Gravimetric / Volumetric Powder Loaders

This machine is used to fill a can with an Output Charge of powder by volume and insert a Header S/A.  Typically the Header S/A comes to the machine directly from the Ignition Charge Loader with the Ignition Charge in place. With some Igniter designs, the Header S/A may come directly from the Bridge Wire machine when there is no Charge Sleeve. This machine is also available with two Powder Load stations for Igniter designs requiring large loads or two types of powder. The machine is built around a 16 station cam driven index table. The cans are loaded open side up into fixtures. The can nest is simply a hole if the can has a shoulder to hang from, or a hole with a removable pin for the can to sit on if there is no shoulder.

The cans are fed from a vibratory feeder bowl to a vibratory inline feeder and are picked up from the end of the track and placed in the nest on the index table. At the next station, the cans are probed for length and roundness. This is done to verify that the proper tooling, cans, and machine setup are being used for the part number entered by the operator and that the can is not damaged. 

The cans are then indexed to the first powder load station where a spoon is automatically moved into a protective barricade where a feeder bowl fills it with powder. It is scraped off level while exiting the barricade and the powder load is dumped through a highly polished funnel into the waiting can. The powder bowl barricade is built to withstand an explosion of many times as much powder as is allowed in the bowl and direct the blast up through the roof.  It also contains a system that allows the operator to load velostat containers of bulk powder in a secondary barricade which is then automatically transferred to the powder feeder bowl after the outside door is closed. Once the first powder is load is complete, the charge is usually consolidated lightly and the column height or weight of the powder can be verified if necessary. 

The process of loading, consolidating and checking can be repeated at the second set of stations if required. Once all of the powder is loaded the final heavy consolidation is done. The final column height can be measured accurately at this time if required. The Header S/A is then transferred to the can and good parts are typically loaded either into tubes or onto a vibratory inline feeder for transport to a can welding machine. Reject parts are unloaded at another station and placed into an appropriate explosive material container.