Helix^® Flexible Screw Conveyor

The Best Value in Bulk Material Handling.

Flexible screw conveyors have been used in the dry processing industry for decades. This reliable, simple and low-maintenance bulk material handling equipment uses a single moving part to effectively convey dry material from one point to another. These conveyors are also known for their versatility, allowing for horizontal, vertical, and degreed-bend applications.

• Engineered for batch, intermittent and continuous conveying of bulk materials. Flexible screw conveyors are an economical solution for conveying powders, crystals, pellets, friable material, flakes, granules and much more.
• Convey horizontally or vertically with a flexible outer tubing and auger that allow for easy maneuvering into elevated hoppers and bending around obstacles.
• Fewer components minimize maintenance. The simple operation of a helicoid screw rotating inside a fixed tube keeps costs low, reliability high.
• Rugged construction. Though not recommended, the Helix’s standard stainless steel construction can stand up to a continuous flow of abrasive materials (carbon steel and polyethylene models are also available).
• Convey materials over distances up to 80 ft (24.4 m) and discharge heights up to 40 ft (12.2 m). An optional mobile base provides a discharge height of 12 ft (3.66 m).
• Easy to clean. Flexible screw conveyors can be disassembled in 5 minutes for thorough washdowns.

Versatile, economical conveying systems shipped in 48 hours or less.

We designed our Hapman Helix Flexible Screw Conveyors to provide customers with an economical conveying method that can be used for most types of dry material handling applications. Best of all, Hapman Helix Flexible Screw Conveyors can be selected, ordered, and shipped in 48 hours or less with our Quick Ship program (applies to standard Helix Flexible Screw Conveyors only).

The Flexible Screw Conveyor Operation

Flexible screw conveyor operation begins when product enters the sealed tube as the auger rotates (the shape, design style, size, and length of the auger are factors selected for each specific bulk material handling application). Flexible screw conveyors are typically mounted to a hopper for easy loading of material. A single motor drives the auger rotation, which pulls the material through the enclosed tube. The helicoid design of the auger effectively conveys a wide range of materials from powder, to granular, to larger particles.

The Hapman Helix a good conveying option when your application requires:

• Low cost
• Low maintenance
• Capacity ranging from 15 ft3/hr to 1800 ft3/hr
• Gentle product handling
• Easy cleanability
• Total containment
• Dust-free operation
• Constant remixing

• Flexible screw conveyors economically convey bulk powders and solids up to 25 cfm (.708cmm)
• Exclusive T-handle couplings allow conveyor to be disassembled in minutes for cleaning and maintenance
• Quick Release options (Inlet Clamp, Agitator Design with Air Purge Seal, Discharge T Handle and Drive Box) allow for easy cleaning and product changeover
• Fits under low ceilings

Hapman Helix Flexible Screw Conveyors come in many standard sizes to meet your bulk material handling needs. Ranging in capacity from 15 cfh to 1800 cfh with the ability to move material up to 80 ft, Helix Flexible Screw Conveyors are versatile, cost-effective, and easy to clean.

• Designed for batch or intermittent and continuous bulk material handling and conveying
• Several auger types and multiple conveyor casing sizes available for optimum conveying and control
• Standard models are available with your choice of hoppers: stainless steel or lightweight, easy-to-maintain polyethylene

Sanitary and FDA/USDA Compliant Helix Flexible Screw Conveyors

Sanitary-grade bulk material handling equipment and components for safe and efficient conveying.

We have a broad range of options for our Helix Flexible Screw Conveyors when your material handling operation must meet certain sanitary requirements. With bulk dairy powders or other food grade product that has the potential to get stuck or trapped in conveying systems, our sanitary features will comply with FDA and USDA conveying and cleaning guidelines to keep your facility food-safe and regulation compliant.

• 150-180 grit finish on all contact areas
• Diameters available up to 6 inches
• Lengths available up to 30 feet
• Discharge rates up to 10 CFM

Access internal conveying components quickly and easily. Quick-release Tri-Clamp connectors let you dismantle the conveyor without tools so it’s 100% open for cleaning or maintenance in a few minutes.

Meet dairy-grade standards on all product contact surfaces. With our Helix Flexible Screw Conveyors, we are the industry’s only conveying systems manufacturer listed by the USDA for Dairy Grading applications.

Sanitize all conveying components to your stringent regulations.

Helix Quick Ship Program

Our Quick Ship program for standard Helix Flexible Screw Conveyors includes unit selection, ordering and shipping in 48 hours or less. Convey 0.5 to 1.5 ft3/min. in a completely enclosed conveyor.

Hi/Lo Helix Flexible Screw Conveyors

The Hi/Lo Helix conveyor tilts down easily for efficient batch changes and cleaning without ladders, lifts, or a maintenance crew. The switch-operated electric motor gives one operator the ability to simply and easily lower the conveyor, remove the auger, and change it or clean it. This ergonomic design keeps workers safely at ground level while providing maximum conveying options.

Efficient Changeover – Increase production time with quick batch changeovers

Easy to Clean – Reduce costs through efficient cleaning tear down time

Cost-Effective – Minimize equipment expenditures with a mobile option that can be moved to point-of-use

Horizontal Push Helix Flexible Screw Conveyors

Your best choice for controlled flow of bulk material.

When your bulk material handling needs require a controlled flow without measured output, Horizontal Push Helix Flexible Screw Conveyors are well suited for your needs. Our engineers developed this economical bulk material handling equipment in response to a growing industry demand for simple, easy-to-use conveying systems that reliably transfer product from one location to another.

Horizontal Push Helix Flexible Screw Conveyors reduce instantaneous material load, thus avoiding potential material clogging or back-up. These conveyors also allow for gradually introduced product into a feed line or other production equipment.

• Designed for applications where a controlled material feed without a measured output requirement is ideal
• Auger sizes range from 2.5” to 8”, carbon steel, UHWM (FDA), polyethylene, or stainless steel
• 20:1 turn down ratio
• Economical, various models available for Quick Ship; 5 days or less

Custom Push Helix 600 Series Flexible Screw Conveyors

Helix 600 Series Flexible Screw Conveyors are suited for quickly and effectively emptying storage totes or intermediate bulk containers (IBCs). The Tri-clover inlet connection is housed under a protective cover that slides to the side when the conveyor is in use. The inlet is designed to mate with the discharge valve of the tote or IBC, signaling the valve actuator to open the valve. As the valve opens, bulk material is automatically discharged into the conveyor, which delivers the product or ingredients to another conveyor, a mixing station, extruder, packaging line, or other process-related area.

• Fully automated
• Sanitary design
• Capable of discharging up to 8ft3/min
• Suitable for any industry or application where material needs to be discharged from small storage totes

Hapman offers a wide range of auger styles and sizes to fit in flexible screw conveyor casings 2-8” in diameter (5.08-20.32 cm). Each auger is specifically engineered to effectively move product depending on material type and operating conditions. Our application and engineering team will work with you to determine the best auger for your application.

• Flat Wire: Works well with fine powders; provides the highest conveyor capacity
• Bevel Edge: Use to transport sticky material
• Heavy-Duty Square: For heavy, abrasive material
• Round Wire: Best for granular materials such as salt or sugar

A wide range of conveying options and layouts.

Our Helix Flexible Screw Conveyors are available with a several options for easy implementation into specific plant applications. Food grade, dairy grade, stainless steel hopper, TEFC motors, and portable units are available upon request.

The Helix is available in many configuration types.

Additional detailed options:

Mobile base lets you use one conveyor in multiple locations

Ribbon agitators keep high-moisture or sluggish materials flowing

Right angle drive reduces necessary headroom

Minimize material flowback with optional UHMW-PE center core

A range of hoppers in standard and custom sizes as well as flanged inlets; mass-flow hoppers available.

Vibrator with standoff

Conical hopper

Loss-In-Weight (LIW) Helix Flexible Screw Conveyors are fully automated dosing systems that allow for batching material. The Integral load cells indicate when volume is within 5 lbs of set maximum by slowing flow. The conveyor will shut down within +/- 1 lb of the maximum volume set point.

Conveyor Paths

A number of conveyor paths are available to ensure your material gets to where it needs to go. Combination paths are possible.

Product Specifications

Stainless Steel Finishes

Standard Finish

Surface Finish Specification

• All metal surfaces to have primary mill finish as rolled, drawn, or formed
• Edges deburred

Weld Finish Specification

• Free of splatter
• Free of discoloration (stainless steel surfaces)
• Light clean up and wire brush
• The weld when finished is not necessarily flush, ripple, or crevice free

Food Grade Finish

Surface Finish Specification

• Sheet metal (to 10 ga.) to have 2B mill finish and free of scratches and cracks
• All other metal surfaces (i.e. plate, structural, machined, cast, etc.) to be polished to a 120 grit finish and all scratches removed. Pull clamps, bolts, nuts, roll pins, keys, etc. not polished
• Grain direction to be indiscriminate
• Edges deburred

Weld Finish Specification

• Welds continuous unless otherwise noted
• Free of cracks, spatter and discoloration
• Weld ground with 120 grit abrasive to smooth entire weld and is crevice free
• Weld is not necessarily ripple free, flush or blended with base metal surrounding the weld

Sanitary Finish

Surface Finish Specification

• All metal surfaces polished to a 150-grit finish and all scratches removed
• Pull clamps, bolts, nuts, roll pins, keys, etc. not polished
• Grain direction to be indiscriminate
• Edges deburred

Weld Finish Specification

• Welds continuous unless otherwise noted
• Free of cracks, spatter, ripple and discoloration
• Weld when finished will contain no bead left around the weld and will be flush and blended with base metal surrounding the weld. In corners the weld will be radiused and blended into base metal.

Helix Application Examples

Helix Flexible Screw Conveyors can be used in many applications. Here are just a few examples of how the Helix keeps material moving effectively and maintains a safe, clean, and dust-free plant.

Popcorn Packaging Line – A Hapman P300 Helix conveyor is used to refill a Hapman supplied holding hopper above our customer’s popcorn packaging line. This conveyor is serving as an intermittent refill device, sized to stay ahead of the packaging line and refilling to a high-level sensor in the holding hopper as needed. This is a 3” conveyor and the refill rate is about 600 lbs/hour. Material conveyed is salt and popcorn, individually, not as a mix.

Salt Pellet Conveying – A food manufacturing company wanted to provide a way for their employees to feed their water softener tanks with salt pellets. The bags weigh about 80 lbs and the tank height is over 5 feet. Our portable 4” Helix flexible screw conveyor dumps the salt pellets into the conveyor hopper at floor level and can be rolled around for use at different tanks.

Building Material Conveying – A roofing manufacturer in Georgia needed a way to convey different color roofing granules weighing about 120 lbs/cubic ft into their mixer. We provided a flexible screw conveyor to feed the mixer, unload the mixer, and send reclaimed product back into the mixer to help minimize product loss. These are 3” conveyors with stainless steel tubes and a heavy-duty square bar auger. The roof granules weighed about 120 lbs/cubic ft.

Industrial Material Conveying – A tire manufacturer needed a way to convey bulk material from their in-house silos to a common batch hopper. We provided our series 600 (6” diameter) Helix flexible screw conveyors with stainless steel components, complete with butterfly valves located at the conveyor discharge. Each of the conveyors would batch a set amount of ingredients required for making the tires into a common hopper. The average bulk material handling rate for these conveyors was about 6-8 cubic ft per minute. The materials conveyed included Tio2, Zinc Oxide, Carbon black, and Calcium Carbonate.

Product Brochure
Product Brochure: Helix Flexible Screw Conveyor

Application Review
Application Review: Snack Food Producer with One Conveyor for Many Jobs – Portable Hi/Lo Helix® Flexible Screw Conveying System

Case Studies
Case Study: Aluminum Casting Helix
Case Study: Food Processing Helix
Case Study: Group Packing Helix

White Papers
White Paper: Bulk Chemical Powders
White Paper: Conveyor Selection
White Paper: Flex Screw Specification