View A Video on Industrial Conveyors - A Quick Introduction
Industrial Conveyors
Industrial Conveyors are utilized by food and beverage processing, pharmaceutical, commercial manufacturing, packaging and shipping industries, all of whom benefit from conveyor systems and the horizontal and vertical movement they provide. While most are completely automated, certain conveyors still require some degree of manual labor to help the parts, materials and products move along. Modern industrial conveyor systems are able to curve, divert, lift and sort items by using sensors, magnets, brushes, automated levers, rails, gravity and robotic arms to handle the materials as it moves on the conveyor. Conveyors used in the pharmaceutical, food and beverage industries must handle regular wash downs and sanitation.
There are several different types of industrial conveyor construction currently used in material handling applications. The most common and well known being the belt conveyor, which consists of a belt made of rubber or polymer that is wrapped around rollers. The rollers all turn in the same direction, giving the belt linear movement. They are able to handle irregularly shaped and small items as well as soft bags. Chain conveyors provide the same linear movement as belts, but instead use parallel horizontal chains to move items. One or more metal chains are wrapped around wheels that turn in the same direction, rotating the chains along with the rails that are attached. These conveyor systems move larger objects like lumber, boxes, vehicle parts and wide materials. The third major type of conveyor system consists of rollers that are placed parallel to one another to provide linear movement. They require flat bottomed, larger items that will not slip through or get caught in the cracks between rollers. Ball transfer conveyors are similar to roller conveyors, but have a series of fixed balls instead. Both of these may move in multiple directions, and are often not automated, although they require little force from workers to move the items along. All conveyors may twist, turn and travel vertically up and down floors to transfer items.
