Archive for the ‘Overhead Conveyor’ Category

Considerations on Selecting the Most Appropriate Conveyor Chain for Your Application

Monday, December 28th, 2009

The universality of the conveyor chain in various applications from moving vehicles down the line in auto production to the movement of sprinklers in agriculture can be seen around the world.  Whenever something must be moved from point “A” to point “B” continuously no matter if it is to be assembled, washed, painted, inspected or heading for storage, you will undoubtedly find a conveyor as the basis of the system.

For optimum performance of a conveyor chain, four criteria are crucial – strength, durability, resistance to fatigue and resistance to impact.

The weight in pounds required to break the chain on a linear plane is the measurement that determines the ultimate strength of the chain.  The usual method of testing is by use of a tensile testing machine.  The minimum strength values for each size of chain are dictated by ANSI.  The material of which the chain is made, its manufacturing process, and hardening specifications used in making its components consisting of center link, side link, and pin are controlled by the manufacturer and determines the strength of the chain.

The ultimate strength of a chain is determined by the integrity of the material at a specific hardness.  Although a high ultimate value will not of necessity make it fail-proof.  The ultimate strength value determines what type or size of conveyor chain will be used for a variety of loads and is used mainly for application engineering.

The durability of a chain depends on a number of outside factors and is a somewhat imprecise value to use when comparing chains.  A chains durability is affected by lubrication, loads, chain speed, system design as well as many other factors.  Hardness is the only value that is controlled by the manufacturer that impacts wearability, and hardness has a huge impact on the other three criteria.   A harder chain is the more durable chain but this very hardness causes the chain to be less fatigue and impact resistant.  The harder the chain the less the resistance to fatigue and impact.

There are different base materials that offer some options.  For example, standard SAE 1045 steel at a hardness of 370 offers worthy impact and fatigue resistance, a good degree of durability, and meets minimum ANSI strength requirements.  If the same material has a hardness of 420 BHN, its strength and durability would be enhanced but some of its resistance to fatigue and impact would be lost.  As an alternative, microtuff-15 micro-alloy steel has good wearability and more strength along with excellent impact and fatigue resistance.  It also costs the same as SAE 1045.

Fatigue resistance means that the material used is able to hold up under continuous bending, twisting, etc without breaking.  It is quite possibly the conveyor chain’s most important asset or liability.  Until the material shows signs of fracture, however, the fatigue level is not readily measurable.  In today’s manufacturing world with its higher production rates, heavier loads, more convoluted chain paths with tighter radius turns, the chain is vulnerable to more subtle bending and twisting than ever.

As the conveyor  chain wends its way around horizontal turns, the side load between the chain and the rollers or traction wheel instigates somewhat of a bending motion in the center link of the chain.  The catalyst for fatigue is this bending process.  Should the fatigue not be identified, the chain will not be immediately replaced.  The incidence of failures are certain to increase exponentially.  Because of this, the harder, more durable alloy chains are not recommended for heavily loaded systems with many turns at a rapid pace.  Alloy chains work fine in straight line over and under conveyors or for slower, lighter loads on such conveyors in abrasive surroundings found in foundry cooling lines or incinerator drag lines.

The term impact resistance defines the conveyor chain’s capability to absorb shock without  breaking.   Hardness and impact resistance have an inverse relationship, although there are many materials at the same hardness which have  varying degrees of ability to absorb impact without fracture.  A chain’s impact resistance is an important factor in many power and free operations.

In loads with frequent stops and starts, the chain, in particular the pusher dog, is vulnerable to impact failure if not made out of impact resistant material.  Loading and unloading stations are other possible sources of impact.  Both impact and fatigue failures do occur without any warning.  Impact failures on the other hand do not by nature increase once they begin.

The consideration of the above criteria is very important when selecting a conveyor chain for optimum performance of a system.   If the appropriate chain is used for the specific purpose intended, the life of the system will be prolonged, and the risk of failure diminished.

Visit Wilkie Brothers Conveyors for all of your Rebuilt Conveyor Chain needs or Blue Water Mfg for other Conveyor Chain needs.

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Saving Time and Money with Overhead Conveyor Systems

Friday, December 4th, 2009

Overhead conveyors are great for transporting products back and forth throughout a factory or warehouse. They come in handy to prevent workers from walking a very long way to get the product that they need to work on or to get a part to the product that they are working on.

Conveyors can be powered by electricity or a person. They are made of the same material no matter what kind of conveyor it is. They also move the same way no matter if a person is powering them or electricity is used. Overhead conveyors can be used to transport so many products in everyday use, you usually wont find any kind of large company or factory that doesn’t use several or at least one.

The most common conveyor is pulled along by a trolley. The person who invented conveyors is a very smart person because they have allowed the help of moving around product without the worry of it falling off while bring transported by a forklift or other kind of mechanical machine.

There are also conveyors that have two way tracks just like driving on a road they can move different product to different places around a factory to be finished and worked on if needed. There are also places that the product may pass by that certain machines can take the product off if it isn’t going to pass inspection. This inspection is sometimes done by a machine but also sometimes done by a person.

Products that are on overhead conveyors can be used for such great things. They can take loads to different places and different rooms in a factory to be cleaned, polished and even painted. This helps so that employees don’t have to walk all around a huge factory.

Overhead conveyors can be programed to stop at certain times to be inspected, painted or even thrown away if the product didn’t come out of the machine correctly. So, all in all conveyors can help a lot in making a company run correctly. They play such a big part in ensuring that a company runs correctly and that product gets out in the correct amount of time.

Sometimes conveyors can cost a lot of money but are very worth it because then can cut back on the cost you would have to pay someone to manually operate a conveyor. Electricity can be costly to run several conveyors but companies have found that it is a lot less money to run conveyors on electricity than it is to use an employee.

With overhead conveyors this is more convenient because this helps in the safety of every employee that works at the company to ensure that they don’t get a hand or finger caught in the pinch points of the conveyor. No matter what kind of conveyor you are working with or on make sure to keep your fingers away from pinch points. IF you are unsure of which parts are pinch points then make sure to keep your fingers away from places that look dangerous.

Visit Wilkie Brothers Conveyors for all of your Rebuilt Conveyor Chain needs or Blue Water Mfg for other Conveyor Chain needs.

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Exploring the Many Uses of Overhead Conveyor Systems

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009

Overhead conveyors are a type of moving counter that are used for transporting items in a factory from one location of the plant to the other. This conveyor is exactly what it sounds like. It is a conveyor that is overhead that moved things from one point to another. There is so much stuff that can be transported on a conveyor such as kids toys, hair products, car parts and even glassware.

These conveyors can be powered by electricity or by a person. Over head conveyors that consist of an electric motor consist of a mechanism that is propelled by air pressure electric motor or a vacuum. There are just so many different uses for overhead conveyors, it is surprising that more large companies don’t use them.

The most common conveyor is pulled along by a trolley type mechanism. The electric conveyors are made out of the same things that manual conveyors consist of. They are made like this because it is just as easy for a person to pull along the trolley as it is for a motor to do it by electricity.

There are also conveyors that can move more that one product at a time to different locations around a warehouse. Conveyors can come in handy outside fish markets because they help to transport fresh fish inside of warehouses so that they can be properly stored.

Loads that are on the conveyor belt can stop at different locations to be inspected and/or painted. This helps a lot to make sure that all the product is inspected properly and painted properly for the customer. If companies didn’t have overhead conveyors or floor level conveyors then it would be a lot more work for everyone to have to walk and get the product by themselves.

With overhead conveyors the product is hung on them with things such as hooks. Different things can be hung with several different items depending on the items that are being hung and the weight of them. Overhead conveyors are used for such a large number of items such as paint finishing, filling of bottles (for several items) and even for shoes and clothes.

Sometimes overhead conveyors can be very costly. They are very worth the price that are paid for them because they help to reduce the pay that you would have to give to someone for manually operating a conveyor. Although it is very helpful for someone to operate a conveyor because it does cut back on the power bill. Companies find that it is cheaper for them to use electricity than an actual person.

Since it is possible to put conveyors overhead this helps a lot to reduce the space that is used in the floor. There are also a lot of pinch points on conveyors and with them being overhead this helps to prevent someone from being pinched and injured by them. Please keep your fingers and hands away from all the pinch points because they could cause you to have a bad accident if your hand or fingers were to get caught in a conveyor.

Visit Wilkie Brothers Conveyors for all of your Rebuilt Conveyor Chain needs or Blue Water Mfg for other Conveyor Chain needs.

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The Many Uses of Overhead Conveyor Systems

Sunday, November 29th, 2009

Overhead conveyors are a type of material handling equipment that is used to transport products from one location in a factory to another location. This type of conveyor is exactly as it sounds. It is an overhead conveyor that transports product from one location to another. There are many things that are transported on a conveyor such as boxes, laundry detergent, children’s toys and even car parts.

These can be powered by motors or manually by a person. Powered overhead conveyors that are powered by a motor consists of a mechanism such as a chain that is propelled by an electric motor, air pressure or vacuum. With so many different things that can be transported on a conveyor it’s a wonder why every bigger corporation or company isn’t using them.

One of the most common Overhead conveyors is pulled along by a trolley type mechanism. The manual powered Conveyor is a tubular track or I-bean monorail and trolleys that have load bars that move product along the desired track or trail. The powered conveyors consist of the same concept that the manual conveyors consist of. They are set up in an endless loop. The trolleys are powered by a power driven rope or chain and the chain or rope is powered by an electric motor.

A different common Overhead conveyor system is the overhead power and free conveyor. The power and free conveyor is a is a system which products can move to different locations at different speeds along the same conveyors. Conveyors are also used outside for fish markets to ensure that the products get from the docking point into their warehouse so that they can be cleaned properly and frozen.

Loads can stop and accumulate in different areas to allow painting or inspection of the product. This is very helpful to ensure that all the product gets inspected and/or painted properly. This is also helpful when other loads need to move along on the conveyor belt.

With overhead conveyors the items being moved along the track are suspended below the track using hooks or carries. Depending the weight of the item or product or the type of the product a hook or carrier may be used for all different kinds of items.

Overhead conveyors are used for a wide number of items such as Assembly, distribution, paint finishing and even food. Overhead conveyors can be very costly but are very worth it to reduce the use of manpower and they allow a large amount of things to move faster. There are also some conveyors that are floor level and are used in restaurants. These conveyors have plates of food placed on them and the conveyor runs in front of the customers so that they can get their food straight off the conveyors.

Since overhead conveyors are obviously overhead this helps to allow more floor space. It is very helpful for conveyors to be overhead because this helps to prevent accidents because it decreases concern over pinch points. They also help to prevent the damage of a product should it be dropped while it is being transported across a floor on a pallet.

Visit Wilkie Brothers Conveyors for all of your Rebuilt Conveyor Chain needs or Blue Water Mfg for other Conveyor Chain needs.

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Seamless Manufacturing with the Help of a Conveyor Chain System

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009

A conveyor chain serves a great purpose in the manufacturing business. The main function of this chain is to transport things on from one place to another, normally in a factory setting.

A lot of large factories use these chains to make the production process go by a little faster. Most of these factories are only paid for the amount of goods that they can complete, so you can only guess how important these chains are. A factory worker will simply need to set the item that they need transported to another workstation onto the belt, and it will guide itself to the next workstation.

These chains are normally made from blocks or other solid material that can be left dull or laminated with an oil to lubricate them during their transport process. Normally, the chain consists of one large piece of material that has a series of pins and plates on it. The plates make a difference in the manufacturing process, the deeper the plates are constitute to more items being able to be carried by the belt.

Most of the time, the chains are welded together, but it is not odd to run across chains that are not welded in some places. All chains need to contain a part that is referred to as a sprocket. This small part makes a large difference in the way that the chain operates.

Sprockets, as they are called look like teeth that hook themselves onto the conveyor chain. The teeth have open slots that the chain nestles in. It is these sprockets that allow the chain to move with ease, and move at a faster rate during the manufacturing process.

The system can be made from different materials as well. Some of the most common materials that you will see these chains made from is either a form of plastic or stainless steel. If the chain is made from stainless steel, it will have to be heated in order to enhance the resistance of the chain that is pulled every time that something has to be transported.

The materials that you decide to use for your conveyor chain will be based off of what your opting to utilize the chain to transport. If your transporting light items, a plastic chain may serve a great purpose, however if the items you are transporting are heavy in stature, then you should opt for a stainless steel chain instead.

In most cases the chain is covered with nickel so the chain doesn’t begin to rust or corrode overtime. You can opt to obtain a chain that comes with a source of lubricant or one that does not.

It’s your decision if you want to utilize a source of lubricant for your conveyor chain or not. However, using some kind of lubrication will make the chain be able to perform tasks a little easier. You can get the chains that are already made or you can obtain a chain that you have to put together.

Before making your decision on what type of conveyor chain to obtain, you need to think about the materials that are going to be transported on the conveyor as well as the weight and the overall size of the items that you are going to be transporting. Speed is also another factor to consider, the faster you can manufacture a product the more money you will make once it sells.

Visit Wilkie Brothers Conveyors for all of your Rebuilt Conveyor Chain needs or Blue Water Mfg for other Conveyor Chain needs.

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