Conveyor Applications

The challenge was to improve quality and increase productivity through technology.

The justification for the new packaging system was to reduce damage to the finished product of paper sheets as it traveled from the warehouse to the printers. This required a packaging system that would seal the pallets of paper sheets and eliminate the harmful environmental conditions by restricting moisture and UV sunlight.

The secondary objective was to utilize state of the art equipment to replace the manual wrapping operations they were currently using. With this automated system our customer was able to reduce their labor force by 12 employees and provide their customer with an improved product.

Babush Material Handling went about the task of integrating the special equipment required for the packaging system and customizing the controls to monitor the process from start to finish.

One of the critical factors became the necessity to convey the unwrapped pallets of paper sheets with a maximum weight of 4000 lbs. between each stage of the packaging system. For this reason chain-driven-live-roller conveyor was chosen to ensure reliability with no disruption of the paper sheets during transportation from station to station. By incorporating soft start/stop controls on the conveyors we were able to guarantee the paper remained stable throughout the various equipment stations.

At the beginning of the conveyor line the pallet is stopped at the weigh station. The height, width, length, and weight of the pallet is measured. This information is transmitted to the customer’s host computer for verification. If the pallet information doesn’t match the pallet’s bar code, the pallet is rejected and sent back to the loading station. If the pallet is good, the pallet advances to the centering station where the sheets of paper are guided and repositioned to ensure they are located squarely on the pallet. The pallet then proceeds to the top-film station. Here a layer of shrink film is laid on the top of the pallet with some overhang on all four sides. Because the control system tracks the pallet size throughout the process, the system is able to run various pallet sizes automatically without assistance from the operator. Then it’s on to the film wrapping station where the pallet advances through a film curtain. Once the pallet is through the film curtain, the trailing edge of the curtain is sealed with a welding beam to recreate the curtain.

At this point, the pallet reaches the most important station. This is where the pallet enters the film-shrinking oven; the top film and side film sheets are heated by blowing hot air from 4 sides and the top. This results in a very tight and uniformly wrapped pallet when the sheets of film fuse together to form a single wrap. After the pallet is removed from the oven it stops at the cooling press station where pressure is applied to the top of the load as it cools to ensure the most compressed and strongest package possible. The pallets are off to the operator station where they apply a label that is generated by the host computer. The pallet will then travel either directly to the loading dock or to an AGV loading station. The AGV will then transport the pallet to the customer’s high-rise storage system.

This system utilizes specialized equipment manufactured in Germany. This presented a unique challenge, first dealing with the translation of technical data from the German language to English. Secondly the German equipment was designed for Siemens controls (the predominant architecture in Europe). Our customer preferred to use Allen Bradley architecture to insure commonality within their facility and allowing them the ability to receive service locally. Through a strong commitment to detail and dogged determination, the system was designed and completed in the allotted timeframe. Our customer was able to put the new pallet wrapping system online and eliminate the need to manually wrap their products from that day forward.

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