Flexible Conveyors

Flexible Conveyors


It is usually anchored at one end to fixed gravity or automated conveyor, allowing the other end to be expanded out and flexed into trailers for more efficient loading and unloading. It is used extensively in shipping/receiving operations for package handling.
Advantages
Portable, expandable and easy to use.
Expands and contracts to suit applications
Flexibility around obstacles
Extremely mobile
It provides flexible tool around production and despatch areas.
It is an ideal tool for temporary packing or manufacturing operations.

Sortation Conveyors

Sortation Conveyors

Used for merging, identifying, inducting, and separating products to be conveyed to specific destinations

1) Diverter


It has stationary or movable arms that deflect, push, or pull a product to desired destination
It is usually hydraulically or pneumatically operated, but also can be motor driven
Advantages: Simple and low cost




2) Pop-up device

It uses one or more rows of powered rollers/wheels/chains that pop up above surface of conveyor to lift product and guide it off the conveyor at an angle;wheels are lowered when products not required to be diverted
It is only capable of sorting flat-bottomed items

3) Sliding shoe device

Sliding shoe sorter (a.k.a. moving slat sorter) uses a series of diverter slats that slide across the horizontal surface to engage product and guide it off conveyor.

The slats move from side to side as product flows in order to divert the product to either side.
It requires gentle and gradual handling of the products

4) Tilting device



Trays or slats provide combined sorting mechanism and product transporter. It can accommodate elevation changes. It is usually designed in continuous loops with a compact layout and recirculation of products that are not sorted for the first time. It also carry products on flat-surface slat conveyor and can handle wider variety of products compared to tilt tray.

Trolley Conveyors

Trolley Conveyors

Uses a series of trolleys supported from or within an overhead track

Trolleys are equally spaced in a closed loop path and are suspended from a chain

Carriers are used to carry multiple units of product

Does not provide for accumulation

Commonly used in processing, assembly, packaging, and storage operations

Vertical Conveyors

Vertical Conveyors

It is used for low-frequency intermittent vertical transfers (vertical chain conveyor can be used for continuous high-frequency vertical transfers. Carrier used to raise or lower a load to different levels of a facility (e.g., different floors and/or mezzanines).

It can also be manually or automatically loaded and/or controlled and can interface with horizontal conveyors

1) Vertical Lift Conveyor

Advantages
It can transport goods up or down; throughputs up to 30cpm (cycles per minute)
Minimal footprint and very quiet.

Disadvantages
Complex in-feed synchronization
Needs accumulation
More expensive than reciprocating vertical conveyors.

2) Reciprocating Vertical Conveyor





It utilizes gravity-actuated carrier to lowering loads, where the load overcomes the magnitude of a counterweight. It can only be used to lower a load.
An alternative to a chute conveyor for vertical "drops" when load is fragile and/or space is limited. It can be manually or automatically loaded and/or controlled and can interface with horizontal conveyors

Advantages
up or down or dual cycle
multiple cartons per lift
very quiet and lower cost compared to vertical conveyors

Disadvantages
Limited throughputs depending on height of conveying distance; and
It must accumulate prior to in-feed.

Pneumatic Conveyors

Pneumatic Conveyor

It can be used for both bulk and unit movement of materials. Air pressure is used to convey materials through a system of vertical and horizontal tubes and its major advantages are that material is completely enclosed and is easy to implement turns and vertical moves.

Products are moved through various tubes via air pressure, allowing for extra vertical versatility. Pneumatic conveyors are either carrier systems or dillute-phase systems; carrier systems simply push items from one entry point to one exit point. Dillute-phase systems use push/pull pressure to guide materials through various entry and/or exit points.

1) Dilute-Phase Pneumatic Conveyor

Dilute Phase pneumatic conveying utilizes a high volume of low pressure or vacuum air to move powdered and granular bulk materials through an enclosed convey line. The high velocity air flow moves materials through the convey line in an airborne state.

Dilute Phase pneumatic conveying is extremely cost-effective and is suitable for handling non-abrasive, non-fragile and light-weight materials.

2) Carrier-System Pneumatic Conveyor

Carriers are used to transport items or paperwork