Popular Packaging Machinery - Power Conveyor Systems
Over the past week we have covered some popular packaging machines used to rinse, fill and cap containers. Each of these machines are available as automatic equipment allowing continuous rinsing, filling or capping without human intervention during the production run. However, the automatic machines would not be even close to peak efficiency if not for a power conveyor system to transfer the containers from one machine to the next.
The main function of a power conveyor system, as touched on above, is to transfer containers. However, this is not the only function that the system's serve. In addition to transferring, conveyor systems can be used to load, cool or accumulate as well. Loading conveyors will often include a table with lane dividers, allowing quick and easy placement of containers from a range of bulk packages. Once unloaded, the bottles enter the lanes and are taken away in groups on the main conveyor system.
Cooling conveyors can take many different shapes and sizes, but are generally used to allow products that are filled hot to settle before moving on to the capping machine. Product may be cooled with a straight, inline power conveyor or with a serpentine conveyor. Some applications may even use a multiple tiered conveyor to save space. Regardless of the configuration, these systems may also use fans to assist in speeding up the cooling.
Accumulating conveyors can be used for a number of different processes. The most common may be for a system that uses manual packing of finished products or bundles of products. As finished product accumulates on the conveyor, manual labor can be used to pack boxes or pallets to prepare for shipping. Some applications may even use packing tables along the side of the conveyor to assist in the process. Other systems may only be partially automated, with conveyors used to accumulate product for capping, labeling or any other function of the packaging process.
For the more typical transfer power conveyor systems, there are several different options to ensure the system works efficiently for the project at hand. First, different types of conveyors are available, from low profile conveyors that offer a little extra room for tight fits to sanitary style conveyors that allow for quick and easy clean up. The environment, production floor, containers, product and more will all help find the ideal conveyor type for any given project. Different materials are also available for power conveyor systems. Though stainless steel will be used for a majority of the conveyors manufactured by Liquid Packaging Solutions, HDPE construction is available for those products, like acids and other harsh chemicals, that simply do not interact well with stainless steel. Finally, conveyor systems can be set up to run in a straight line, but they can also change direction via curved conveyor sections, raise or lower for different applications or generally move in the direction needed to complete a packaging task.
To learn more about the different systems available and which might work best for your own packaging project, visit the Conveyor Section of the LPS website.