Screens · Built in-house
Glass Breaker Screen
Deliberately breaks and removes glass at the front of the single-stream line — before it embeds in fiber and downgrades every bale that follows.
The Sherbrooke OEM glass breaker screen is a double-deck disc screen using heavy steel triangular discs to break glass containers and pass the shards out of the stream early on single-stream lines. Discs are 12 in diameter by 3/4 in thick steel; shaft speed is VFD-adjustable around an engineering default of 213 RPM. The frame is a machined, bolted channel stringer for high-precision shaft mounting, with removable 3/8 in C-shaped sidewall plates for service access. Sized per project and fabricated in Sherbrooke, Quebec.
Where It Fits
- Early on single-stream container/fiber lines — removing glass before it embeds in paper
- Ahead of optical sorters and fiber screens whose products glass would contaminate
- MSW lines recovering a clean glass-rich fines fraction
Configuration & Options
Every unit is engineered per project — these are the configuration choices and options we quote against, not limits.
| Decks | 1 to 3 — per application and throughput |
|---|---|
| Width | Commonly around 72 in — per throughput |
| Length | Per project; engineering default two banks of shafts |
| Screen cut | Glass-rich fines cut engineered per project |
| Speed | VFD-adjustable; engineering default around 213 RPM |
| Wear plate | Optional CHT liners on chutes and impact zones |
Construction
| Discs | Steel triangular discs — 12 in diameter x 3/4 in thick |
|---|---|
| Frame | Channel stringer, machined and bolted for high-precision shaft mounting |
| Sidewalls | 3/8 in C-shaped removable plates |
| Drive | Shaft-mount speed reducer (Dodge Torque-Arm II or equal); synchronous belt-and-sprocket shaft drive |
| V-belts | Banded V-belts, minimum safety factor 1.5 |
| Bearings | Flange bearings (Dodge Imperial IP or equal) |
| Guarding | All rotating parts guarded to OSHA requirements |
| Supports | Bolted structural steel, braced and mechanically anchored |
Glass Breaker Screen — Frequently Asked Questions
Why break glass on purpose?
Because unbroken glass travels with the fiber and containers, breaking unpredictably along the line and embedding in paper. Breaking it early at a controlled point sends the shards out as a glass-rich fines fraction and protects the quality of every product downstream.
How does the cut point get adjusted?
Disc spacing sets the opening and shaft speed tunes how aggressively material is agitated; speed is VFD-adjustable from the control panel. The base geometry is engineered per project.
What keeps stringy material from wrapping the shafts?
Triangular discs lift and tumble the stream rather than letting it ride a smooth roll, and tight disc spacing leaves little open shaft. Wrap-prone streams can also be argued onto a finger screen instead — that choice is made at pre-design.
Need dimensions, capacity, or a budget price?
Send your material profile and layout — engineering answers with real numbers, from the team that will fabricate it in Sherbrooke.
Talk to Engineering