Packaging line conveyor systems specialist Shuttleworth Inc has released new high speed chain-driven conveyors capable of reaching speeds up to 495 feet per minute while maintaining product stability.
The Indiana, US-based company says the new development gives manufacturers greater versatility on their packaging lines, should the extra conveyor speed be required.
Whereas most conveying systems used for end-of-line packaging operations run at less than 300fpm, conveyor systems involving straight sections for high volume throughput of lightweight, low-profile products can be adapted to benefit from faster conveyor speeds, according to Shuttleworth.
“Previously our conveyor systems could reach up to 300fpm,” says Klaus Daenzer, senior plastics R&D engineer at Shuttleworth.
“We can now achieve the higher speeds, in part because of improvements we have made in wear and friction engineering – particularly with its effect on plastics, which is a critical component to longevity in conveyor operation.”
Faster speeds produce higher force vectors, Daenzer explains, and this can increase wear on conveyor components. “We have worked out how to greatly minimise these factors,” he says.
Shuttleworth says its conveyors provide gentle product handling and precise product placement, utilising the latest controls technology of PLCs, motion control devices, servo-motors and variable-speed zoning, particularly in the food, pharma, electronics, printing and solar industries where these criteria are critical.
The new high speed conveyors can be integrated with the company’s patented Slip-Torque low-line backpressure technology for handling delicate products, and its and Servo-Infeed technology for ultra-precise product infeed, such as into wrapping equipment.
“This high speed end-of-line capability is product and application driven,” says Daenzer.
“Manipulating product on the conveyors would not particularly lend itself to high speed usage, nor would the handling of high-profile products, but for high-throughput movement on straight-away sections, it can be very applicable.”
