Material Handling Equipment - Pallet Conveyor

Pallet Conveyor, Puck Conveyor, Unit Conveyor are all names for Pallet Transfer systems.  Pallet transfer systems move otherwise non-conveyable items from point to point.  Typically used in automotive applications due to their flexibility, a pallet conveyor can move engine blocks, transmissions, seats, wheel assemblies, any part of an automobile, van, truck or bus.  Shown in the picture below moving a hydraulic cylinder.

Unlike other types of conveyors, the item being conveyed on the unit conveyor doesn't come into direct contact with the conveyor surface.  Instead, a uniform pallet ( or puck ) contacts the rollers and the conveyed item rides on top of the puck on a top plate with a fixture specifically designed for that item.  Material Handling Equipment

The system is designed using friction-clutch rollers, which means that when the pallet gets stopped at a work station, the frictionable surface of the pallet forces the rolling surface of the rollers directly under it to stop, while the internal clutch (and chain drive) continues to run.  The weight of the roller is supported in the middle by the roller shaft, not by the chain.  This results in a true tangential force applied by the drive chain to the rollers and a smaller motor.  So, the downward force of the pallet is supported directly by the roller, not by the drive system, resulting in a simpler, lower maintenance system, that is less likely to fail.

Our Pallet Transfer System has a true engineering elegance that is too detailed for a single webpage.  When compared with traditional pallet transfer systems, you will agree that the system we sell has a simplicity that others can not match.  The design that you read about on our pages took years of effort to develop, and has gone through many upgrades.  Simplicity of design isn't simple to achieve.  If you need to handle a workpiece that can not be conveyed directly, please read more.  Material Handling Equipment

Advantages

Maintenance - Due in large part to the friction-clutch roller, we have an almost maintenance free system system.  If a roller should go bad, it is easy to replace, chain removal is not necessary.  Only a few minutes are required.  The pins that stop the pallets are a standard item, no matter how many assembly stations you have, the stopping pins are all the same.  These pins are pneumatically actuated and should rarely fail.

Simplicity - With our system, typically the conveyor motors run all the time.  There is no stopping and starting of motors.  This will drastically reduce the control complexity.  All of the devices, Pin Stops, Diverters, Junctions, Elevators, etc. have been engineered to be as simple as possible.  For instance, the Pin Stops require only one control input and one control output.  The input is for the pallet sensor, the output is for the pneumatic solenoid supplying air to the pin.

Safety - The main two things to worry about with a system of this type is getting pinched by a roller and getting caught in the chain.  Both of these concerns have been engineered away.  The rollers are mostly friction-clutch, so if you should sit or lean onto them, they simply stop turning.  The drive chain is covered by a plastic guard that fits snuggly into the aluminum extrusion guides of the conveyor.

Cost of Ownership - Cost of ownership is reduced in two ways over traditional systems.  First, the general simplicity means that there are less breakdowns.  Less breakdowns mean less money spent for parts and less time spent fixing the problems, and less production time wasted.  Secondly, modularity of design.  Because the system is designed around a collection of standard devices, i.e., stops, diverters, lifts, etc., these devices can be organized in a different way and re-used in an entirely different application in the future.  The conveyor sections can also be easily re-used.

Learn More About

	Pallets
	Rollers
	Turns
	Pin Stops
	Diverters and Junctions
	2 and 3 Way Diverters
	Lifts, Elevators, Crossovers
	Rotary Tables

 

 

Material Handling Equipment

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