Specialized Conveyors: A Production Manager’s Dream When Shadwood Enterprises Ltd., a manufacturer of portable battery charger units, opened its new plant in North Bay, Ontario, management wanted a single conveyor to move goods throughout production. They installed an inverted, floor mounted conveyor that carried the chargers between the plant’s four processing stages. The system consisted of four identical, inverted assembly line conveyors, each approximately 100 ft long. Each conveyor was fitted with 16″ x 12″ trays, specifically designed to hold the chargers. Each tray had two compartments, and was mounted on a 24″ center. A single conveyor transported goods to the assembly, testing, packaging, and palletizing stations. At each station, when the chargers were removed from the conveyor, the empty trays remained. Empty trays constantly circulated on the conveyor and allowed workers to replace goods onto the conveyor as rapidly as possible. Paul Stroz, plant manager for Shadwood, described the conveyor system as “a production manager’s dream.” By moving goods to and from each station, the conveyors minimize the amount of manual work done within the plant. The new system also occupied minimal floor space. Eighteen inch-wide assembly tables were connected directly to the conveyor’s frame. Carpet covered all of the tables to mute sound. Published in Modern Materials Handling, 1990 GET MORE INFORMATION Your NameCompany NameE-mail Address Phone NumberCountryIndustry/ApplicationWhat is your application?Assembly LineEmpty Carton and Tote HandlingCorrugated Trash RemovalPaint & FinishingParts Accumulation & WIPGarment HandlingGreenhouseWoodworkingProduce PackingEntertainment ProductionCreative DisplayOtherTell us about your project?NameThis field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Δ...
Overhead Conveyor Maintenance Tips 3 common conveyor problems and how to prevent them with overhead conveyor maintenance videos that show you how Simple overhead conveyor maintenance can ensure your equipment will perform well for years! 1. Lack of take-up adjustment This is such a simple adjustment on most systems that it is hard to accept how often it is 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. Here is another video you may find helpful:Understanding and Maintaining the Conveyor Drive Unit 2. 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 overload protection or its electrical overload protection. On conveyors that go through hot ovens, lubricators can be left on constantly or set to turn on every few cycles of the chain. Tip: A modern lubricator with a small “brain” that turns itself on and off according to your needs will make the process easier to manage. 3. Contamination of track and chain Paint, powder, acid or alkaline fluids, abrasives, glass beads, steel shot and so on can all lead to rapid deterioration...
How to Maximize Your Overhead Conveyor Lifespan Get the most from your material handling system A conveyor system that is well designed should last a good long time. Here are a few important things to consider that will help you increase your conveyor lifespan. 1. Avoid weak conveyor system design. Many problems can be avoided by conservatively applying some basic rules of design. Do not exceed the manufacturer’s published loading limits. So many overhead conveyor systems that I encounter have been overloaded, resulting in accelerated wear. A heavy load placed on the chain will obviously result in the wear of the chain bearings and the track it runs on. Try to distribute a heavy load over multiple chain hanging points. Tip: Just as you rotate the tires on your car to maximize their life, move your loads from one chain hanging point to one that is adjacent, and further extend the life of your conveyor. 2. Don’t exceed the chain pull of the conveyor drive unit. If you’re even close to the limit, consider adding an additional drive unit to effectively cut the chain pull in half. Though a single drive may be able to pull the chain adequately, the weak point in the long term will be those curves that are close to the drive. They will wear out quickly and cause you downtime. Tip: install the largest radius curves possible immediately upstream of the drive. 3. Choose the right conveyor from the start. For example, if you use a conveyor in a powder coating application and have a great deal of overspray because of your booth, product...
Unique Non-Industrial Overhead Conveyor Applications PACLINE’s projects range from simple conveyor loops to complex power and free conveyor circuits involving pneumatics, computers, programmable logic controllers and automatic identification. Although PACLINE is well known for its capabilities in industrial applications, they frequently get calls to provide conveyor solutions for other industries. Here are some unique non-industrial conveyor applications that highlight the versatility of PACLINE’s enclosed track overhead conveyors. Recreation anyone? At Winter Park ski resort in Colorado PACLINE conveyors were used to transport sleds from the bottom of the 3000 foot Alpine Slide track to the top of the mountain. At another recreational site, PACLINE’s enclosed track conveyor was installed to transport inner tubes from the bottom of a giant outdoor water slide up to the riders waiting at the top. Read More Conveyor moves sleds up the mountain to waiting riders. The PACLINE conveyor system offered several unique benefits to these outdoor installations: This water slide conveyor transports inner tubes up steep incline to riders waiting at the top Meccano’ style track parts are bolted together with no welding required. This made it easy for Park staff to dismantle and store the conveyor at the end of the season and reinstall it again the following season. Chain and bearings are protected inside the enclosed track. This improved safety by preventing the hands of the operators and users from coming in contact with the chain. This feature also helped protect the chain and bearings from debris. Zinc-plated track and components helped ensure that the conveyor could withstand exposure to the outdoor weather elements year after year. Modular components of the...
Film Industry Conveyor for a Television Series Pacline Overhead Conveyors prides itself on producing one of the most versatile overhead conveyor systems on the market today – the PAC-LINE™. Although PACLINE supplies overhead conveyor solutions most commonly used in industrial applications, we have consistently received requests from customers looking to convey items in highly unique retail and entertainment type applications. You can check out some of these installations on our website and see for yourself how versatile the conveyor really is. BOMB GIRLS TV series cast members Real Bomb Girls Circa 1943* One recent conveyor installation we did was on the set of the Canadian-produced TV series, BOMB GIRLS. This was actually a very interesting combination of conveyors in an industrial AND entertainment application. In case you missed it, the setting for BOMB GIRLS was in a Canadian munitions factory in the 1940s. The show follows the stories of the women who risked their lives building bombs for the Allied forces fighting on the European front. One of the important scenes in the show takes place on the munitions factory floor – which is where the PAC-LINE™ overhead conveyors came into play. Pacline conveyor carries fake bombs on the TV set of the BOMB GIRLS The BOMB GIRLS TV show debuted in Canada and later aired in the United States and the UK. Unfortunately, even with the show’s growing fan base and critical acclaim, the show was cancelled after its second season. Although we had all hoped for the series to continue, producers decided to finally end the BOMB GIRLS story with a 2-hour movie that just aired on...
