Low Cost Sortation Equipment Doesn’t Have to Mean Low Throughput

Tuesday, September 20th, 2011

When it comes to automating product sortation, businesses have many types of equipment they could invest in to meet their requirements–some simple, some much more complicated. A few of these options include:

• Shoe Sorters
• Narrow Belt Sorters
• Activated Roller Belt Conveyors
• Cross Belt Sorters
• High Speed Paddles
• High Speed Pushers
• Pivot Wheel Diverters
• Tilt Tray Sorters

Often times, conveyor system designers get caught up in using complex sortation equipment with scanners, cameras, etc. These systems take a heavy amount of controls programming and initial testing to be successful and perform the sortation needed.

Unfortunately, more programming and testing typically leads to greater risk for both the supplier and the end user because there will be more work up front to get the system running properly and more chance for maintenance issues down the road.

With those issues in mind, why not start with the basics and see where that gets you? For example, a pneumatic pusher can sort at roughly 40 cartons per minute, which isn’t slow by industry standards, and the controls are simply a single input from a product photoeye and one output from the programmable logic controller (PLC) for extending the cylinder.

Another way to simplify the sortation process is through the use of Intralox activated roller belt (ARB) conveyor. Diverting in multiple locations on either side of a conveyor is often done using a shoe sorter, but the process can be simplified by using ARB conveyor instead.

One of the biggest advantages of using ARB conveyor versus a shoe shorter is there are less moving parts, meaning less downtime for maintenance and repair. We have hit rates of 120 cases per minute utilizing this Intralox belt and the solution has a smaller footprint than that of a system utilizing a shoe sorter.

Try not to get caught up in the bells and whistles of fancy sortation equipment. Invest only in the equipment that will get the job done and get it done well. Sometimes that equipment will be complex, but many other times, keeping it simple will be the best way to go. Remember to start with the basics and move to more complex solutions only if the challenge warrants it.

Magic Rollers for Conveying Fragile Product

Thursday, July 21st, 2011

In today’s world of material handling, many of the products being handled are not designed to be impacted with an aluminum pusher face at 200 feet per minute.  While pushers and plows can effectively sort, divert, and position product, they are not ideal for fragile product.

A growing trend solving this issue is known as a “touchless” divert.  A touchless divert is a conveyor that does not divert by applying a force to the sides of the product, but instead, changes the relative direction of the conveyor.

One of the most common examples of a touchless divert is an active roller belt conveyor. These conveyors consist of a modular plastic belt conveyor with rollers set in the belt at a particular angle.  These rollers can then be activated to change the direction of product flow.  The active roller belts can be used to create many different operations such as lane switching, alignment, centering, descrambling, sorting, merging, and turning.

The video below shows an active roller belt sorter in action.  As you can see, the variety of products that can be placed on these belts is very diverse and products such as tissue and donut boxes are safely diverted without damage.  Also, many products that would not be conveyable on rollers such as polybags, chimed cans, and other products without a completely flat bottom, can be conveyed and diverted with the active roller belt.

In addition to handling fragile product well, active roller belt conveyors can often times provide higher throughputs by allowing smaller gaps between products.  Depending on the type of active roller belt used, the gap between products can comfortably be as small as 6″.

In order for pneumatic pushers to accommodate faster throughputs, the cylinder extend and retract speeds must be increased, which increases the impact on the product and is abusive to the cylinder components.

The ability to handle fragile product at a fast throughput makes the active roller belt a great product to consider in many applications.