Editor's Choice


Thor’s hammer of pneumatic knockers

November 2023 Editor's Choice Pneumatics & Hydraulics

Neu Matics specialises in the design and installation of pneumatic control systems and the manufacture of cylinders and control panels. The company offers services ranging from pneumatic logic system and PLC design, to technical advice on all aspects of pneumatics, including bus electronics. It also acts as sole distributor for a range of internationally recognised brands, and one of these is the pneumatic knocker from singold, a specialist in material flow solutions with over 50 years experience in bulk material technology.


Pneumatic knockers are a type of cylinder that delivers a knock or impact at variable intervals in order to make bulk materials flow better. They are used on containers and silos with material flow problems such as residue buildup, where high-speed vibrators or shakers with soft sinusoidal oscillations are not effective. They reliably remove product residues, caking, and shaft and bridge buildups in a wide variety of manufacturing applications. They are effective, reliable and inexpensive.

What are the advantages of pneumatic knockers?

Have you ever walked through your plant and seen impact marks on cyclones, bins or silos? In all those cases where the flow of material was restarted with a hammer blow, a pneumatic knocker could have been used more efficiently and with less impact on the material. Unlike shakers, vibrators, and even interval knockers, a pneumatic magnetic system knocker can knock on demand, whenever it is needed.

This provides the following advantages:

• For some products, constant knocking tends to condense the material flow rather than promote it. A single, targeted blow is much more effective here than a vibrator.

• Well-directed knocking contributes to noise protection in the factory.

• The impact from the singold knocker only generates a vibration with a large amplitude and does not go through any self-resonance. In contrast to vibrators, this protects the container and the knocker in the best possible way.

• Compressed air consumption is reduced.

• There is no imbalance as with vibrators.

The knocker generates a shock that causes the container wall to vibrate in a decaying manner. The number of vibrations is lower than when using shakers and vibrators, and therefore the risk of vibration cracks is also lower.

To achieve this, there is a magnet inside the knocker. When the pressure of the supplied compressed air overcomes the holding force of the magnet, the knocker is triggered, accelerated very strongly by the compressed air. It strikes the impact pin with great force, which transfers the impact to the container wall. It is operated with a three/two-way valve so that the pressure chamber of the pneumatic magnetic system knocker can be vented. A spring pushes the impact piston back to its original position, and the knocker is then ready for the next application.

The singold pneumatic knocker is low wear, durable and easy to maintain. It also consumes considerably less energy than an interval knocker. Weighing systems for metering operations are also less stressed with a pneumatic knocker than with a vibrator. This reduces the risk of wear-related damage.

What makes singold’s pneumatic knocker so special?

In no performance class is there a more efficient or more powerful pneumatic knocker than the singold pneumatic knocker. Thanks to its ingenious design, the singold pneumatic magnetic knocker produces the greatest possible impact with the lowest possible dead weight.


Credit(s)



Share this article:
Share via emailShare via LinkedInPrint this page

Further reading:

Machine health monitoring with ifm
ifm - South Africa Editor's Choice IT in Manufacturing
With ifm’s machine health monitoring, early signs of wear can be detected and unexpected failures prevented. Combined with equipment preventive maintenance software, interventions can be scheduled proactively to avoid costly downtime.

Read more...
Powering Africa’s sustainable mining
VEGA Controls SA Editor's Choice Level Measurement & Control
At the 2026 Mining Indaba in Cape Town, one theme rises above all others, progress through precision. For VEGA, a global leader in process instrumentation, this mission aligns perfectly with its core purpose, which is turning measurement into meaningful progress.

Read more...
PCS Global delivers turnkey MCC installation in Botswana
PCS Global Editor's Choice PLCs, DCSs & Controllers
PCS Global is delivering a turnkey containerised MCC installation for a major copper mining operation in Northwest Botswana.

Read more...
SEW-EURODRIVE transforms drivetrain uptime
SEW-EURODRIVE Editor's Choice Motion Control & Drives
The DriveRadar IoT Suite from SEW-Eurodrive is an ideal solution for industrial condition monitoring. This powerful ecosystem of intelligent sensors, edge devices and cloud-based analytics ensures that customers have full visibility and control of their operations.

Read more...
PC-based control for flat wire motors for electric vehicles
Beckhoff Automation Editor's Choice Motion Control & Drives
Special machine manufacturer, ruhlamat Huarui Automation Technologies has unveiled the second generation of its mass production line for flexible stators with bar winding (pins). This enables an extremely short production cycle and line changeover times, supported by PC- and EtherCAT-based control technology from Beckhoff.

Read more...
Heavy impact, smart control
Axiom Hydraulics Editor's Choice Pneumatics & Hydraulics
Every now and then a project lands on your desk that’s equal parts heavy machinery and fine control - a tantalising mix for any engineer. A client approached Axiom Hydraulics with a project exactly like this.

Read more...
Pneumatics makes a technological leap with the proportional valve terminal
Festo South Africa Editor's Choice Motion Control & Drives
Festo continually makes bold technological leaps to keep pace with global advancements. Controlled Pneumatics is redefining the boundaries of compressed air technology to meet the demands of today’s most advanced applications.

Read more...
Driving fluid power forward
Editor's Choice News
The National Fluid Power Association is developing its latest Industrial Technology Roadmap for 2025, showing how hydraulics and pneumatics are changing to meet new industrial demands.

Read more...
World’s hottest engine
Editor's Choice Motion Control & Drives
Scientists have built the world’s smallest engine. It’s also the world’s hottest. It could provide an unparalleled understanding of the laws of thermodynamics on a small scale, and provide the foundation for a new, efficient way to compute how proteins fold.

Read more...
PC-based control optimises robotic parts handling on plastics machinery
Beckhoff Automation Editor's Choice Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
NEO is a cartesian robot developed by INAUTOM Robótica in Portugal for parts removal on plastics machinery. Its aim is to increase system productivity. NAUTOM Robótica has entered into a strategic partnership with Bresimar Automação to increase the working speed of the cartesian robots using advanced control and motion solutions from Beckhoff. The result is a comprehensive, future-proof automation solution for its entire family of cartesian robots.

Read more...









While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained herein, the publisher and its agents cannot be held responsible for any errors contained, or any loss incurred as a result. Articles published do not necessarily reflect the views of the publishers. The editor reserves the right to alter or cut copy. Articles submitted are deemed to have been cleared for publication. Advertisements and company contact details are published as provided by the advertiser. Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd cannot be held responsible for the accuracy or veracity of supplied material.




© Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd | All Rights Reserved