Key Technology, a member of the Duravant family of operating companies, introduces its reversible Zephyr conveyor. Achieving higher capacities than other horizontal-motion conveyors, Zephyr gently moves product with minimal bounce to protect product quality and reduce noise. Now equipped to flow in either direction, the reversible Zephyr maximizes production line versatility while improving sanitation and minimizing maintenance.
 
 “We’ve made design changes to our field-proven Zephyr to expand its capabilities and meet the needs of even more food processors. Previously, if customers needed to redirect a product stream, they had two options – diverter gates and reversible belt conveyors – both of which have more moving parts that require additional cleaning and service,” said Rudy Sanchez, Process Systems product development manager at Key. “The new modified Zephyr offers the same simple design, great sanitation and low maintenance as our standard model but now with a reversible function.”
 
The reversible Zephyr is ideal for frozen bulk foods including potato products, fruits, vegetables, meat and poultry, as well as dry products like potato chips/crisps, nuts and cereals. Zephyr’s unique motion profile gently slides and conveys product with no segregation or stratification, and it reduces product damage and the loss of coatings such as seasoning, batter and certain types of oil. The Zephyr offers up to twice the throughput of other horizontal-motion conveyors, while limiting noise to 75 decibels or less.
 
 When integrated with pneumatic controls on the production floor, the reversible Zephyr allows processors to change direction of product flow with either the push of a button or automatically if fully integrated with the line. Reversible Zephyr can be configured to separate a single product stream to two side-by-side machines or even divert a single stream to two different downstream production lines to produce different products.
 
Zephyr’s robust construction helps maximize sanitation, ease cleaning and reduce maintenance. Its easy to maintain drive system requires no timing set up and can be located in any position below the bed to support seamless integration with other equipment in the line.
 
 With a bed width and length can be tailored for individual customer applications, Zephyr can be equipped with a variety of options including slide gates for scale feed distribution, a discharge to enhance multi-head weighing or a bias to spread product when feeding downstream systems. It can also be configured with a stop-start mode for scale feeding or product distribution. Zephyr easily accommodates varying product flow rates, maximizing the flexibility of the system to meet a broad range of customer requirements.
 
 
About Key Technology, Inc.
Key Technology is a global leader in the design and manufacture of automation systems including digital sorters, conveyors and other processing equipment. Applying processing knowledge and application expertise, Key helps customers in the food processing and other industries improve quality, increase yield and reduce cost. Key manufactures its products in Walla Walla, Washington, USA; Redmond, Oregon, USA; and in Beusichem, the Netherlands. Key’s USA facilities are certified to the ISO 9001:2015 standard. Key offers customer demonstration and testing services at five locations including Walla Walla and Beusichem as well as Hasselt, Belgium; Sacramento, California, USA; and Melbourne, Australia; and maintains a sales and service office in Santiago de Queretaro, Mexico. Key is a Duravant Company.