Equipment Report

Lubo USA, Stamford, Conn., has announced the placement of numerous TiTech VisionSort optical sorting equipment. The company began importing the units, which are made in the Netherlands, in the spring of 2004 and serves as the sole North American distributor.

According to Lubo, nearly 1,200 TiTech units have been installed at material recovery facilities worldwide, enabling the automated separation of recyclables. The units analyze the input stream using a sensor that is installed above a conveyor belt. The sensor identifies materials, shapes, textures and colors as well as the position of the object, according to Lubo.

Recent TiTech installations in the United States include:

More information on Lubo USA and TiTech VisionSort optical sorting equipment is available at www.lubousa.com.

Bowe Knives, a division of Bowe Machine Co. of Bettendorf, Iowa, has announced that it now offers auto shredding rotors directly to end users in the metal shredding industry.

According to Ken Ceuvorst, Bowe’s director of engineering, the company is no longer bound by exclusivity agreements with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and is now offering disc and spider rotors for shredders of all makes and models directly to metal processors as well as to OEMs whose customers request a Bowe rotor in their new shredding plants.

Bowe Machine has been making auto shredder rotors for the past 35 years for various OEMs.

More information on Bowe’s rotor line is available online at www.boweknives.com.

Thermo Electron Corp., based in Billerica, Mass., has announced the release of its new Niton XLt 797X XRF analyzer that offers small-spot focus capability.

According to Thermo, the product was designed with the feedback from customers within the electronics industry in mind. The analyzer features a "significantly smaller x-ray spot than that of any portable XRF (X-ray fluorescence) analyzer," according to a press release from Thermo.

Thermo’s Niton Analyzers business unit has incorporated new proprietary x-ray tube technology and an internal color video camera into its portable Niton XLt 797 instrument. The XLt 797X with small-spot focus technology can identify, analyze and record the analytical results of small components, which was previously achievable with bench-top XRF analyzers only.

The analyzer is designed to assist original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), contract manufacturers (CMs) and industry suppliers in assuring that their components comply with the EU’s Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive. The directive, which became effective July 1, prohibits electronics or electronic equipment containing materials, such as lead, mercury and hexavalent chromium, in excess of allowable detection limits.

"Thermo’s small-spot focus technology allows users to better pinpoint the analysis of solder joints and small components, especially on populated printed circuit boards (PCBs) and other heterogeneous materials while maintaining the precision and fast analysis time that have always been a hallmark of Niton analyzers," according to a press release from Thermo. "The Niton XLt 797X provides equivalent or better detection limits for all RoHS elements as those achieved with our standard XLt 797 analyzers," the release adds.

The analyzer also includes a color CCD camera to locate, specify and save the image together with the chemical analysis of an individual component.

When the Niton XLt 797X analyzer is combined with a test stand and Thermo’s NDT remote control and video tracking software, it provides functionality inline with bench-top units, according to Thermo.

The Niton XLT 797X analyzer is available for on-site demonstration beginning September 2006 and is available for mid-October 2006 delivery.

More information is available at www.thermo.com.

The US Shredder and Castings Group, Brookhaven, Miss., has announced the opening of a sales and service office in Guanajuato, Mexico.

Leonardo Martinez, who joined US Shredder and Castings Group in July 2006, operates the Mexico office.

"Mexico has quickly emerged as an important region for us, and our sales results justified opening a facility to support our customers," says company President Bill Tigner.

Martinez coordinates the shredder, shear and baler sales in the region and oversees the shredder castings business that is based in US Shredder’s operations facility in Mackinaw, Ill.

The US Shredder and Castings Group offers scrap metal shredding systems as well as castings, service and consulting to the North and Central American scrap industry. Additional information is available at www.usshredder.com.

ATLANTIC SCRAP BUYS HARRIS SHREDDER SYSTEM

Harris Waste Management Group, Peachtree City, Ga., has announced that its Harris Shredder division has sold an HS98115 shredder system to Atlantic Scrap & Processing, based in Kernersville, N.C.

The system will be installed at Atlantic Scrap’s new Wilmington, N.C., yard and should be operational in the fall of this year. Atlantic Scrap owns and operates four full-service recycling yards throughout North America.

According to a press release from Harris, "The system is designed for maximum production and efficiency and features a complete ferrous downstream as well as a state-of-the-art control and production management system."

The plant will feature a Harris HS98115 shredder with a 6,000-hp Toshiba drive motor, a complete infeed system with Harris’s heavy-duty double-feed-roll system and a "low-maintenance" disc rotor made by Harris Shredder.

When operational, Harris says the plant will be capable of processing more than 200 tons per hour.

In the press release, Bill Perry, vice president and director of operations for Atlantic, says, "We are very excited about the new Harris Shredder system. Harris has been a supplier of processing equipment for our operations for a long time, and their shredder fulfilled our needs and requirements."

Harris Shredder, with offices in Cordele, Ga., and San Antonio, Texas, offers custom designed shredder systems and downstream solutions. More information is available at www.harriswaste.com.

A-WARD INTROS CONTAINER TILTING UNIT

A-Ward Attachments Ltd. of New Zealand has developed the ACT series of self-contained container-tilting units with back-in, drive-out capability.

A-Ward Attachments Director and Chief Engineer Simon Ward designed the unit after listening to several customers complain about their current container loading systems’ lack of safety and efficiency, according to a press release issued by A-Ward Attachments.

To use the ACT self-contained container tilting units, the container and trailer chassis are backed into the unit. The container then is locked onto the tilter’s lifting arms at eight points. The doors are opened, and the tilter hydraulically raises the container from zero to 90 degrees for loading with a material handler, conveyor or wheel loader.

"This unit has made our export business far more safe and efficient," David Davis of GSD in Houston is quoted as saying in the press release. "It is simple, rugged and priced so that our break-even on the unit is in a matter of weeks."

More information on the container tilting unit is available by visiting www.a-ward.co.nz or by calling Sales Director Richard Currie at (201) 697-7301.