The Maguire Shuttle™ Granulator is a low cost alternative to conventional size-reduction of any large parts or purgings. This completely new type of plastics granulator automatically transforms large reject parts, purgings and other bulky or difficult-to-handle scrap into high-quality regrind but costs substantially less than conventional equipment.

Until now, size-reducing large parts has meant buying a massive heavy-duty granulator, using a shredder in combination with a standard granulator, or cutting the parts with a saw before granulation.

The Shuttle Granulator is a two-stage system that in the first stage literally planes reject parts into small pieces. In this "planing" stage the scrap or reject part is automatically shuttled back and forth over a table surface that is split into two levels like a carpenter's plane. Mounted in between the two levels is a staggered knife rotor that turns at 1750 rpm. The rotor reduces the scrap into small pieces and propels them into the hopper of a Radial Granulator. This Radial Granulator is positioned directly below the planer and performs the final size reduction of the product.

How Shuttle™ Granulators Work

• The operator places the plastic part or bulk scrap in a containment chamber that is parked in the home position at the upper table level.
• Upon pushbutton activation by the operator, the containment chamber shuttles on rails toward the lower table level. The scrap then passes over the rotor that is turning in the same direction as that of the shuttle movement. When the containment chamber reaches the other end of the table, it reverses direction, and the part is fed into the rotor knives.
• Small pieces produced by the rotor knife are propelled downward into the hopper of the Radial Granulator, as the containment chamber continues to shuttle back and forth across the rotor.
• The cycling continues until the scrap is consumed or a cycle timer elapses. This timer provides an automatic stop to allow reloading of scrap.

Single Stage Available
The system is available in a single-stage set-up in which the second stage Radial Granulator is not supplied. In this configuration the shredded scrap from the planing stage drops into a container for transfer to another operation.

The simplicity and low cost of the planing operation are not the only advantages of the Shuttle Granulator. Retained in the system are the advantages afforded by the Radial Granulator. Among the most valuable of these are the quality and consistency of the granulate that it produces and the degree to which common workplace problems such as flyback, dusting and noise are eliminated.