Transfer Cars

Transfer Cars

As with other AGV systems, transfer cars are becoming increasingly popular worldwide in applications that call for repetitive actions over a distance or for transporting extremely heavy loads. Typical applications that benefit from transfer cars include load transferring, lean manufacturing, aircraft engines, large metal coils, material handling, pallet loading and unloading, large farm equipment and tugging or towing. Transfer cars serve wide-ranging industries such as metal processing, agriculture, automobile, aerospace, construction and military. Laser guided vehicles offer advanced navigation capabilities and are able to navigate around objects along a programmed path and avoid collisions independently using laser beam sensors. Most transfer cars consist of a conveyor tread section or flat load deck mounted on a frame with wheels, or casters powered by a drive system. Some have a roller conveyor tread section mounted on top of the frame in order to interact with the stationary conveyors. Transfer cars that utilize tracks can have overhead or floor-mounted tracks that differ depending on the weight of the load.

Particularly in the realm of bulk material handling, transfer car companies can design, engineer, manufacture and commission strong, dependable transfer cars for individually specialized locations and needs. For example, hydraulically triggered steel transfer cars or material handling robots can be used to distribute steel rods between assembly lines during the operation of a steel mill or, in storage yards towing vehicles can transport stackers/reclaimers from section to section – just one more example of the efficiency of transfer cars. There are three main methods of powering transfer car movement: the car may use a chain to pull itself along, it may be electrically powered or the car may be pulled forward and backward by a cable mechanism. Drive systems include individual wheel drives and gear reducer axle drives and are generally powered by an AC or DC internal battery, an electric motor and potentially even pneumatic or hydraulic cylinders. Specialty material handling equipment manufacturers can offer a variety of industry beneficial transfer cars, including battery powered (DC) transfer cars, AC or cable reel powered transfer cars.

Transfer Car and Transfer Cars Manufacturers Image Provided by COH Inc.