Material Handling Conveyors
Primitive conveyor belt systems have been in existence since the 1800′s, but the material handling conveyors that we know today got their start back in 1901 when the first steel conveyor belt system was first produced. They’ve been improved upon many times since, including a systems that were adapted to coal mines and at the Ford automobile plant back in the early 1900′s.
Material Handling Conveyors – A Key Contributor To Industry
Imagine industry without material handling conveyors – AKA conveyor belts. Productivity would take an incredible nosedive. Overnight shipping? Gone. Coal fired electricity plants? In big trouble. Let’s face it – without equipment to move goods quickly from one place to another, we’d be in a heap of trouble. Not only from a productivity standpoint, but from safety and quality control aspects as well. Conveyor systems that are in use today vary widely from application to application and from warehouse to warehouse. Material handling conveyors are extremely specialized today. The type of system used depends on the type of materials being moved, if there are multiple floors involved, size and weight of the products being moved, how far a distance product will be moving, temperatures, and a host of other considerations.
It’s relatively easy for a company that sells material handling conveyors to design a system that will meet your needs. But, unless you have an unlimited budget, cost will play a role in exactly how you have it set up. Of course there are some issues that you can’t avoid, but there are a number of things you can look at as a way of keeping costs in line.
One way to reduce costs of material handling conveyors is to look into used systems. If you’ve got a more common warehouse setup, you could be in luck as you’ll find many on the market, thanks to companies that are moving to new facilities, downsizing, upgrading, or maybe even closing a particular warehouse location. Purchasing reconditioned conveyor systems can be an excellent value. Just be sure to have an expert in such systems go over it prior to purchasing it, so that you don’t end up with more headaches that you bargain for.
Understanding The Four Types Of Material Handling Conveyors
There are actually four types of material handling conveyors on the market today. They are:
Gravity
As their name implies, this system has no motor – it’s completely driven by gravity or by pushing items on the conveyor. In this system, you’ll find the gravity skatewheel conveyor as well as the gravity roller conveyor. With the skatewheel system, there are a number of small wheels that items are pushed along or gravity pulls down. Items larger than the size of the conveyor can easily travel along this system. Many trucking companies use this type of system to make deliveries to commerical customers.
With the roller conveyor system, you’ll generally see these used for very heavy and bulky items. The generally feature axles that are spring loaded.
Power
The type of power material handling conveyors that you’ll most likely see in operation today include the incline, live roller, chain driven, accumulating, pallet and sortation style.
Live roller systems are run by belts and will generally come in a wide range of different shapes and sizes. Incline material handling conveyors move products or materials from one story to another. Accumulating conveyors will gather and keep products or raw materials in place while waiting for action further along the conveyor.
Chain driven material handling conveyors are the systems that handle the heaviest and often palletized products as well as drums. Pallet conveyor systems take care of all of the palletized loads. These type of conveyors will transport, accumulate / stage and stop the pallets along the way. These type of material handling conveyors are perfect for super heavy loads. Sortation conveyor systems allow for separation, merging and diversion of products in a large number of directions. You’ll find many of these type of systems in operations at facilities such as UPS hubs.
Flexible
As the name implies, these material handling conveyors are a combination of the gravity and power systems.
Lifts & Carousels
These type of material handling conveyors move products or materials both horizontally as well as vertically. These type of systems are generally found in warehouse operations where order picking takes place.
Deciding what type of Material Handling Conveyor is right for your operation
Selecting what type of conveyor system will meet your specifications can be a difficult task to say the least. The best way to get the ball rolling on this type of project is by meeting with the design department of a local warehouse equipment dealer. This is one of those projects that can end in disaster with equipment not working correctly within your application if you decide to go it alone. When seeking out a professional design team, you will likely save a whole lot of time and money in the long run.