The customer is a manufacturer and supplier of a wide range of advanced materials and technology and turned to L-A-C Logistics Automation to see if they could provide a frame belt conveyor solution for a difficult material handling problem.
Brief
To design a sandwich belt conveyor system that could receive a part that could be driven in and out of a moulding process and rotated at 90 degrees.
Solution
By using aluminium for the framework of the belt conveyors, L-A-C met the initial customer requirement of providing a light and structurally sound conveyor. The design comprised six lightweight belt conveyors 650mm long x 552mm wide x 40mm deep with variable speed motors to handle a mould and is an elegant and yet simple construction that is very easy to assemble and maintain. Due to the slim profile of each belt conveyor, consideration was given to ensuring ease of access to adjustable parts.
The belt conveyors are used in pairs to drive a rubber mould. During the process, the conveyors are rotated in pairs vertically at 90 degrees and back to a horizontal position. After various tests with the customer’s product, longitudinally ribbed belts provided the best solution with two tracking ribs in the profile to help the belt stay on track at all times.
To accommodate a wide range of speeds a brushless DC motor has been used which is particularly useful at low speeds where overheating can be a problem. The motor can be adjusted to deal with speeds between 250mm up to 3m per minute.
Features
- Aluminium frame
- Longitudinal ribbed rubber belt with tracking guides
- Brushless DC motor
Benefits of using aluminium extrusion include:
- Lightweight
- No requirement to paint
- Savings on fabrication
- Savings on assembly times
