan-Colortronic, a German producer of systems for materials handling, has developed a new version of the Ultrablend 95 gravimetric batch dosing and mixing unit for precise dosing and mixing of free-flowing raw materials, including plastic granulates and additives.
Motan-Colortronic, which provides equipment used in injection moulding, blow moulding, extrusion, compounding and in the chemicals industry, says the unit improves process quality and stability and contributes towards minimising production costs.
The Ultrablend 95 is designed in electro-polished stainless steel as Motan places emphasis on clear functions, minimum maintenance and easy operation in a hygienically clean production environment. There are no ‘dead zones’ in the material hoppers and mixing chambers. All seams are fully welded, which means no residual amounts of material can build up and contamination of subsequent batches is eliminated.
Motan says the Ultrablend 95 is especially suitable for precise dosing of extremely small amounts of material directly into the injection moulding, extrusion or blow moulding machine. A maximum of four raw material components can be dosed by weight, one after the other, precisely as required by the recipe. They are then mixed together homogeneously in the downstream mixing chamber (4.5 litres volume) and fed into the feed throat of the processing machine. The minimum dosing amount is 3g per component (900g lot size). When two components are used a maximum throughput of 260kg/h can be achieved.
This gravimetric batch dosing and mixing unit is suitable for applications with frequent material changes: all parts in contact with the product can be rapidly removed and cleaned. In addition, the dosing slider remains closed during material changeover – not even the smallest amount of residual material can run out or be shaken out. The single load cell principle compensates for any vibration from the processing machine and ensures the highest weighing precision.
The Ultrablend unit is controlled by the GRAVInet control system. The full colour display offers menu-based operation via a touch panel. A conveying control for up to seven material loaders is integrated into the GRAVInet control system as standard.
The Ultrablend 95 will be shown at next month’s MEDTEC in Stuttgart.