90-Degree Case Turn Conveyor Solution
Custom Conveyor Solution for Precision, Touch-Free Case Turning
Columbia, South Carolina, like in many places around the US, is home to a diverse group of manufactures producing a wide range of goods across many industries.
While the industrial leaders here have a lot of moving parts to focus on from transportation and staffing to education and distribution, when you get an AEC representative involved in a project like Brian Hester, Material Handling Specialist for over 20 years, just two things are constantly dominating their thoughts: Point A and Point B.
Often this can be a simple thing like devising a solution for a beer and wine distributor to use gravity conveyors to feed a truck or assessing the potential to double warehouse space with a mezzanine. These can be straight forward challenges for someone with an engineering background like Hester.
Recently, however, Hester was tasked with something trickier.
Industry: Food & Beverage manufacturer in Columbia, South Carolina
Challenge: Transferring cases fresh out of a heat shrink tunnel on a wide conveyor to a new, narrower conveyor without using a physical bump or catching the warm heat shrink on cartons.
Solution: 90 degree turn conveyor: Custom designed, two-strand plastic chain conveyor moving at different speeds to provide a consistent 90-degree turn on the conveyor belt – providing a touch-free transition to a narrower conveyor.
Equipment: CarryLine two-strand plastic chain conveyor, custom designed.
90-Degree Touch-Free Case Turner
A Food & Beverage manufacturer in Columbia, SC needed an efficient and reliable solution for turning cases 90 degrees without damaging their delicate heat-shrink packaging.
Challenge: A touch-free transfer of cases from a wider conveyor to a narrower conveyor belt.
Corrugated cardboard cases filled with product leave the heat shrink tunnel, still warm, and travel length-wise down a wide conveyor belt. Along the way, the cases need to transfer from a wide belt system to a narrower conveyor belt which required a full 90-degree turn.
The challenge was that 90 degree turn must be made “touch-free” – without using a physical bump or mechanical device that could damage the boxes or catch on the warm heat shrink packaging.
“Finding elegant solutions is something I really love about my job,” said Hester. “It didn’t take long to realize how simple this one could be.”
Solution: Two-Strand Plastic Chain Conveyor delivering a seamless, touch-free process.
Using a custom-built, two-strand plastic chain conveyor by CarryLine, Hester solved this riddle. Set to variable speeds, the two strands moved slightly differently causing the boxes to consistently rotate 90 degrees with precision (see video).
Due to strict hygiene and cleanliness requirements imposed by the Food & Beverage industry, the conveyor itself was all stainless-steel construction. A filler plate was included between the strands to prevent the heat shrink from catching on the edges of the chain as well as low profile UHMW guard rails.
“Smooth and consistent product rotation without mechanically touching the cases and tearing the heat shrink lead to no product damage or marking,” said Hester. “I was pretty pleased and so was the client.”
Result: Flawless 90 degree product rotation.
This precision, touch-free conveyor solution reduced operational risk, ensured product integrity, and met the industry’s stringent hygiene requirements, resulting in improved efficiency without causing damage to cases or their heat-shrink packaging.
Brian Hester, Engineer and Material Handling Specialist
Brian Hester has been creating integrated material handling and storage solutions for over 20 years. His mission is to use his engineering background and extensive knowledge base of a wide variety of products to produce custom solutions that solve customer’s needs.
Brian specializes in packaging line integration, sortation and accumulation conveyor systems, distribution center conveyor systems, mobile aisle pallet rack systems, automatic storage and retrieval systems (ASRS), ergonomic lift and positioning equipment, heavy material lifts for floor-to-floor applications and mezzanines, modular offices and safety guarding (both custom and standard), and he loves big projects!
