 Bridge Breaker® Material Flow Aids
Bridge Breaker®
Design covered by U.S. and International Patents
Operation
An expanded metal screen is mounted inside of and
parallel to the hopper wall. The shaker supported frame is rigidly mounted
to the screen through the use of two bolt and spacer assemblies. The bolts
pass through elastomer sealing mounts which permit the screen to be actuated
externally by the shaker assembly. A support bar welded to the hopper supports
the shaker reaction spring and shaker assembly. The shaker which is air operated
imparts a thrusting action to the screen with an amplitude (typically ±1/8”)
which is effective in shearing or under-cutting material producing gravity
flow. Quiet operation is assured.
Typical Installation
 Bridge Breaker single material
flow aids or multiple
material flow aids can be used in common bins and chutes to prevent
formation of ratholes or material bridging. Larger
installation commonly require more than one flow aid, staggered in
mounting height around the circumference of the outlet. Activation can
be sequenced to create maximum, cascading effect.
THAYER Bridge Breaker® flow aids are custom manufactured to meet a particular bin configuration, type of material, or unique installation
application. Bridge Breaker Screens come in a number of different configurations.
Bridge Breaker® Controller (BBC)
 Thayer’s Bridge Breaker® Controller (BBC) is a self-contained unit capable of operating a variety of Flow Aid devices (FADs) for the purpose of insuring material flows freely thru a hopper, bin or silo even at variable flow rates. It can control various devices such as Thayer’s Bridge Breaker®, electric or pneumatic vibrators, Air Cannons, Air Pads, or combinations thereof.
An advantage of Thayer’s BBC is the ability to finely control the ON/OFF time of the FADs. In particular, the BBC has the ability to be synchronized with a measurement of the outgoing material flow rate from a feeder or metering device. This way, the FADs are activated only as often as is necessary. Using a FAD too often can cause problems with the material discharge as well as being a tremendous waste of energy. The BBC can also tie (link) channels together, which allows cascading of the FADs to effectively and efficiently keep the material moving.
A single Bridge Breaker® Controller contains four separate channels and each channel is capable of controlling up to two solenoid operated air valves, each of which can operate one or two Bridge Breaker® screens or other Flow Aid Devices.
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