Conveyors

An automatic conveyor belt is used when large amounts of good need to be moved from one place to another in facilities such as warehouses or packing facilities.  Most people are familiar with the flat belt conveyors similar to the ones used at airports.  It operates by turning a flat belt, which is looped around a pulley, to rotate continuously and move goods placed on the belt from one place to another.

Because a conveyor is automatic, it works much faster and without breaks than workers manually moving goods by making use of hand trucks, baskets and other tools.  A conveyor greatly improves efficiency in a work situation where transporting goods internally is needed by cutting down on the number of staff which can be translated into handsome savings for a company in Robot Units Australia.

Safety

Another benefit of using a conveyor, in addition to efficiency, are the safety factors for staff as well as the goods being conveyed.  There is much less risk of damage to goods when conveyed via a conveyor compared to that of using a forklift or manually carrying goods.  The risks of accidents occurring are also greatly reduced and the resultant lowered risk of exposing workers to occupational hazards and dangers inherent in working with equipment such as forklifts.  Conveyors are easy to operate and require only a minimum amount of training for a handler to use the system.

Types And Designs

A wide range of different types and designs of conveyors are available in today's market for the purposes of moving goods in different types of settings.

Bucket Conveyors

These types of conveyors are used to transport bulk components and certain types have facilities that are able to shake and vibrate products to loosen them from molds, to cool them down and perform other special tasks critical to the manufacturing process.

The conveyor belt is flexible for use in a variety of settings as it can travel around corners and up inclines, according to requirements and can also be customized to meet the needs of specific warehouses.

Skatewheel Conveyors

These conveyors consist of rows of aluminum or metal wheels and are not motorized.  These conveyors are used to move cartons, bags or sacks on a downward slope and ideal for transporting items loading areas where they are loaded onto trucks for onward shipment.  They are more suitable for use in smaller warehouses and short runs of goods transportation.

There are sliding bed types with a system that uses a metal surface that slides along on a bed.  Used for load or assembly stations, they are ideal for transporting loads that are unstable at slower speeds as well as for odd-shaped items and smaller items.

Live Roller Conveyors

These conveyors consist of elongated rollers, powered by belts, line shafts or chains, which are situated over a conveying bed and are adjustable.   These conveyor belts are able to take care of heavy loads and loads that have solid bottoms and ideal for use in unclean or harsh environments.  

Accumulation systems, with sensors, direct the rollers or belts in order to pace the movement of items by starting or stopping the movement of the system with delaying the process of production.  As they require additional controls and motors, they can be quite expensive, but this is offset by its flexibility.

Automated Systems

There has been in increase in demand for automatic conveyor systems because of the variety of items and substances dealt with during materials handling and packaging.  Probably the most common type is the conveyor belt.  Used for the transportation of loose materials, pallets, boxes and many other types of containers, there are several sizes of conveyor belts available.

Gravity conveyors and Vibratory conveyors, which have fewer moving parts, are the most useful when transporting items on a downgrade.  

Pneumatic systems are more suitable for transporting loose substances and moving items horizontally or vertically.

No matter what your internal transporting requirements are, there is a conveyor suitable for your particular needs.