Dorner - Motion Control Tips

Improved tails allow better cleanings on sanitary conveyor platform

December 12, 2018 By Danielle Collins Leave a Comment

Perhaps the most important feature of a sanitary belt conveyor is the ability for it to be thoroughly cleaned. Dorner’s new AquaGard 7350 V2 Series with tip-up tails checks off that box…and then some.

The AquaGard 7350 V2 with tip-up tails provides ample access to the inside of the conveyor for effective, fast cleanings and easy maintenance. Tails can be tipped up in just a few seconds with no tools, and then retracted and locked back into place with the same minimal effort.

Tip-up tails are standard on the AquaGard 7350 V2 straight-belt models and are also available on straight-running modular belt units. They come with improved strength in the tail for more rigidity and no flexing, as well as supporting the belt/chain closer to the tail for improved performance.

Debuting at PACK EXPO 2018, the AquaGard 7350 V2 is built for numerous sanitary applications in baking, snack food, pharmaceutical, pet food, packaging, and other industries that require wipe-down and occasional washdown cleanings of the conveyor. The new conveyor comes in straight belt, as well as modular belt straight and curve models. Belted LPZ, modular belt LPZ, and positive drive models will be available in the coming months.

The AquaGard 7350 V2 is the safest, most advanced modular curve chain conveyor in the industry today. The modular belt curve conveyor has no openings greater than the international standard of 4 mm, even within the curves, which increases safety by eliminating pinch points for operators. Added safety measures are also achieved by covering the upper and lower chain edges and fully containing the drive system, which reduces catenary belt sag and conveyor noise.

Space reduction is another improvement on the AquaGard 7350 V2. The modular belt conveyor system is designed to maximize available plant space by keeping the footprint as compact as possible. Infeed and outfeed sections are a compact 18 in., further saving valuable floor space.

Dorner

Dorner appoints new director of customer service and inside sales

February 1, 2018 By Paul Heney Leave a Comment

Ben McGruder has been appointed Director of Customer Service and Inside Sales for Dorner Mfg. Corp. In his new position with Dorner, McGruder will lead Dorner’s Inside Sales team and oversee all aspects of the company’s customer service initiatives with customers and key accounts.

McGruder brings more than 14 years of sales experience to Dorner. He was most recently an inside sales manager at B/E Aerospace Lighting & Integrated Systems, where he created sales strategies and techniques to lead a national sales team. McGruder also held various sales management positions at Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics.

“The opportunity to join this team of talented professionals is something I couldn’t pass up,” McGruder said. “Dorner is a company that continues to grow, and I’m excited to use my sales management skills to help the company continue moving forward.”

McGruder can be contacted at Ben.McGruder@dorner.com.

Dorner
www.dornerconveyors.com

Dorner exhibits 3200 Series conveyor with ARB Technology and more at Automate 2017

March 30, 2017 By Lisa Eitel Leave a Comment

Dorner is exhibiting its new 3200 Series Conveyor with ARB™ Technology, along with its SmartFlex^® and Precision Move platforms, in Booth No. 1059 at Automate 2017, April 3-6 in Chicago’s McCormick Place. Dorner manufactures packaged and custom conveyor solutions to meet the industrial, packaging and sanitary conveyor automation needs for a variety of industries.

Dorner’s SmartFlex Pallet System conveyor is ideal product routing, control and inspection in

assembly automation applications. SmartFlex components, sold as completed assemblies or as kits, offer users layout flexibility and the ability implement conveyor system design changes easily. Components include merge and divert modules, lift and locate stations, cushioned pallet stops and a unique pin tracking system to guide pallets through 90° turns, all of which attach directly to the conveyor frame, without the need for modifications. Customers can purchase SmartFlex mechanical components separately or as part of a complete electrical solution.

Also on display at Automate 2017 is Dorner’s Precision Move Pallet System platform, which is designed to provide accurate positioning and routing of parts for assembly, robotic and inspection applications. The modular, dual belt Precision Move Pallet System offers lift and locate, lift and rotate, and lift and transfer modules, as well as quick belt changeovers and a unique pin tracking system for cost-effective pallet traffic management.

Joining these conveyors is Dorner’s 3200 Series Conveyor with Intralox Activated Roller Belt™ (ARB) Technology. It’s is ideal for moving boxes and packages in merging, diverting and aligning applications. ARB Technology uses low and high friction angled rollers within the belt to help smoothly guide and align items of all sizes. This conveyor technology minimizes floor space, increases system reliability, eliminates costly system controls, provides a safer work environment, and can handle products as small as 6” x 6”.

Finally, Dorner’s 3200 Precision Move Conveyor features a servo motor capable of up to 100 indexes per minute with ±0.02” index repeatability. Fast and accurate belt movement provides precision and repeatability, and positive drive no-slip belting provides worry-free belt tracking.

To see how these conveyor platforms can help your material handling applications, make plans to visit Dorner in booth 1059 at Automate 2017.

Dorner launches latest 3200 series conveyor, highlights others at PackExpo

November 30, 2016 By Mary Gannon Leave a Comment

Dorner’s new 3200 conveyor with Intralox ARB technology

The newest product line from Dorner — the 3200 series conveyor with Intralox Activated Roller Belt (ARB) Technology — was on display at PackExpo earlier this month, along with several other key technologies from the conveyor manufacturer.

The 3200 series is ideal for moving boxes and packages in applications that require merging, diverting and alignment. It is available with passive and active rollers, said Stacy Johnson, Marketing Manager.

ARB Technology uses low and high friction angled rollers within the belt to help smoothly guide and align items of all sizes. This conveyor technology minimizes floor space, increases system reliability, eliminates costly system controls, provides a safer work environment, and can handle products as small as 6 x 6 in.

“This is a really nice way to get product aligned,” Johnson said. “Usually once a product has been packaged, boxes don’t have to be the same size or shape, so this takes the product and aligns it. It’s simple automation.”

For specific applications, ARB Technology works well for:
• 90° transfers maintaining product orientation
• Aligners / edge justification
• Case turners
• Bump turns
• Touchless low friction mergers
• Rejects

90° Transfers and Lane Merges
• 90° Passive On and 90° Passive Off transfers
• No adjustment needed for different size products
• Requires 6–8-in. gap upstream
• 90° Passive On requires some product momentum, 90° Passive Off does not
• Using Passive On, product can merge into a gap on the mainline ARB conveyor
• Uses Series 400 45° chain and passive rollers

A look at Dorner’s SmartFlex conveyor at PackExpo

Edge Justification and Bump Turns
• No adjustment needed for different size products
• Edge justification requires no product gap
• Bump turn needs 6–8 in. gap upstream
• A fixed or pneumatically controlled protrusion from the side rail is added to help start the turning process
• Uses Series 400 30° chain and activated rollers

Also on display was the company’s SmartFlex Twist conveyor, which allows Dorner to take a product and rotate it easily, said Johnson. “This gives us a lot more capabilities and we can do a lot more things,” she said. “This can be used to turn a box and put a label on it or rotate it before it gets to the case packer.”

The SmartFlex features standard style chain or can be equipped with friction inserts and rollers in a variety of widths in stainless steel or aluminum frames.

Watch the video below to see the SmartFlex, ARB and Dorner’s 2200 Series nose-over squeeze and a 3200 Series bottomless squeezing in action.

Dorner
www.dornerconveyors.com

Conveyor manufacturer Dorner appoints new territory manager for Georgia and Florida

August 15, 2016 By Lisa Eitel Leave a Comment

Jon Schadeberg has been appointed a Territory Manager covering the states of Georgia and Florida for conveyor manufacturer Dorner Mfg. Corp. In this newly created sales position with Dorner, Schadeberg will be working with sales channel partners and key accounts to grow the company’s industrial and sanitary conveyor business.

In June 2015, Schadeberg began his career with Dorner as part of the company’s sales trainee program.

Trainees become well versed in Dorner culture and philosophy by spending time in the plant building conveyors, working customer service using various Dorner sales and design tools to assist in the conveyor specification process …

… and finally learning about conveyor applications through traveling with other regional sales managers and working trade shows.

“Going through Dorner’s sales trainee program gave me a complete understanding of how Dorner builds conveyors and interacts with our channel partners, and I’m really excited to begin using the experience I’ve gained in the past year to start helping our customers in Georgia and Florida,” Schadeberg said.

Lincoln Frazier, who had been covering Georgia and Florida, continues his sales management responsibilities throughout other states in the Southeast region.

Schadeberg can be contacted at jon.schadeberg@dorner.com.

Subscribe to Dorner on YouTube at youtube.com/user/DornerConveyors.

Hartland, Wis.-based Dorner Manufacturing is a world leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of high-quality conveyors and related equipment.

Since 1966, companies from around the world have turned to Dorner conveyors for greatly improved efficiency and productivity. For more information about products or company news, visit Dorner’s Web site at dornerconveyors.com or call (800) 397-8664.

Motion systems application examples: Conveyors for many uses

December 3, 2015 By Lisa Eitel Leave a Comment

Ranging from discrete product transport to bulk-material carriage, conveyor functions are as varied as the places in which they work. Engineers make conveyors meet specific applications by tailoring about a dozen conveyor design elements: belt or chain size, morphology and material; bases and support frames; controller, drive, and motor or motors; mode of belt or chain engagement with the drive; encoder, vision, and switch feedback; tracks, bumpers, and gates; and HMIs and plant-level IT integration.

2200 and 3200 Series belt conveyors from Dorner work in lightweight to heavyweight industrial applications like this one with Farason because they’re low profile and can slowly move with precision.

Shown here is a CleanMove Plus stainless-steel conveyor from mk North America. The modular design excels in the pharmaceutical industry because it withstands chlorinated cleanings and pressure washdowns to 1,500 psi. So it meets even the most rigorous Federal sanitation requirements.

Consider the warehouse-automation industry. Sorting and tracking tasks are paramount, but speed is often critical. Such applications need conveyors with servomotor functionality integrated with inspection stations fitted with machine vision. Or consider pharmaceutical manufacturing.

It’s grown to a trillion-dollar industry, even while standards such as the FDA’s Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) regulations are more stringent than ever. Here, conveyors must have all the functions of those for warehouse-automation, plus need to be stainless and aluminum, posing no risk of contamination, while quickly and cleanly transporting expensive pharmaceutical products to and from stations for bottle filling, pill compressing, sorting and inspection.

In the same way, the manufacture of medical devices must adhere to FDA regulations that dictate equipment-sterilization schedules and methods. Here, only conveyors withstanding regular harsh cleaning last.

Packaging application:

Conveyors support coordinated robot tasks

Mounting coin proof sets into hobbyist commemorative cases sounds easy, but it’s challenging when the application calls for precisely placing several thousand coins on moving inserts every day. This was a challenge engineers at Farason Corp. recently solved with conveyors from Dorner Manufacturing and vision-guided robots.

Farason designs and builds custom machinery for assembly, manufacturing and packaging processes (mostly in cosmetics, food and confections, medical, pharmaceutical and manufacturing industries).

Conveyors are the lifeblood of Amazon’s enormous fulfillment centers.

For the coin-setting application, a system picks and orients coins in case inserts, then encloses the inserts with top and bottom lenses, said Joe Hurley, president, Farason.

The automated system uses 13 vision-guided robots and 22 Dorner conveyors purchased from Stokes Material Handling Systems. First coins enter the machine in trays for indexing. Six Dorner 2200 Series conveyors feed stacks of trays containing the different coins to unloading robots.

Collectors buy and sell coin proof sets to enjoy the currencies’ precise level of detail and overall presentation in durable packaging. Here’s a robot and Dorner conveyor that help automate the packaging process.

These robots remove rows of coins from their respective trays and place them onto one of six servo-driven Dorner timing-belt conveyors. Each 2-in.-wide conveyor indexes coins downstream to where a camera logs the coins’ rotational orientation. A placing robot tends each conveyor and takes coins and places them (properly oriented) into coin wells. After depleting a tray, these robots then put empties on a Dorner 2200 Series conveyor for transfer out of the machine.

2200 and 3200 Series belt conveyors from Dorner work in lightweight to heavyweight industrial applications like this one with Farason because they’re low profile and can slowly move with precision. The conveyors also work with robotics and indexing applications, as they are easily programmable to operate drive and control options and integrate into larger systems.

Upstream robots pick coin inserts from a stack, present them to a camera (which checks for smudges, scratches and other imperfections) and then place them onto a 10-in.-wide Dorner 3200 Series conveyor. This conveyor transfers the coin inserts past six coin-placing robots.

This is a conveyor that simplifies self-stacking. Called the DirectDrive Self-Stacker System from Intralox, it uses a lightweight, hygienic modular plastic solution to save floor space, allow horizontal airflow, and minimize destacking.

Next, a flipper robot puts completed coin inserts into a device that overturns the inserts 180° for downstream assembly.

Top and bottom cameras inspect the insert to ensure all coins are present and properly orientated. Inserts that pass inspection go to a robot that picks top lenses from a stack, presents them to the camera for inspection, and then places them down onto a Dorner 3200 Series conveyor. The flipper robot puts the inserts into the top lenses; then the conveyor takes the partial assemblies to a station where (after another inspection) a robot presses the cases’ bottom lenses in place. Then the conveyor takes the final packages to a trolley-loading robot that gathers them in three-up operation for shipment preparation.

All other Farason-built coin-picking systems use Dorner conveyors. This latest design took about a year from initial specification to delivery and commissioning in April.

Industrial conveyors — a technical summary of options for all material-handling types

August 28, 2014 By Lisa Eitel Leave a Comment

This Dorner pallet system works on 2200 Series SmartFlex and 2200 Series Precision Move conveyors that position parts for assembly, robotic picking, and inspection. The SmartFlex is for part handling and accumulation; the Precision Move is for extremely accurate movement of product at specific times, distances, and intervals.

Updated August 2018 || Conveyors are automated tracks that move bulk material or discrete products from one area to another. They’re the backbone of myriad material-handling applications to improve efficiency and throughput.

Recent advances in materials, controls, and modular subcomponents have spurred new large conveyors for bulk material transport, miniature conveyors for discrete sorting, and everything in between.

Just about any product made of metal, food, cosmetics, medical supplies, plastics, or boxes move on a conveyor during manufacture. No wonder that conveyors come in all shapes and sizes, from belt widths of less than two inches (for moving extremely small parts) to several feet wide for transferring bulk substances. Once viewed as an afterthought, conveyors have become an integral component in myriad automated facilities and applications.

Read the related article: How to reduce energy use of conveyor systems

Selecting a Conveyor: Factors to consider

To select a conveyor, first answer these questions about the application.

1. What types of product is the application moving? Conveyors for material handling of bulk product are more rugged than those for moving discrete product. In contrast, the latter often requires conveyors that can advance product with more precision.

2. How does surrounding equipment interact with the product riding on the conveyor? Conveyor class 1 includes material-handling uses in which the conveyor serves as an artery to transport bulk or discrete product in a steady stream (with little interaction along the way). Class 2 includes conveyors that act as bridges to take product from one location or machine to another. Class 3 includes conveyors that take materials into or out of machines or stations; class 4 includes conveyors that run right through machinery without break.

The first two classes generally prioritize ruggedness or throughput. The last two classes need positioning and (in many cases) custom workpiece pucks to steady product while machines perform work on the product pieces.

3. What is the maximum weight of the product being moved?

4. Does the conveyor need to operate at a certain speed?

5. Does the application require the conveyor system to have inclines, declines or curves? Look for conveyor features that secure or enclose material or product onto the conveyor.

6. Will moisture be present in the application? Does the application need to be sanitary? Look for rugged or washdown-ready conveyors with open frames.

This bulk-handling ContiTech SICON conveyor can retrofit into existing facilities as it requires little supporting structure and can turn around tight bends.

Conveyor choices for bulk material handling

Traditional options for large bulk conveyors include belt, cleated-belt, screw, roller-pin, and chain conveyors. (See the Power Transmission Reference Guide section on chain drives for more information on the latter.) No matter the conveyor type, conveyors for bulk material handling are increasingly custom. For example, natural-gas extraction needs machinery to transport frack sand. Here, belt conveyors with cleats are common … and now, new compounds, cleat profiles, and endless-construction options extend life. More specifically, newer synthetic rubbers, aramids, ethylene-propylene-diene-monomer M-class (EPDM) rubbers, and EPM, and woven-basalt layers help such conveyors last longer.

The way engineers specify large conveyors is also changing. First of all, basic manufacturing processes are slowly incorporating job-specific subcomponents, so users can order equipment tailored to the applications at hand. Second of all, consolidation in North American conveyor distribution plus more value-added services means there’s more installation and maintenance support than ever for end users. Finally, online design tools now let engineers design subcomponents and even record conveyor condition in the field, for easy-than-ever maintenance scheduling.

Conveyor choices for discrete-product transport

Most conveyors in light to medium-duty discrete-transport applications use belt that’s wrapped around two or more pulleys. A motor powers the pulleys that in turn engage the conveyor belt. Styles and materials abound to meet specific applications.

This is a schematic of a conveyor network in a new distribution center for the Mango clothing brand in Spain. Designed by TGW Logistics Group, the conveyors will unify handling of flats that contain preconfigured product assortments and hanging garments to replenish shop supplies. The center will handle nearly 38,000 SKUs.

Some belts are low friction so product can slide a bit for accumulation. In contrast, high-friction belts have more grip to better hold products to the belt. Engineers can design such conveyors to meet exact application specifications. Here are some options.

Magnetic conveyors are built with ceramic magnets for applications that need parts to adhere to the belt during processing, or for jobs that require elevation changes. The designer can specify higher magnet strength for use in inverted applications. In contrast, metal-free conveyors have Delrin bedplates (instead of the traditional steel bedplate) under sections where metal-scanning equipment checks product—usually food—for metal shavings. (Delrin is an inflexible polymer that works as a tough, heat-resistant metal substitute.) This lets a device check passing product without getting false readings.

Pivot conveyors mount to a pivot base to swing out of the way when workers need to walk through the line. Interlock switches and a timer let the conveyor clear before the gate opens. Some controls can resume product flow automatically resume after the conveyor returns to the inline position.

Servo drives accurately start and stop belt conveyors to provide precise part location. They also let engineers control acceleration and deceleration, so are most suitable for conveyors used in assembly operations. Manufacturers mount encoders to a conveyor’s drive shaft to sense shaft rotation or count pulley revolutions for accurate control of the belt in feeding or indexing applications.

Single-drive multi-belt conveyors serve two or more lanes of product for the sake of efficiency. Here, two or more conveyors run off a single gearmotor on a common drive shaft or coupled shafts. In some arrangements, the belts even mount to a single conveyor frame.
Timing-belt conveyors use toothed belts that engage synchronous drive pulleys while serving as the conveyor surface as well. These provide excellent belt-movement control for accurate part or fixture positioning.
Vacuum conveyors work with a perforated belt that draws air through grooves in the conveyor bedplate to hold light or flimsy parts on inclines or during especially fast transport.

Maintaining conveyor systems

Once conveying equipment is up and running, it’s imperative it keeps operating well. It doesn’t do anyone any good to have equipment worth hundreds of thousands of dollars sitting idle because the conveyor that feeds it product is down for maintenance. Establishing an ongoing preventive maintenance program for conveyors is one way to trim downtime by catching potential problems before they shut down an entire line.

First consider how much the conveyors operate. Conveyors that run more frequently need more service. Tip: Inventory all facility conveyors and log key information, including the make and model of all conveyor parts and their dimensions, motor types, and bearing serial numbers where applicable. Then log all maintenance and schedule future inspections, recording the manufacturers’ phone numbers. There’s no right or wrong way to create an inventory database; it can be as simple or extensive as the facilities manager wants it to be. The purpose is to get control of the conveyor fleet and it for improved performance and uptime.

(More after the image.)

Shown here is 7.5 kilometers of conveyors at a distribution-center-for-hire in Danyang, China. Owned by e-commerce company CNSS, the automated center sorts and ships up to 7,500 packages per hour. Designed by TGW Logistics Group, it includes TGW conveyors that automatically feed shelves, channelizers and sorters. Online orders trigger commands to tell workers to put goods in totes on the conveyors. Scanners automatically confirm tote contents. Then the totes ride down to a picker for boxing and shipment. The biggest sorter is 100 meters long with 30 chutes.

This CAMCO iQue Conveyor from DESTACO is a scalable conveyor powered by iTRAK Technology.

See image to left: The CAMCO DESTACO iQue Conveyor is a scalable conveyor powered by iTRAK Technology. This is a programmable linear drive for independent control of magnetically propelled cars in forward or reverse at varying speeds and in batch or asynchronous sequences.

Another key tenet of a preventive maintenance program is to make a bench stock of common replacement parts for the conveyors.

Keep wear items such as rollers, belts, and bearings on hand. After operating conveyors for a while, operators come to know what other parts may require additional maintenance; keep extra stock of those items as well.

For belt conveyors, a general rule is to keep at least two replacement belts on hand. If personnel sees frayed or ripped belt, replace it immediately.

Although belt swaps interrupt production, ignoring signs of wear puts the conveyor at risk of failure during production, which in turn can damage surrounding (often expensive) machinery.

Some conveyor manufacturers even offer kits that include common replacement parts for an easy and time-saving way to stock repair parts.

Click to enlarge.
1. Plastic modular conveyors (as shown here) and other conveyor offerings from mk North America satisfy FDA requirements.
2. Dorner’s Hartland, Wis. location became ISO 9001:2015 certified earlier this year. Conveyor-fabrication image courtesy Dor ner
3. Activated Roller Belt (ARB) conveyor technology from Intralox is based on modular plastic belting with in-belt actuation to move discrete products laterally across the conveyor. It is suitable for quick on-the-fly tasks related to product merging, sorting, and switching.
4. This is another conveyor from mk North America with a food-grade fabric belt.
5. Motion Index Drives Stainless Steel Precision Link Indexing setups exceed requirements for washdown common in food-processing facilities. Heavy corrosive chemicals in such settings would corrode standard steel components.

Roller chain: Basics and sizing for power-transmission and conveying

August 25, 2013 By Motion Control Tips Editor Leave a Comment

Updated February 2018. || Engineers have used chains in motion systems for more than a century. They are versatile and reliable components to drive machinery and convey products.

Now, advances in precision and technology let designers use chains in more applications than ever. Remote installations benefit from long-life chain that requires no lubrication, for example.

Roller chain is an engineered power-transmission component. The exploded view (courtesy U.S. Tsubaki) shows the subcomponents in a chain linkage. Lower inset, the inner surface on the bushings in Tsubaki’s PerforMax chain has lubrication grooves to extend chain life.

Read the related article: What are Roller Chains? Technical Summary

Chain-based machinery abounds, but the most common industrial designs use roller chain. This type of chain consists of five basic components: pin, bushing, roller, pin link plate and roller link plate. Manufacturers make and assemble each of these subcomponents to precise tolerances and heat treat them to optimize performance.

More specifically, modern roller chains exhibit high wear resistance, fatigue strength and tensile strength. Roller-chain applications generally fall into two categories: drives and conveyors.

Chain-drive applications

Most typical drive applications use an ASME/ANSI roller chain wrapped around a driver sprocket (connected directly to the motor or reducer) and the driven sprocket (often connected to a machine’s conveyor head-shaft). This portion of the drive lets the designer build a system that’s either faster or slower by simply changing the ratio of teeth between the drive and driven sprocket. The ratio of the teeth determines the reduction in rpm … so to reduce rpm, the driven sprocket must be larger than the driver sprocket.

For example, if the driver sprocket has 15 teeth and the driven sprocket has 30 teeth, the ratio is 2:1, so the rpm is halved at the driven sprocket.

The easiest way to select a roller chain is using horsepower charts.

Click to enlarge.

First, obtain the motor horsepower and rpm of the small driver sprocket. From this, determine the roller chain size and number of teeth for the driver sprocket. Where roller chain must drive applications that need long life without contamination, pick chain with self-lubricating subcomponents. Where roller chain must drive applications that need high precision, pick chain with precision roller bearings at each link connection.

Conveyor applications for chain

Conveyor chains come in myriad versions to move product horizontally, vertically or even around curved radii. The most common conveyor chains are ASME-style (ANSI-style) attachment chains. These chains include extended pins or plates with tabs onto which parts or product-holding shoes can bolt.

This is a Zone Touch case conveyor from Container Handling Systems Corp. (CHSC), which uses chain drives that function as accumulating sections. It has longer life than conventional machines with rollers and fabric belts. It’s also quieter than roller conveyors because its tabletop chain rides low-friction UHMW wear strips and return ways.

Common versions are single-pitch attachment chain, double-pitch attachment chain, hollow-pin chain, curved-attachment chain and plastic-sleeve chain. The attachments let engineers put special fixtures or blocks onto the chain to serve specific conveyor functions.

Read the related article: What are Industrial Conveyors? Technical Summary

One subtype of conveyor chain is the accumulating conveyor. These stop discrete products even while the chain is still moving, and they do so with minimal friction and wear.

Accumulating conveyors are suitable for applications (such as assembly lines) that have products ride through several stations.

Tip: Select chain with top rollers or side rollers to let discrete products idle while the conveyor continues to run. Also pick custom attachments or work with manufacturers that make custom fixtures to handle specific parts. Many industries (including the automotive, food and beverage, and consumer-products industries) use custom attachments on their chain-based accumulator conveyors to economically and consistently move.
<span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start"></span>

Chains endure suboptimal environments

The environments of many chain applications are less than ideal. Some require clean operation without the lubrication that can contaminate products. Others expose chain-driven machinery to weather, water or chemicals. So, chain manufacturers offer several products to meet these challenges.

: Morse inverted-tooth chain drives from Power Transmission Solutions of Regal-Beloit America comes in HV versions for high capacity at high speed. Silent chain is another option to make smooth, silent drives at slower speeds.

: This Morse leaf chain from Power Transmission Solutions of Regal-Beloit America is made of roller-chain-type links and riveted pins for maximum strength for a given width. It works as tension linkage or a lifting device at slow speeds.

Consider roller chain: One critical area where roller chains need lubrication is the pin-bushing contact zone. Self-lubricating chains stay cleaner because the exterior of the chain is free of excess lube. These chains also attract less dust and particulates than regular chains. Such roller chains are useful where oil contamination is a concern, including paper-product or wood-processing industries.

Specialty coatings and stainless steel can delay or prevent corrosion

Roller-chain sprockets come in myriad versions, but most are shaft-ready. This sprocket is from the Power Transmission Solutions division of Regal-Beloit America.

Nickel-plated chains offer another alternative for chain coatings, providing some protection for mildly corrosive environments. Stainless-steel chains offer superior corrosion resistance; however, designers must be aware that regular stainless steels cannot be hardened in the same manner as carbon steel.

Therefore, the load carrying capacity of stainless steel is lower than carbon steel.

Proper chain maintenance requires periodic inspection. All chains must be checked for damage, wear and chemical attack on a regular basis.
Another issue is wear elongation.

Eventually roller chains wear so much that they necessitate replacement—typically at 1.5 to 2% (12.180 in./ft to 12.240 in./ft) elongation. Chains may work until they reach 3% elongation, but are at increased risk for suboptimal performance.

Advances in Timing Belts and Drives Ensure Conveyors Position Parts Precisely

February 20, 2013 By Motion Control Tips Editor Leave a Comment

In food and beverage lines, conveyors move parts into and out of machines, or they move parts through machines, act as a bridge between machines, or act as the main artery of a production line. An increasingly important capability of conveyor systems is to deliver more precise positioning.

Positioning accuracy is influenced by friction, either the slipping of the belt on the gear sprocket or micro slipping of product on the belt from the effects of inertia.

Dorner’s Precision Move 2200 and 3200 Series conveyors eliminate the contributors to inaccurate positioning. This line of conveyors uses positive drive belting. Teeth in the sprocket lock into teeth in the underside of the belt to eliminate slippage.

With special fixtures attached to the conveyor belt, these positive drive conveyors ensure that product is positioned precisely at various stations.

For the slippage that occurs with product on top of the belt, Dorner offers conveyors with fixture attachments that hold product in place.

A servo drive ensures that the conveyor belt delivers product to a precise position. The 3200 Series has an accuracy of 0.20 in. and the 2200 Series conveyor package has an accuracy of ± 0.40 in. Use of this approach can eliminate the need for vision systems to oversee item or part placement.

The 3200 Series offers single belt widths up to 18 in., which gives you flexibility in direct mounting of parts or pallets/pucks. The lengths range from 2 to 50 ft. The unique fixture attachments have an accuracy of ± 0.005 in. between them.

The 3200 series can handle loads to 750 lb, and belt speeds to 520 fpm. The belts have a 21-tooth H (1/2 in.) pitch profile; width ranges from 3.75 in. to 18 in. The belts of this positive drive system will not slip. The conveyor is accurate to
±0.01 in. The servomotor is accurate to ±0.02 in.

The 2200 series handles loads to 200 lb, and belt speeds to 370 fpm. The belts have a 12 tooth T10 Profile. Belt width ranges from 1.75 to 24 in. Like the 3200 series, these positive drive systems will not have belt slippage. Conveyor accuracy is ±0.02 in. Conveyor lengths range from 1.5 to 30 ft. Servo accuracy is ±0.04 in.

Dorner
www.dornerconveyors.com

How to Size and Select Belts and Pulleys: An Engineer’s Guide

August 24, 2012 By Lisa Eitel Leave a Comment

Updated May 2016 || Industrial belt drives consist of rubber belts that wrap around drive pulleys, in turn driven by electric motors. In a typical setup, the belt also wraps around one or more idler pulleys that keep the belt taut and on track. More after the jump.

This setup has an electronic warning system from ContiTech to alert operators when a conveyor is elongating or at risk of ripping. Called CONTI PROTECT and most useful on industrial and mining conveyors, the system uses magnetic markings on the belts to track irregularities in the splice length and detects longitudinal rips before they grow. Such monitoring systems are just one example of how belt-drive technologies have kept pace with 21st-century design concepts.

The main reasons that engineers pick drives with belts and pulleys over other options is that modern varieties require little if no maintenance; they’re less expensive than chain drives; and they’re quiet and efficient, even up to 95% or more.

In addition, the tensile members of today’s belts—cords embedded into the belt rubber that carry the majority of the belt load—are stronger than ever. Made of polyester, aramid, fiberglass or carbon fiber, these tensile cords make today’s belt drives thoroughly modern power-transmission devices.

Shown here is a Gates Carbon Drive CDN system—lower in cost for new bike applications. It leverages new materials and geometries, with nine carbon cords embedded within engineered polymer belt and an 11-mm tooth pitch profile for lower tension. It replaces chain drives.

Manufacturers generally describe belts and pulleys with five main geometries. Pitch diameter is the drive pulley’s diameter. Center distance is the distance between the two pulleys’ centers. Minimum wrap angle is a measure of how much the belt wraps around the smallest pulley. Belt length is how long the belt would be if cut and laid flat. Finally, in the case of toothed belts (also called synchronous belts) the pitch is the number of teeth per some length—so a 3-mm pitch means that the belt has one tooth every 3 mm, for example.

How to apply
synchronous belts

Some general guidelines are applicable to all timing belts, including miniature and double-sided belts. First of all, engineers should always design these belt drives with a sufficient safety factor—in other words, with ample reserve horsepower capacity. Tip: Take note of overload service factors.

Belt ratings are generally only 1/15 of the belt’s ultimate strength. These ratings are set so the belt will deliver at least 3,000 hours of useful life if the end user properly installs and maintains it. The pulley diameter should never be smaller than the width of the belt. More after the jump.

Shown here are timing belts, timing-belt pulleys, and Fairloc hubs from Stock Drive Instruments/Sterling Instrument (SDP/SI). The company specializes in these power-transmission components; its Fairloc hub is a particularly unique offering in that it centers shafts and keeps mounted pulleys perfectly aligned.

As mentioned, belts are quieter than other power-transmission drive options … but they’re not silent. Noise frequency increases proportionally with belt speed, and noise amplitude increases with belt tension. Most belt noise arises from the way in which belt teeth entering the pulleys at high speed repeatedly compresses the trapped pockets of air. Other noise arises from belt rubbing against the flange; in some cases, this happens when the shafts aren’t parallel.

Improved tails allow better cleanings on sanitary conveyor platform

Dorner appoints new director of customer service and inside sales

Dorner exhibits 3200 Series conveyor with ARB Technology and more at Automate 2017

Dorner launches latest 3200 series conveyor, highlights others at PackExpo

Conveyor manufacturer Dorner appoints new territory manager for Georgia and Florida