Conveying equipment specialist System Plast has developed a new low-back pressure accumulation belt said to eliminate the need for cardboard trays under shrink-wrapped PET bottle packs.
According to the US-based company, part of Emerson Industrial Automation’s Power Transmission Solutions business unit, the small-pitch surface of the plastic rollers provides product stability, smooth transfers and energy saving accumulation.
Consisting of half-inch (12.7mm) acetal rollers, the conveyor surface is specifically designed to ensure support and stability for PET bottles with petaloid bottoms, but can be used for a variety of containers.
The conveyor surface provides forward movement of the product, but easily rolls under shrink-wrapped packs during accumulation, minimising pressure on bottles at the head of the queue and eliminating the need for protective cardboard trays.
Tight roller spacing eliminates gaps and provides optimum product stability.
The small pitch diameter and use of a 0.75-inch (19mm) nose bar also allows tight end transfers.
Precision-moulded premium plastics and austenitic steel retention pins maximise conveyor life and utilisation, while also reducing noise.
System Plast says its new low-back pressure belt is an ideal complement to its System Plast NG chain, an advanced, low-friction flattop conveyor chain that can eliminate or greatly reduce the “wasteful water-and-soap lubrication typically used in food and beverage processing”.
“Used with System Plast Nolu-S wear strips, the conveying system has the capability to reduce conveyor energy requirements by up to 30 percent, with service life sometimes as much as five times greater,” the company adds.
www.powertransmissionsolutions.com
www.emersonindustrial.com
