A plastic granulator operates much like a large shredder. It turns full sized bottles, jugs, and other plastic products into flakes, or granules. The material produced by the plastic granulator is later sold to molders and manufacturers of plastic products as recycled raw material. The recycled raw material can be used to make new plastic items. Aside from aluminum and glass, plastic is the only material capable of being reprocessed into new items that are of the same quality as the original.

A plastic granulator is comprised of a large electric motor that turns a rotor. Cutting blades are attached to the rotor and encased within a closed chamber. These blades and chambers are available in numerous shapes and sizes. When used plastic material is placed inside the chamber, the rotating blades shred it into granules.

A screen is also located inside the chamber. It serves as a shifter, ensuring the plastic is small enough to be resold. If the plastic pieces are larger than .125 to .375 inches (0.318 to 0.953 centimeters), they are reprocessed until they are small enough.

A plastic granulator is rated by pounds per hour, which refers to how much it can shred within an hour. For industrial recyclers, the chamber of the plastic granulator needs to be large. It is, however, possible to purchase a plastic granulator for home or small business use. It is important to note that these machines can be a dangerous, no matter how small. Therefore, it is important to follow the precautions provided by the manufacturer.

In order to properly maintain a plastic granulator, the user must keep it clean. Otherwise, it will not produce the desired small granules of plastic. The blades of the plastic granulator must be oiled periodically. In addition, the inside of the chamber needs to be wiped clean, including the screen. In fact, it is best to remove and clean the screen after every large job the machine completes.

It's a challenge to select the most efficient conveyor for a particular application. To make the best choice, it's imperative that all operating parameters be considered.

Material handling from stamping operations can present unique challenges. Regardless of whether you're handling scrap or finished parts, you need to think about several points to select the right equipment for your particular application. You have many equipment choices today to move, elevate, and distribute material. If you're considering a belt, vibratory, or a magnetic conveyor, ask the following 2 questions before you buy one.

1. What material is being handled?

Stamping presses form many materials, such as aluminum, stainless steel, steel, and other alloys.

Both steel-belt and cloth-belt or resin belt conveyors can handle almost any part; however, if the material has sharp edges, the likelihood of a cloth belt being cut is increased. Additionally, sharp parts may have small, slender points that can get caught in the hinges of a hinged-belt conveyor. While belt conveyors are versatile in the types of material they can handle, cut belts and conveyor jams have the potential to cause a significant amount of downtime.

3. What is the material's shape and size?

Material size and shape is not much of a concern with belt-style conveyors, as belt width can be increased to handle whatever is being presented.

4. How is the material presented to the conveyor?

Material dropped onto any conveyor can cause damage. If the material has sharp edges or corners, it could damage belt-style conveyors. Parts dropped in a pan or tray of a vibratory conveyor also can cause damage, including dents in the conveying surface.

Magnetic conveying systems are most susceptible to damage from dropped material. Because all the moving parts are inside the conveyor housing, a dent in the housing may cause the magnets to strike the back side of the slider, creating premature slider bed wear as well as damage to each magnetic element. If material is falling as much as 12 inches to the slider bed, an impact plate or diverters can be installed to absorb the impact before the material hits the slider bed.

What Are Plastic Granulators?

Plastic Granulators are the machines that are used to convert non-biodegradable plastic products into granules, so that they can be recycled and put to work once again. The plastic bottles, containers, bags and packaging materials are among the solid wastes that must be eliminated from the environment. As plastic is non-biodegradable, these waste products are broken down by granulators and sold to the plastic manufacturers and molders.

  Components of Granulators
  Plastic granulators consist of electric motor and rotor with cutting blades attached to it. The setup is enclosed within a chamber and a screen is accommodated to assess the process of breaking down of the plastic.

  Working of Granulators
  The working of Plastic Granulators is very simple. The electric motor installed in these machines rotate the rotor and the cutting blades attached to it. The waste plastic items are put in the chamber, where they are converted into small pieces. The screen helps you to watch the process of granulating and make sure that appropriate size of granules is achieved. Reprocessing might be required in case you find the plastic size to be larger than required.