There are many intricacies of accumulation. For instance, consider the following material handling applications.
A large industrial manufacturer wanted to move some plastic components across its assembly line. The product was nearly rectangular in shape. The manufacturing site offered no overhead space to accommodate a typical ascending-descending alpine system and floor space was at a premium. To say that this project was intricate would be the understatement of the century.
To solve the problem, the company installed an alpine system that included a reverse downward spiral. Product that goes down must come up. To get this design to work, engineers had to incorporate a crossover approach that allowed the product to descend and ascend in a unique parallel fashion. Without this approach, it would have been almost impossible to solve this intricate problem.
A large medical device manufacturer needed a way to move syringes in pucks. The product was round and thin, and the company was not particularly concerned about the orientation of the product. However, it was critical that the syringes not be dumped out of their pucks. A simple mass accumulation system using a traditional accumulation table approach solved the problem.
Normally, mass accumulation is the quickest and easiest form of accumulation. Unfortunately, there is a lot of wasted space with most accumulation table scenarios. In this particular case, the intricacies of keeping the syringes in their pucks created a big challenge.
By carefully considering many different variables, such as product weight, height and manufacturing speed, the engineering team was able to allow these syringes to gently accumulate in mass without spilling over. A host of guards and diverters moved the product gently to the end of the accumulation table.
A large pharmaceutical company needed to move some oddly shaped prescription bottles and vials. It was critical that these bottles not tip over. As a result, a serpentine system was required. It was also important that the leading edge of the product be rotated evenly throughout its travels.
Each vial was approximately 2 inches wide. At a production speed of 300 vials per minute, some 600 inches of product would be produced in 1 minute. Thus, accumulation of 5 minutes of production time would require 250 feet of conveyor.
Conquering accumulation intricacies is not easy. But, as long as the product shape, dimension, weight and orientation requirements are clearly understood, in addition to the available space at the manufacturing site and required production speed, most conveyor projects will succeed without a hitch.
Problems, glitches and mistakes typically occur when one or more parties fail to communicate the required variables to the other. Clear communication is critical to the ongoing success of any conveyor project.
Before tackling a project, engineers should ask the following questions: