Conveyor system - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

This article is about conveyor systems. For information on conveyor belts, see conveyor belts. For information on overhead conveyors, see overhead conveyors.

A conveyor system is a common piece of mechanical handling equipment that moves materials from one location to another. Conveyors are especially useful in applications involving the transportation of heavy or bulky materials. Conveyor systems allow quick and efficient transportation for a wide variety of materials, which make them very popular in the material handling

Material handling

-Material Handling Industry:Material Handling is the movement, storage, control and protection of materials, goods and products throughout the process of manufacturing, distribution, consumption and disposal. The focus is on the methods, mechanical equipment, systems and related controls used to...

and packaging industries
. Many kinds of conveying systems are available, and are used according to the various needs of different industries. There are chain conveyors (floor and overhead) as well. Chain conveyors consist of enclosed tracks, I-Beam, towline, power & free, and hand pushed trolleys.

Industries that use conveyor systems

Conveyor systems are used widespread across a range of industries due to the numerous benefits they provide.

Conveyors are able to safely transport materials from one level to another, which when done by human labor would be strenuous and expensive.
They can be installed almost anywhere, and are much safer than using a forklift or other machine to move materials.
They can move loads of all shapes, sizes and weights. Also, many have advanced safety features that help prevent accidents.
There are a variety of options available for running conveying systems, including the hydraulic, mechanical and fully automated systems, which are equipped to fit individual needs.

Conveyor systems are commonly used in many industries, including the automotive

Automotive industry

The automotive industry designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells motor vehicles, and is one of the world's most important economic sectors by revenue....

, agricultural, computer

Computer industry

Computer industry is a collective term used to describe the whole range of businesses involved in developing computer software, designing computer hardware and computer networking infrastructures, the manufacture of computer components and the provision of information technology services.-See...

, electronic, food processing

Food processing

Food processing is the set of methods and techniques used to transform raw ingredients into food or to transform food into other forms for consumption by humans or animals either in the home or by the food processing industry...

, aerospace

Aerospace

Aerospace comprises the atmosphere of Earth and surrounding space. Typically the term is used to refer to the industry that researches, designs, manufactures, operates, and maintains vehicles moving through air and space...

, pharmaceutical, chemical

Chemical industry

The chemical industry comprises the companies that produce industrial chemicals. Central to the modern world economy, it converts raw materials into more than 70,000 different products.-Products:...

, bottling and canning, print finishing and packaging. Although a wide variety of materials can be conveyed, some of the most common include food items such as beans and nuts, bottles and cans, automotive components, scrap metal, pills and powders, wood and furniture and grain and animal feed. Many factors are important in the accurate selection of a conveyor system. It is important to know how the conveyor system will be used beforehand. Some individual areas that are helpful to consider are the required conveyor operations, such as transportation, accumulation and sorting, the material sizes, weights and shapes and where the loading and pickup points need to be.

Care and maintenance of conveyor systems

A conveyor system is often the lifeline to a company’s ability to effectively move its product in a timely fashion. The steps that a company can take to ensure that it performs at peak capacity, include regular inspections, close monitoring of motors and reducers, keeping key parts in stock, and proper training of personnel.

Increasing the service life of your conveyor system involves: choosing the right conveyor type, the right system design and paying attention to regular maintenance practices.

A conveyor system that is designed properly will last a long time with proper maintenance. Here are six of the biggest problems to watch for in overhead type conveyor systems including I-beam monorails, enclosed track conveyors and power and free conveyors.

Poor take-up adjustment: This is a simple adjustment on most systems yet it is often overlooked. The chain take-up device ensures that the chain is pulled tight as it leaves the drive unit. As wear occurs and the chain lengthens, the take-up extends under the force of its springs. As they extend, the spring force becomes less and the take-up has less effect. Simply compress the take-up springs and your problem goes away. Failure to do this can result in chain surging, jamming, and extreme wear on the track and chain. Take-up adjustment is also important for any conveyor using belts as a means to power rollers, or belts themselves being the mover. With poor-take up on belt-driven rollers, the belt may twist into the drive unit and cause damage, or at the least a noticeable decrease or complete loss of performance may occur. In the case of belt conveyors, a poor take-up may cause drive unit damage or may let the belt slip off of the side of the chassis.

Lack of lubrication: Chain bearings require lubrication in order to reduce friction. The chain pull that the drive experiences can double if the bearings are not lubricated. This can cause the system to overload by either its mechanical or electrical overload protection. On conveyors that go through hot ovens, lubricators can be left on constantly or set to turn on every few cycles.

Contamination: Paint, powder, acid or alkaline fluids, abrasives, glass bead, steel shot, etc. can all lead to rapid deterioration of track and chain. Ask any bearing company about the leading cause of bearing failure and they will point to contamination. Once a foreign substance lands on the raceway of a bearing or on the track, pitting of the surface will occur, and once the surface is compromised, wear will accelerate. Building shrouds around your conveyors can help prevent the ingress of contaminants. Or, pressurize the contained area using a simple fan and duct arrangement. Contamination can also apply to belts (causing slippage, or in the case of some materials premature wear), and of the motors themselves. Since the motors can generate a considerable amount of heat, keeping the surface clean is an almost-free maintenance procedure that can keep heat from getting trapped by dust and grime, which may lead to motor burnout.

Product Handling: In conveyor systems that may be suited for a wide variety of products, such as those in distribution centers, it is important that each new product be deemed acceptable for conveying before being run through the materials handling equipment. Boxes that are too small, too large, too heavy, too light, or too awkwardly shaped may not convey, or may cause many problems including jams, excess wear on conveying equipment, motor overloads, belt breakage, or other damage, and may also consume extra man-hours in terms of picking up cases that slipped between rollers, or damaged product that was not meant for materials handling. If a product such as this manages to make it through most of the system, the sortation system will most likely be the affected, causing jams and failing to properly place items where they are assigned. It should also be noted that any and all cartons handled on any conveyor should be in good shape or spills, jams, downtime, and possible accidents and injuries may result.

Drive Train: Notwithstanding the above, involving take-up adjustment, other parts of the drive train should be kept in proper shape. Broken O-rings on a Lineshaft, pneumatic parts in disrepair, and motor reducers should also be inspected. Loss of power to even one or a few rollers on a conveyor can mean the difference between effective and timely delivery, and repetitive nuances that can continually cost downtime.

Bad Belt Tracking or Timing: In a system that uses precisely controlled belts, such as a sorter system, regular inspections should be made that all belts are traveling at the proper speeds at all times. While usually a computer controls this with Pulse Position Indicators, any belt not controlled must be monitored to ensure accuracy and reduce the likelihood of problems. Timing is also important for any equipment that is instructed to precisely meter out items, such as a merge where one box pulls from all lines at one time. If one were to be mistimed, product would collide and disrupt operation. Timing is also important wherever a conveyor must "keep track" of where a box is, or improper operation will result.

Since a conveyor system is a critical link in a company’s ability to move its products in a timely fashion, any disruption of its operation can be costly. Most “downtime” can be avoided by taking steps to ensure a system operates at peak performance, including regular inspections, close monitoring of motors and reducers, keeping key parts in stock, and proper training of personnel.

Types of conveyor systems

Gravity roller conveyor
Gravity skatewheel conveyor
Belt conveyor
Wire mesh conveyors
Plastic belt conveyors
Bucket conveyors
Flexible conveyors
Vertical conveyors
Spiral conveyors
Vibrating conveyors
Pneumatic conveyors
Belt driven live roller conveyors
Lineshaft roller conveyor
Lineshaft roller conveyor
Lineshaft roller conveyors are, as their title suggests, powered via a shaft beneath the rollers. These conveyors are suitable for light applications up to 20 kg such as cardboard boxes and tote boxes....
Chain conveyor
Chain conveyor
A chain conveyor is a type of conveyor system for moving material through production lines.Chain conveyors utilize a powered continuous chain arrangement, carrying a series of single pendants. The chain arrangement is driven by a motor, and the material suspended on the pendants are conveyed...
Screw conveyor
Screw conveyor
A screw conveyor or auger conveyor is a mechanism that uses a rotating helical screw blade, called a "flighting", usually within a tube, to move liquid or granular materials. They are used in many bulk handling industries...
Chain driven live roller conveyor
Overhead conveyors
Dust proof conveyors
Pharmaceutical conveyors
Automotive conveyors

Pneumatic conveyor systems

Every pneumatic system, makes use of pipes or ducts called transportation lines that carry mixture of materials and a stream of air. These materials are such as dry pulverised or free flowing or light powdery materials like cement, fly ash

Fly ash

Fly ash is one of the residues generated in combustion, and comprises the fine particles that rise with the flue gases. Ash which does not rise is termed bottom ash. In an industrial context, fly ash usually refers to ash produced during combustion of coal...

etc. These materials can be transported conveniently to various destinations by means of a stream of high velocity air through pipe lines.
Products are moved through various tubes via air pressure, allowing for extra vertical versatility. Pneumatic conveyors are either carrier systems or dilute-phase systems; carrier systems simply push items from one entry point to one exit point, such as the money exchanging tubes used at a bank drive-thru

Drive-through

A drive-through, or drive-thru, is a type of service provided by a business that allows customers to purchase products without leaving their cars. The format was first pioneered in the United States in the 1930s but has since spread to other countries. The first recorded use of a bank using a drive...

window. Dillute-phase systems use push/pull pressure to guide materials through various entry and/or exit points.
Three basic systems that are used to generate high velocity air stream:
1. Suction or Vacuum systems:
utilizing a vacuum created in the pipeline to draw the material with the surrounding air.The system operated at a low pressure, which is practically 0.4-0.5 atm below atmosphere, and is utilized mainly in conveying light free flowing materials.
2. Pressure Type systems:
in which a positive pressure

Positive pressure

Positive pressure is a pressure within a system that is greater than the environment that surrounds that system. Consequently if there is any leak from the positively pressured system it will egress into the surrounding environment....

is used to push material from one point to the next. The system is ideal for conveying material from one loading point to a number of unloading points. It operates at a pressure of 6 atm and upwards.
3. Combination systems:
in which a suction system is used to convey material from a number of loading points and a pressure system is employed to deliver it to a number of unloading points.

Vibrating conveyor systems

A Vibrating Conveyor is a machine with a solid conveying surface which is turned up on the side to form a trough. They are used extensively in food grade applications where sanitation, washdown, and low maintenance are essential. Vibrating conveyors are also suitable for harsh, very hot, dirty, or corrosive environments. They can be used to convey newly cast metal parts which may reach upwards of 1500 °F (815.6 °C). Due to the fixed nature of the conveying pans vibrating conveyors can also perform tasks such as sorting, screening, classifying and orienting parts. Vibrating conveyors have been built to convey material at angles exceeding 45° from horizontal using special pan shapes. Flat pans will convey most materials at a 5° Incline from horizontal line.

Flexible conveyor systems

The flexible conveyor is based on a conveyor beam in aluminium

Aluminium

Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....

or stainless steel

Stainless steel

In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French "inoxydable", is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5 or 11% chromium content by mass....

, with low friction slide rails guiding a plastic multi-flexing chain. Products to be conveyed travel directly on the conveyor, or on pallets/carriers. These conveyors can be worked around obstacles and keep production lines flowing. They are made at varying levels and can work in multiple environments. They are used in food packaging, case packing, and pharmaceutical industries but also in retail stores such as Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...

and Kmart

Kmart

Kmart, sometimes styled as "K-Mart," is a chain of discount department stores. The chain acquired Sears in 2005, forming a new corporation under the name Sears Holdings Corporation. The company was founded in 1962 and is the third largest discount store chain in the world, behind Wal-Mart and...

Vertical conveyor systems and spiral conveyors

Vertical conveyor

A vertical conveyor is a machine which can be used to move products automatically from one level to another.In internal logistics, there are various ways for getting product flows up or down. A solution which is often used is the deployment of incline or lowering belts...

- also commonly referred to as freight lifts and material lifts - are conveyor systems used to raise or lower materials to different levels of a facility during the handling process. Examples of these conveyors applied in the industrial assembly process include transporting materials to different floors. While similar in look to freight elevators, vertical conveyors are not equipped to transport people, only materials.

Vertical lift conveyors contain two adjacent, parallel conveyors for simultaneous upward movement of adjacent surfaces of the parallel conveyors. One of the conveyors normally has spaced apart flites for transporting bulk food items. The dual conveyors rotate in opposite directions, but are operated from one gear box to insure equal belt speed. One of the conveyors is pivotally hinged to the other conveyor for swinging the pivotally attached conveyor away from the remaining conveyor for access to the facing surfaces of the parallel conveyors. Vertical lift conveyors can be manually or automatically loaded and controlled. Almost all vertical conveyors can be systematically integrated with horizontal conveyors, since both of these conveyor systems work in tandem to create a cohesive material handling assembly line.

In similarity to vertical conveyors, spiral conveyors raise and lower materials to different levels of a facility. In contrast, spiral conveyors are able to transport material loads in a continuous flow. Industries that require a higher output of materials - food and beverage, retail case packaging, pharmaceuticals - typically incorporate these conveyors into their systems over standard vertical conveyors due to their ability to facilitate high throughput. Most spiral conveyors also have a lower angle of incline or decline (11 degrees or less) to prevent sliding and tumbling during operation.
Just like spiral conveyors also a vertical conveyor

Vertical conveyor

that use forks are able to transport material loads in a continuous flow. With these forks the load can be taken from one horizontal conveyor and put down on another horizontal conveyor on a different level. By adding more forks more products can be lifted at the same time. Conventional vertical conveyors have the restriction that the input and output of material loads must have the same direction. By using forks many combinations of different input- and outputlevels in different directions are possible. A vertical conveyor with forks can even be used as a vertical sorter. Compared to a spiral conveyor a vertical conveyor - with or without forks - takes up less space.

Heavy duty roller conveyors

Heavy Duty roller conveyors are used for moving items that are at least 500 lbs. This type of conveyor makes the handling of such heavy equipment/products easier and more time effective. Many of the heavy duty roller conveyors can move as fast as 75 feet/minute.

Other types of heavy duty roller conveyors are gravity roller conveyor, chain driven live roller conveyor, pallet accumulation conveyor, multi-strand chain conveyor, and chain & roller transfers.

Gravity roller conveyors are extremly easy to use and are used in many different types of industries such as automotive and retail.

Chain driven live roller conveyors are used for single or bi-directional material handling. Large heavy loads are moved by chain driven live roller conveyors.

Pallet accumulation conveyors are powered through a mechanical clutch. This is used instead of individually powered and controlled sections of conveyors.

Multi-strand chain conveyors are used for double pitch roller chains. Products that can not be moved on traditional roller conveyors can be moved by a multi-strand chain conveyor.

Chain & roller conveyors are short runs of two or more strands of double pitch chain conveyor built into a chain driven line roller conveyor. These pop up under the load and move the load off of the conveyor.

Industries that use conveyor systems

Care and maintenance of conveyor systems

Types of conveyor systems

Pneumatic conveyor systems

Vibrating conveyor systems

Flexible conveyor systems

Vertical conveyor systems and spiral conveyors

Heavy duty roller conveyors

See also