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What's New » User-Friendly, Rapid-Response Touchscreen Blender Controller Allows Special Adjustments for Critical Product Runs

User-Friendly, Rapid-Response Touchscreen Blender Controller Allows Special Adjustments for Critical Product Runs

User-Friendly, Rapid-Response Touchscreen Blender Controller Allows Special Adjustments for Critical Product Runs
ASTON, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., November 20, 2009: A touchscreen control now available for the Maguire® Weigh Scale Blender provides the same intuitive access as the company's widely used "thumbwheel" controller, plus fast response to operator inputs and an array of capabilities for meeting the requirements of processing jobs that are especially challenging, it was announced today by Maguire Products, Inc.
The key to the responsiveness of the controller is a computer with a Linux operating system, according to B. Patrick (Pat) Smith, vice president of marketing and sales. "While the controllers for blenders operated by PLCs function literally as remote devices, with a short but perceptible lag between input and response, our touchscreen is actually the display of an onboard computer, and its response is lightning-fast," Smith said. "Each screen is just as readily understood and easy to operate as the thumbwheel switches on our standard controller, which has been used on over 37,000 Maguire blenders."
The touchscreen control incorporates a range of special capabilities that enable operators to adjust for processing machine vibration, differences in raw material bulk density, and other variables.
Smith provided these examples of processing challenges that these special capabilities address:
  • Inconsistently-flowing materials such as long glass fiber-filled concentrates. The controller can be set to dispense such a material first; then, responding to real-time information on the weight of that dispense, it adjusts the ratios of the other ingredients in the blend to take into account variations in the dispense size of the "difficult" material.
  • Super-critical ingredients such as materials used in medical applications, where dispenses are in the fractions of grams. "While it's easy to achieve accuracy with large dispenses like those for natural resin and regrind, metering truly minute quantities of additives calls for fast, precise feedback of information on each dispense so that ingredient ratios can be adjusted accordingly," Smith said. "One of the special capabilities of the touchscreen controller makes it possible to maintain the accuracy of critical-ingredient content within 0.1% of setpoint."
The touchscreen controller stores up to 99 recipes, is equipped with Ethernet and USB ports, and measures 7 by 9 by 3 inches (18 by 23 by 8 cm). The unit can be set to deliver text in English, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Italian, and Spanish. It is available in a retrofit package for existing blenders. Maguire supports the controller with a five-year warranty.
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MAGUIRE PRODUCTS, INC., headquartered in Aston, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., is the world's largest supplier of gravimetric blenders and liquid color pumps and also manufactures loading systems, dryers, auger feeders, and related equipment and software. Its customers include injection, blow, and rotational molders, extrusion processors, and compounders. Founded in 1977, Maguire operates six manufacturing facilities in Aston. The company maintains a network of distributors in the Americas and overseas and has three sales and service subsidiaries that stock, sell, and service auxiliary equipment systems from Maguire and its affiliate, Novatec, Inc.: Maguire Canada, headquartered in Vaughan, Ontario; Maguire Europe, supporting customers throughout Europe and operating a distribution center in Tamworth, Staffordshire, UK; and Singapore-based Maguire Asia, serving customers throughout South Asia and the Pacific Rim. Visit the Maguire Products web site: www.maguire.com.
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