13-year-old vibration feeder from VSS still operating

A pneumatic feeder built by Vibration Systems & Solutions (VSS) in July 1999 is about to celebrate its 13th birthday. Luckily, VSS isn’t at all superstitious - and with good reason. The feeder continues to give great performance, delivering fruit and nuts to a multi-head packing machine, just as it has done since it was installed in 1999.

The 13 year old VSS feeder

The feeder had a new silencer fitted last month, but up until then required no maintenance down-time. Despite having changed hands three times and had three locations since 1999, the machine itself hasn’t needed any tuning or adjustments to keep it running well.

Using a supply of clean, dry lubricated air, the feeder is pneumatically driven by a linear piston vibrator. This particular model is non-impacting, in which a piston oscillates in a cylinder, automatically generating an air cushion at each end of the stroke that eliminates metal-to-metal hammering and resulting noise. The regulator on the air service unit adjusts the operating frequency while the feeder’s stroke is adjusted by a throttle on the vibrator’s exhaust.

These features mean the feeder can be instantly controlled while in operation, giving the optimum feed rate required for the product being moved.

This particular feeder is manually controlled, but all VSS feeders can be linked to an electronic scale to give feedback to an electro-pneumatic controller. This allows rapid fill and slow top-up when filling containers to reach a particular weight.

VSS’s pneumatic vibrators are also available with lubrication-free operation, as well as with ATEX rating for use in hazardous atmospheres.