Powered Roller Conveyors are the best Conveyor systems for transportation of heavy materials such as in construction or warehousing industry. They are also widely used for moving discrete packages like in the logistics. They are generally stronger and more durable than belt conveyors, and are able to handle heavier loads, or loads that might tear, abrade (or melt) a fabric belt.
Powered Roller Conveyors come in three basic forms depending upon the load they are required to move. Shaft drive conveyors are the cheaper option and suitable for medium to light loads. Chain Drive Roller systems are more suited to moving bulky and heavy packages, such as palletised goods. Finally individiually powered rollers offer the most flexibility and strength for the largest loads.
In Lineshaft drive conveyors each roller connects to a central ‘drive shaft’ by a small fabric drivebelt. (Similar to a fan-belt in a car). This is suitable for lighter loads, and has an interesting advantage in that it forms an automatic accumulation conveyor. The drive belt in the system is like a clutch which forces the rollers to slip the clutch. This arrangement ensures that no roller can ‘slip’ under load, and gives positive drive to all of the rollers on the bed simultaneously.
In Chain drive conveyors each roller is attached to a chain that runs down the length of the conveyor, and connects to a drive motor. This ensures that each roller turns at the same speed, and is driven very firmly. It is a popular method for moving heavier loads that would overwhelm a lineshaft conveyor and cause it to ‘slip’
Unlike other Conveyors, in Powered Roller Conveyor each Roller has a separate motor build inside. Due to this property the system is capable of carrying Heavy and bulky loads easily. Power Conveyors are the most powerful conveyor systems among all others and can be customized to electronically create and move the accumulation zones. Different sections of the conveyor can effectively run at different speeds, or stop altogether, independently of one another. A variation of this system is to intersperse powered and unpowered rollers to reduce cost.
With the labeled benefits of being powered, Accumulation facility is also offered by this kind of conveyor system. This means that the conveyor will stop automatically without stopping the rest of the machine when a package reaches the end of the conveyor. At the end of the conveyor packages can be accumulate for final packing or dispatching to the storage or the delivery area. Rubber Bands are used to power each roller in the Drive Shaft Conveyors.
Powered Roller Conveyors is being used wherever a product needs to be moved within a building or a factory. From the time when a raw material is loaded, and the product moves through an assembly line, processed, packaged and then moved to a warehouse or delivery, Power Conveyor systems is the common part in all the process.. Warehouses often have complex “pick-and-pack” lines. In some cases, bulk goods simply need to be stored, and then retrieved, en masse for forwarding.
