Chip muncher: Turning Performance

In a backyard or park, a bird’s nest is a welcome sight. At a machine shop, however, a bird’s nest couldn’t be more unwelcome. There, the term refers to a tumbleweed-like chip ball that can cause big problems for conveyor systems that dispose of chips produced by high-speed turning and milling processes.

One innovative solution to bird’s nest issues is a patent-pending system that takes a more aggressive approach to chip conveying than conventional systems. Dubbed the MunchMan by Jorgensen Conveyor and Filtration Solutions in Mequon, Wisconsin, the system features two belts instead of the single belt used by other conveyors.

In conventional conveying systems, chips that fall from an operating machine tool and onto the moving belt are carried to a covered incline section, then up to the top of the incline, where they drop into a hopper. Or at least that’s the way they’re supposed to work.

A second belt allows the MunchMan conveyor to grab and compress chips. Image courtesy of Jorgensen Conveyor and Filtration Solutions

“A standard conveyor is very effective in carrying broken chips and fines, but it struggles to handle a bird’s nest,” said Dustin Krueger, director of engineering at Jorgensen Conveyor and Filtration Solutions.

In some cases, he said a large bird’s nest simply tumbles in place at the base of the incline section instead of moving up the incline. As the nest does so, it’s enlarged continuously by additional material being carried to the base of the incline, making it ever more difficult to convey.

“When you have that tumbling effect and chip buildup,” Krueger said, “the machine operator (often) needs to go in there and manually pitchfork the bird’s nest to push it up the incline.”

He said even if a bird’s nest does move up the incline, the nest can cause major conveyor jams and motor overloads, as well as put damaging pressure on incline cover plates.