TERMINOLOGY GLOSSARY
Auger & Screw Flight
The language around auger manufacturing isn’t consistent across industries, which makes specifying a part harder than it needs to be. Here’s what we mean by the terms we use.
AUGER / SCREW FLIGHT / FLIGHTING
The helical blade that does the conveying. It’s the core of every auger we build. The three terms are used interchangeably, depending on the industry.
ATEX
European certification for equipment used where explosive atmospheres can form, including fine powders like flour and milk powder.
BRIDGING
When a product locks up above the auger and stops flowing. Common with fine powders and a frequent reason a line underperforms, often solved with auger geometry and/or accessories.
CIP: clean-in-place
Systems designed to be cleaned without being taken apart. Standard practice in food and pharmaceutical production.
CONTINUOUS FLIGHT
Flighting formed as a single continuous helix rather than assembled from segments.
DOSING AUGER
An auger sized and pitched to deliver a controlled quantity per rotation, used in filling and packaging. Also called a volumetric filler.
HAND OF ROTATION
Whether the helix turns clockwise or anticlockwise. Right-hand and left-hand flights aren’t interchangeable. Getting this wrong on a replacement means the part moves product the wrong way.
HYGIENIC OR SANITARY FINISH
A smooth, cleanable finish with no crevices for product or bacteria to lodge in. It’s what separates food-grade work from general industrial flighting.
PITCH
The distance between one turn of the flight and the next, measured along the shaft. Pitch controls how much product moves per rotation. Changing it changes throughput and flow dynamics.
SEGMENTED FLIGHT
Flighting made by butt-welding individually formed segments along a shaft. It’s the common, general-purpose method and it’s how most industrial flighting is produced.