Material Handling Conveyors

Material Handling Conveyors

Material Handling Conveyors are used by food and beverage processing, automotive, pharmaceutical, commercial manufacturing, packaging and shipping industries, all 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 they move on the conveyor. Conveyors used in the pharmaceutical, food and beverage are usually made of stainless steel because of its moisture resistance and smooth surface, which are required in sanitary conditions.

There are several different types of material handling conveyors currently used in industrial applications. The most common and well known is the belt conveyor, which consists of a rubber or polymer material belt that is wrapped around rollers. The rollers all turn in the same direction, giving the belt linear movement. They are able to handle oddly shaped and small items as well as soft bags, which get caught in other conveyor systems. 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 large and wide objects like lumber, boxes and vehicle parts. 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.