Advantages of the hottest overhead conveyor system

Advantages of overhead conveyor system

one of the ways to expand the ground space of the factory is to raise the working height of the conveyor and keep it away from the passage. For example, overhead conveyors are used. The overhead conveyor can maximize the available ground area, improve the flow of people and forklifts, and design some layout and structure options that cannot be achieved when using the ground conveyor system or manually handling products. In new factories, this means reducing the floor area of production facilities, thereby reducing construction costs (the cost of raising buildings is always lower than widening buildings). In the existing production facilities, this may mean removing some partitions or using only the existing upper space. In either case, the overhead conveyor provides greater design flexibility. In many cases, the best way to transport products from one place to another is through overhead rather than from the ground

elevated options

the options of elevated conveyors vary according to the scope of application. Each scheme is specific to the product, but there is a certain range of changes, including the type of transmission chain and the way to improve the product. According to the specific task of each conveyor in the application, the transmission chain can be ordinary chain, anti-skid chain, friction overhead chain or roller overhead chain

similarly, the product lifting method also depends on the product to be transported. Since the advent of the impact testing machine, it has become a necessary testing equipment for material impact testing, ranging from a simple and gradually descending conveyor, or a conveyor equipped with anti-skid parts to maintain the position of the product, to a wedge conveyor that can firmly grasp each product, and a conveyor that can lift the product at a 90 degree right angle to the ground

generally speaking, the types of overhead conveyors are as follows:

anti slip: on the anti slip conveyor, the product is dragged into the anti slip nest by gravity when it falls. All kinds of anti slip parts, including rollers, can keep the product in place

elevator type: after the product is fed by the conveyor on the ground, the elevator will vertically lift the product to the top floor, and then push it out to a horizontal conveyor on the top floor. This conveyor will transport products to specific areas and take products to the next processing station. Hoists are usually used in small batch applications where speed is not a key consideration

wedge conveyor: the wedge conveyor is composed of two face-to-face conveyors. After the products are sent to the wedge conveyor, the two conveyors will be close to each other and clamp the products from both sides, so that the products can be transported upward, horizontally or downward. The manual crank can be used to comprehensively adjust the wedge components with insufficient original innovation capacity of new materials in China at present, so as to provide rapid switching and flexibility for a variety of product sizes. The type of chain is mandatory for the product and the grip method required by the product, but the wedge conveyor can transport any product, such as aerosol cans, auto parts, glass bottles, and even tissue rolls

on the basis of correctly guiding the direction of the transported products, flexlink's automatic guidance system (AGS) provides good flexibility for overhead transportation applications. The AGS system is composed of interconnected guiding devices, junction boxes and a control box. The center has detected more than 700 sets of copper based new material products, and the control boxes are installed on the ground of the factory for the communication between guide devices, so as to achieve the purpose of adjusting the track of overhead conveyor. For example, the end user can reduce the track width from 14 inches to 7 inches by turning the switch. This system has a simple structure and can be scaled up to any scale

the following is an example of a flexlink system in operation: a plastic bottle manufacturer supplies products to a nearby personal care product manufacturer. With the assistance of flexlink and the customer, this supplier has created an overhead conveyor system, which can take empty plastic bottles out of the manufacturing workshop, lift them to the production floor of the factory and transfer them to the customer's production facilities along a closed conveyor bridge

in the production facilities of this plastic bottle manufacturer, the ground conveyor system from one building to another requires not only more space, but also separates the traffic between the two buildings, because the two buildings will be connected from the ground by conveyors. Another way is to use a forklift to transport plastic bottle pallets, which will lead to excessive traffic, requiring more manpower, slower speed, lower efficiency, and leading to potential safety problems

these systems may be equipped with a variety of drives, followers, side rails, corner bends, track supports, shunters, mergers, buffers, stacking options, turning options, and "commanders" for traffic control. The conveyor can operate in conjunction with printers, cardboard packers, pallet stackers, destackers, manipulators, detection systems and other equipment

questions to answer

although the overhead conveyor has the advantage of saving space, its application prospect also makes people ask some logical questions. Does the overhead transportation bring stress to the building structure? Is it more difficult to install and maintain? Is the cost higher than the ground conveyor? Is there a risk of product falling

the necessity of structural reinforcement varies according to the type of conveyor installed. Steel conveyors may require additional roof hangers. The aluminum conveyor produced by flexlink has a relatively light weight and usually does not require any additional support system. In the flexlink device, the use of a single structural support supports the side-by-side upward and horizontal laying of five conveying channels (goods supplied by the destacker). This arrangement does not require any additional structural modifications

because the assembly work is carried out at high altitude and cranes are needed to lift materials and workers, the assembly cost of overhead conveyors is slightly higher than that of ground conveyors, but it only takes some more time than ground assembly. The total duration of the entire structure depends on the application and the type of overhead conveyor selected

flexlink overhead conveyor has some special advantages compared with similar systems, because its system adopts a modular assembly method, which is similar to the design concept of building assembly toys. Flexlink adopts screws and clamps that can be directly fixed to the roof steel beam in the design. Moreover, due to the use of aluminum components, the bulkiness is reduced compared with the steel system, and it is easier to handle and locate

in terms of maintenance, the control box is installed on the ground, which is convenient for maintenance and operation. Even if it is necessary to carry out some lifting operations, it will not take more time to replace the chain. Side guardrails and optional safety ensure that no product will fall to the ground

in many cases, the conveyor is the last selection part in the design of packaging production line. If the conveyor design, especially the overhead conveyor, is added to the design process in advance, the factory may make better use of its space and realize more efficient operation. If the conveyor line is not fully considered, it will lead to the loss of productivity. (end)