Conveying Index

Conveying Index ________________________________________________________________________________________1

Objectives _____________________________________________________________________________________________4
Types of conveying systems______________________________________________________________________________7
Objective

Definition of conveying:

Conveyors found in the bottling hall

10

Conveyor manufacturers ________________________________________________________________________________11

Objective

11

Accumulation _________________________________________________________________________________________13
Objective

13

Dynamic accumulation

14

The V profile ________________________________________________________________________________________17

Objective

17

Line Rating

17

Machine speeds upstream of the filler

18

Machine speeds downstream of the filler

18

V-profile

19

Types and construction of bottle and can conveyors ________________________________________________________20

Objective

20

Major Components

20

Can Conveyor

21

Conveyor Chain

22

Straight or Curved Conveyors.

23

Widths of Conveyors.

24

Guide rails and nesting patterns__________________________________________________________________________25

Objective

25

Types of Guide Rails

25

Purpose of Guide Rails.

26

Nesting Pattern.

27

Correct guide rail settings

28

Transfers, dividing and combining ________________________________________________________________________29

Objective

29

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Transfers

29

Dead Plate

29

Dividers

31

Combiners

32

Pressure type combiners

32

Pressure free combiners

35

Drive systems, control systems and lubrication_____________________________________________________________36

Objective

36

Conveyor drives

36

Conveyor controls

39

Conveyor lubrication

41

Design parameters _____________________________________________________________________________________43

Objective

43

Combiners

43

Parallel transfers

43

Types and construction of crate and case conveyors ________________________________________________________46

Objective

46

Types of case Conveyors

47

Accumulation, dividing and combining ____________________________________________________________________50

Objective

50

Crate Accumulation

50

Crate transfers

51

Crate turners

53

Crate dividers / combiners

54

Crate magazines _______________________________________________________________________________________55

Objective

55

Crate conveyor drive controls systems and lubrication_______________________________________________________57

Objective

57

Crate Conveyor Drive

57

Conveyor controls

58

Crate conveyor lubrication

58

Types and construction of pallet conveyors ________________________________________________________________59

Objective

59

Types of pallet

61

Pallet transfers ________________________________________________________________________________________62

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Objective

62

Types

62

Pallet magazines_______________________________________________________________________________________64
Objective

64

Pallet conveyors drive control systems, and lubrication ______________________________________________________66

Objective

66

Conveyor controls

67

Safety ________________________________________________________________________________________________69
Objective

69

Injury from flying glass

69

Injury from moving parts.

71

Nip-points

71

Safety Features

72

Index of terms _________________________________________________________________________________________73

Questions ____________________________________________________________________________________________78
Answers

90

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Objectives
Having completed this course the student should have achieved the following objectives:
Types of conveying systems

Identify the different types of conveying

systems

Conveyor manufacturers

To cover some of the conveyor manufacturers.

Accumulation

Understand the concept and control of

accumulation.

The V profile

Understand the concept of line rating and the

V profile.

Types and construction of bottle and

can conveyors

Cover the types and construction of bottle and

can conveyors.

Guide rails and nesting patterns

Identify the types & operation of guide rails &

the concept of nesting patterns.

Transfers, dividing and combining

Cover the concept of conveyor transfer, flow

dividers and flow combiners.

Drive systems, control systems and

lubrication

Identify the common drive systems, control

systems and lubrication maintenance of
conveyors.

Design parameters

Cover some design parameters of conveyors

and the effect of design on performance
efficiency.

Types and construction of crate and

case conveyors

Identify types and construction of crate and

case conveyors.

Accumulation, dividing and combining

Cover dynamic crate accumulation, transfers,

dividers and combiners.

Crate magazines

Understand static crate accumulation.

Crate conveyor drive controls

systems and lubrication

Identify types and construction of crate

conveyor drives, their lubrication and their
control systems.

Types and construction of pallet

conveyors

Identify types and construction of pallet

conveyors.

Pallet transfers

Identify the processes of pallet transfer and

the machinery required.

Pallet magazines

Understand the accumulation process in pallet

conveying.

Pallet conveyors drive control

Identify types and construction of pallet

conveyors drive, their lubrication and their
control systems.
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systems, and lubrication

control systems.

Safety

Understand the dangers of conveyors,

particularly auto start areas. Be able to apply
personal safety standards in the area.

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Types of conveying systems

Objective
Identify the types of conveying systems

There are many different types of conveyors in use in industry. In the brewing industry,
conveyors are used to transfer brewing materials such as malt and adjuncts; and
packaging materials such as pallets, crates, bottles, cans, kegs, cartons, trays and crown
corks. Transportation can be by gravity, mechanical, fluid, air driven or by vibration.

Definition of conveying:
The systems and mechanisms used to move materials or product from one location
to another.
Some different types of conveying systems:

Air conveyors: These use air to move the

item from one point to another. A simple
type of air conveyor is found in malt
handling where the malt is often blown in a
pipe from one location to another.

Here we have shown more sophisticated

air conveyors used to convey plastic (PET)
bottles. The plastic bottle hangs inside a
frame by its neck, then is blown along the
conveyor by air flow directed through
channels. The bottles can only be
conveyed in a single lane.
Light empty plastic bottles would be difficult
to convey conventionally as they would fall
over. They can be conveyed normally after
filling.

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Vibrating Conveyors: Simonazzi label

extraction systems use a vibrating plate to
convey labels from within the label
extraction drum. The plate shakes
backward and forward, but is angled so
that the labels gradually slide to the catch
tray. This has the advantage of allowing
liquid detergent to return to the tank
through holes in the plate.

Bucket Conveyor : Here hops are

conveyed by a belt system that is divided
into bucket shaped containers. This stops
the cone shaped hops from rolling
backwards and keeps them from being
bruised.

Screw Conveyor This uses a rotating

screw that pushes material forwards as the
screw rotates. Often used for grain
handling, frequently such conveyors are
used to discharge the spent grains from
the Lauter Tun in the brewhouse.

This is an open screw with no centre shaft,

which gives gentler handling, or a screw
with a central shaft can be used where
greater strength is needed.

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Trough Belt Conveyor : This uses a

flexible belt which forms a trough shape
due to the angle of the support rollers and
the weight of the material being moved.
Frequently used for moving ore, coal etc..
The rubber belt has to be extremely tough
and resistant to abrasion.

Overhead Conveyors : Used frequently in

the motor industry, and as shown here in
the clothing industry.

Overhead conveyors allow easy access to

the material or product and do not get in
the way and clutter the shop floor.

Chain mesh conveyors: These type of

conveyors are found on label extraction
systems, and in other areas where solids
(labels) need to be removed from liquids,
as they allow the liquid to run back through
the mesh

There are numerous other types of

conveying system.
The lifting device shown here uses chain
drives to lift trays vertically.

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Conveyors found in the bottling hall

Although there is an almost unlimited variety of different conveyor types found in industry,
we can categorise the conveyors we find in the bottling hall into 4 groups:
Bottle / Can/keg conveyors
Crate / Tray conveyors
Pallet Conveyors
Auxiliary Conveyors (For rubbish, labels etc)
Bottle/can conveyors

Crate/Tray conveyors

Pallet conveyors

Auxiliary conveyors

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Conveyor manufacturers
Objective
To cover some of the conveyor manufacturers.

There are many different conveyor manufacturers, partly because the manufacture of
conveyors requires much less in the way of specialised engineering equipment than
does the manufacture of, for example, a bottle filler. There are thus numerous
companies who build conveyor sections and conveying systems.
We have here included only the manufacturers of complete conveying systems who also
produce packaging machinery.
Manufacturer
Procomac produce stainless steel bottle
conveyors with overhead drive motors as
a standard feature.

Kettner (Germany) : Now owned by

Krones, the Kettner company specialises
in case and pallet handling systems, such
as this automated order picking plant.

KHS (Germany) : Manufacture a wide

range of container, crate, tray and pallet
conveying systems under the Innoline
brand name.

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Simmonazzi (Italy)
Simmonazzi bottle conveyors are
recognisable by their use of blue guide
rails and chain covers.

Krones (Germany) manufacture a range

of conveyors integrated to their
packaging equipment.

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Accumulation
Objective
To understand the concept and control of accumulation.

Accumulation is the storage of production units that are not yet required by the next
production stage. For example, the bottle washer may produce more washed bottles
than the filler requires for filling. These bottles are stored on a conveyor, and can be fed
to the filler later on, for instance when there is a problem that causes the bottle washer
to stop production.
Accumulation thus allows short line stoppages to be accommodated (for example a jam
at the washer infeed) by supplying product to the next machine (for example the filler)
until the first machine is running again.
One of the simplest forms of accumulation is the Bi-Directional accumulation table:

The accumulation table is controlled by sensors mounted on the conveyor either side of
the table. When the conveyor is full of bottles, the table matt moves inwards/backwards
so that it is filled up with the excess bottles. However, this accumulation table is not
FIFO (first in - First out) concept.
When the conveyor sensors indicate that the conveyors are empty then the table matt
moves towards the conveyors feeding the bottles back onto the conveyors.
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Dynamic accumulation
Mass bottle conveyors (conveyors more than one chain wide) are designed to have more
space on them than is needed to convey the bottles from one machine to the next.

A typical bottle conveyor arrangement is shown above. Each conveyor is six slatchains wide, the red lines indicate the conveyor guide rails.

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When the two machines at either end of the conveyor are running normally, the
conveyor will be loaded approximately half full as shown below.

The UPSTREAM machine is the machine supplying the conveyor, the downstream
machine is the machine that is supplied BY the conveyor. To remember this, think of the
conveyor as a flowing river.
If the upstream and downstream machines are at the same speed, then the same
number of bottles are fed onto the conveyor by the upstream as are removed by the
downstream machine. The amount of conveyor available for use by the bottles is known
as its transit capacity.
If the downstream machine is now stopped, the conveyor fills up until the upstream
machine is forced to stop because there is no more space on the conveyor.

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The amount of bottles that can be added to the conveyor in excess of the transit
capacity is the conveyors dynamic accumulation.

Dynamic accumulation can only be measured after the conveyor has been loaded to its
transit capacity. The total number of bottles on a conveyor is not its accumulation
capacity!! (The total number of bottles on the conveyor is called the static
accumulation).
The dynamic accumulation is usually expressed in time, so that at rated line capacity, if
the conveyor is loaded to its transit capacity and the downstream machine stops, the
time for which the upstream machine can continue running at rated speed is the
dynamic accumulation time.
Depending on machine reliability, line design may provide for between 2 and 5 minutes
of dynamic accumulation between each major packaging machine.

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The V profile
Objective
To understand the concept of line rating and the V profile.

Line Rating
If the upstream and downstream machines connected by the bottle conveyors shown
below could operate perfectly, then no accumulation would be necessary.
However, we have to accept that there
will always be some short stoppages,
even though we constantly try to
eliminate them.

Whenever the downstream machine

stops, the conveyor fills up with bottles.

When both machines are again

operating at the same speed, then the
conveyor will remain full, as the
upstream machine will add the same
number of bottles as the downstream
machine takes away.
It is essential that the downstream
machine runs faster (normally 10% to
15% faster) than the upstream one to
empty the conveyor and create space,
otherwise the accumulation has no
effect.
We should thus be able to see that accumulation and machine running speeds are
closely related. In beverage packaging lines we usually have a line rating, the speed at
which the line should run continuously. This rating is usually the maximum capacity of
the filler. It is this rated speed that is used to calculate the efficiency of the line. The idea
is to keep the filler running continuously.

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Machine speeds upstream of the filler

The machines that supply bottles to the filler each run progressively faster than the filler.
The bottle washer may be 15% faster than the filler, and the unpacker 20% faster.
The bottle washer is thus continuously trying to fill up the conveyor feeding the filler. If
the bottle washer stops, the filler utilises the bottles on the conveyer. Once the washer
is running again, it runs at a faster speed to fill up the spaces on the conveyor.

Machine speeds downstream of the filler

The machines that take bottles away from the filler each run progressively faster than
the filler. The labeller may run 15% faster than the filler and the packer 20% faster.
The labeller is thus continuously trying to empty the conveyor between the filler and the
labeller. If the labeller has to stop, the space on the conveyor allows the filler to keep
running until the conveyor is full. Hopefully the labeller will start running again before the
filler has to stop. The labeller must then run at a higher speed to empty out the
conveyor and provide spaces before another labeller stoppage occurs.
UPSTREAM of the filler we try to keep the filler supplied with bottles, DOWNSTREAM
of the filler we try to keep the filler supplied with space on the conveyors so that it does
not have to stop.
One of the common habits observed with labeller operators is the setting of the labeller
speed to be equal to the filler speed. By doing this you effectively remove the
accumulation between the filler and labeller. As soon as the labeller stops the filler also
has to stop because the conveyor is never emptied. With the labeller running at the
correct speed the filler stop could have been avoided provided the labeller stopped for
only 2-3 minutes (about 15% of filler capacity).

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V-profile
When the upstream and downstream speeds of the various machines on a packaging
line are drawn on a graph, they should form a V shape as shown below.
This gives the lines V-profile, the set of machine running speeds that will make the
best use of the available accumulation and ensure the most efficient operation possible.

Theoretical Line V profile

Palletiser

Packer

Labeller

Pasteuriser

Filler/Crowner

Machines

Empty Bottle
Inspector

Bottle
Washer

Unpacker

Depalletiser

130
125
Percentage of 120
115
Filler Rated
110
Capacity
105
100

The speeds shown here would apply to a typical returnable bottling line.
If, in this case, the filler is rated at 45000 bottles per hour, then the depalletiser, at 125%
(see graph above) of this, would run at a speed of:

45000 x 125%= 56250bottles per hour

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Types and construction of bottle and can conveyors

Objective
To cover the types and construction of bottle and can conveyors.

Major Components
Modern bottle and can conveyors are manufactured from a frame of stainless steel, on
which the slat chains are driven by a motor and gearbox.

Image courtesy KHS

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Can Conveyor
Can conveyors use either a plastic slat chain or a plastic roller chain, as a stainless steel
slat chain would cause damage to the cans.

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Conveyor Chain
Different types of conveyor chain are available:

Stainless steel slat chain. This chain consists of

segments linked together by pins. The chain shown
here can only run in a straight line, but flexible chains
that can curve and are used in corners are also
available. Available in two sizes, 81.25 mm or 187.5
mm.

Plastic roller chain. This plastic chain consists of

chain links made from plastic that are held together
by steel pins running across the chain. The open
design allows liquids to run through. Used in
applications as wide as a pasteuriser or as narrow as
single lane conveying.

Plastic slat chain. Used for canning lines, note the

support ribs beneath the chain to add strength.
Available in 81.25 mm or 137.5 mm sizes

Closed plastic roller chain. Similar to the open plastic

roller chain except that there are no gaps between the
links.

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Straight or Curved Conveyors.

The conveyors themselves can be either straight or curved.
The chains on the conveyor are supported by plastic strips called SLATS. The slats are
in fact a wear strip made of plastic (usually ultra-high molecular weight poly-ethylene or
certain grades of Nylon). The wear strip supports the conveyor chain, and provides a
guide for the chain, as the chain links and pins fit inside of the gap between the wear
strips (or slats).
Straight conveyor section (transfer unit) showing
plastic slat wear strips. The wear strips are fixed
to the conveyor frame with screws. The screws
have to be countersunk to a sufficient depth that
their heads do not catch and damage the
conveyor chain, even when the wear strip has
worn down a few mms.

Here a curved conveyor section is shown, that

would utilise flexible conveyor chain (flex top).
The curved wear strips are also ultra-high
molecular weight polyethylene, but may be
impregnated with magnetic particles so that the
chain is pulled down onto the wear strip, to help
prevent the chain from jumping off of the tracks in
the corner.

This picture shows the flex-top or flexible chain

conveyor used on some conveyor corners.

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Widths of Conveyors.

Single lane conveyors are required at

many machine infeed and discharge
points, and also when the containers
are to be inspected. (Note: If they are
to be inspected there must be a gap
between the containers.)

Bulk conveyors are used between

machines to provide accumulation.
Lower bottle speeds give softer
handling with less noise and damage.

Pressure free combiners are special

types of conveyor used to feed from a
bulk conveyor into a single lane
conveyor when a smooth transfer at
high speeds is required.

Page 24 of 90

Guide rails and nesting patterns

Objective
Identify the types & operation of guide rails & the concept of nesting patterns.

Types of Guide Rails

Several different types of guide rail are available:

A solid guide rail made from an extruded section of

high density polyethylene. The section shown here is
only suitable for unlabelled bottles, and note that the
position of the guide rail cannot be adjusted.

Here the same guide rail has been installed on

adjustable mountings. This allows for accurate setting
to obtain the correct nesting pattern, and allows for
adjustment to accommodate different bottle sizes.

Stainless steel bars. As arranged here they might be

used for a tall unstable plastic container. They should
not be used on glass bottles because they cause
scuffing

Separated D section guide rails.

A D shaped strip of high density polyethylene is held
in a stainless steel frame. In this picture the guide
strip is coloured white. One guide rail is fitted above
the body label and one below the label. This gives
support without damaging the label.

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Purpose of Guide Rails.

The purpose of the guide rails is to prevent bottles from falling and to deflect the bottles
along the desired path. This must be achieved without metal to glass contact at any point,
as this will scratch and scuff the bottles, and without contacting the labels after the
labeller.
The positioning of the guide rail is important in directing the bottle flow, without causing
excess pressure that leads to jams and bottle locking.
Here the guide rail follows a parabolic curve, which gradually diverts the bottles onto the
second conveyor.
The parabolic shaped curve gives equal pressure at each point.

PL: Bottle most likely on left side

of conveyor

Secondly the distance between the guide rails on either side of the conveyor determines
whether the correct nesting pattern is achieved.

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Nesting Pattern.
Below a good nesting pattern is shown, all of the bottles are arranged in neat rows with no
holes in-between.

When the conveyor guide rail setting is

correct, the containers will nest so that a
line drawn across the top of each container
is at 30 degrees to the conveyor guide rail.
However, the transfer is angular causing
the pattern to break up when the next
conveyor is reached.

Here the transfer has been constructed

with the guide rails maintaining the pattern
as the bottles curve from one conveyor to
the next.

On this conveyor the guide rail settings are

incorrect and the nesting pattern can
hardly be made out. This will lead to gaps
between the bottles which will cause fallen
bottles and jams.
The conveyor will have frequent bottle
jams, fallen bottles, locking of the bottles
and label damage as the bottles try to
squash past each other.
This is a common situation and is easily
avoided by correctly setting the guide rails.

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Correct guide rail settings

The correct guide rail setting for a bulk bottle conveyor is given by the formula:
W = D + ((N-1) x D Cos 30 )
Where W = the distance between the conveyors, D = the bottle diameter and N = the
number of bottles nested across the conveyor at the degree angle.

In the diagram above, if the bottle diameter = 100mm (D), N = 6 and Cos 30 = 0,866
W = D + ((N-1) x D Cos 30 )
W = 100mm + ((6-1) x 100x 0,866 )
W = 100mm + (5 x 86,6 )
W = 100mm + 433mm
W= 533mm
Single lane conveyor
For a single lane conveyor, the correct guide rail setting is merely 3mm more than the
bottle diameter:

Page 28 of 90

Transfers, dividing and combining

Objective
To cover the concept of conveyor transfer, flow dividers and flow combiners.

Transfers
In general, bottle conveyor transfers can be either of the parallel type or of the type
shown below which is a 90 degree transfer using a deadplate.

Dead Plate
A dead plate is an un-driven joining plate between two conveyor chains. It is a point at
which containers may fall, and a point where containers may be left standing when the line
is run empty.
Here is the simplest form of parallel
transfer, one between two single lane
conveyors.

The conveyors overlap and the chains are

separated by a specially profiled slat wear
strip.
The guide rails cause the bottles to be
smoothly transferred from one chain to
the next.
Parallel transfers are also used on bulk
conveyors.

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Some of the different conveyor transfers used on bulk accumulation conveyors are:

In all cases the deadplate must be exactly level with the conveyors, and must be smoothly
polished. Fixing screws must be countersunk:

With aluminium cans, which are very light and prone to falling, the slightest misalignment
of the deadplate can cause fallen containers.
Page 30 of 90

Dividers
Dividers are used to divide a single stream of bottles into two or more separate streams.
They are commonly found before twin machines, and also before tunnel pasteurisers when
the pasteuriser has two separate decks.

If properly designed, bottle dividers should not give too many problems. Difficulties occur
when, as below, the divider is immediately followed by a combiner that is merging the
bottles into a single lane:

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Combiners
Possibly the most problematic area of container conveying is the combining of a mass of
bottles into fewer rows or a single lane.
Combiners are either conventional pressure types (with guide rails on both sides of the
bottles) or pressure-free combiners (PFC) where on one side no guide rail is needed.
Pressure type combiners

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Pressure type combiners use various devices to prevent the bottles from locking as they
are channelled into a single lane. Here the guide rail consists of a set of rollers:

Here the bottles are combined in an S-curve or snaking pattern. The movement across the
conveyor caused by the S-curve helps break up any bottle locking or bridging across the
guide rails.

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Here a vibrator is fitted to the guide rails. It shakes at a high speed and helps to prevent
bottle jams.

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Pressure free combiners

Pressure free combiners (PFCs) combine
bottles from a bulk accumulation conveyor
into a single lane.
They are called pressure-free, because,
as shown here, on one side of the
combiner no guide rail is needed.
Instead of having guide rails on each side
of the bottles to force them into a single
lane, in a PFC, the conveyor chains run at
varying speeds, and accelerate the bottles
forwards so that they form a single lane.
This acceleration is complex and all
PFCs have a computer of some form to
control the speeds of the various
conveyor chains.

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Drive systems, control systems and lubrication

Objective
Identify the common drive systems, control systems and lubrication maintenance of
conveyors.

Conveyor drives
For a fixed speed conveyor, the
drive motor may be above the
conveyor as shown here.
The drive motor is connected to the
conveyor drive shaft by a chain and
sprockets. The number of teeth on
the sprocket provides the
gear
ratio. By fitting different sprockets
for a set motor speed the conveyor
can be made to run faster or slower.

The chain requires a tensioning

device and as the chain stretches
this has to be adjusted. The chain
also requires regular lubrication.

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An alternative method of controlling the

conveyor speed is to use a variable speed
gearbox, as shown here. An encoder is
used to measure the speed of the drive
and provided feedback to the VSD.

Turning the handle on the side of the gearbox moves the motor as shown by the arrow.
This changes the gear ratio and thus the speed of the conveyor.
Modern conveyors have the drive motor bolted directly to the conveyor frame.
Here the motor and gearbox are fitted
directly to the conveyor drive shaft.
The gearbox is not adjustable.
The speed of the conveyor is adjusted
electronically using a frequency converter.

A frequency converter changes the electrical frequency of the power supplied to a

motor, which makes the motor run faster or slower.
Normally electricity is an alternating current, the current switches from negative to
positive at a frequency of 50 cycles per second, which is defined as 50 Hertz (Hz).
A frequency converter changes the frequency of the current supplied to the motor. At a
frequency of 60Hz the motor will run very fast, at 20Hz it will run very slowly.

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The frequency converter in this panel is

the red box. The converter can be
programmed to give a range of
different speeds for different operating
conditions, and to allow for a gradual
speed increase and decrease of the
motor,
which
reduces
power
consumption and provides a smoother
conveying operation.
Frequency Converters are also known
as VSDs (Variable Speed Drive)

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Conveyor controls
Conveyor controls use capacitive or inductive proximity switches to detect the amount of
bottles on a conveyor and then stop/start or speed up/slowdown the conveyor accordingly.
For slow speed lines (up to 400 containers per minute) it is sufficient to have a few buildback sensors that are linked to a control system that stops the appropriate conveyor drive
when the sensor is activated (which means the conveyor is full).
When the conveyor is full, the bottles push
against the thin steel bar. The green box is a
detector that senses the presence of metal.
A washer attached to the arm moved by the
bar passes over the sensor when the
conveyor is full. The sensor sends an
electrical signal to the control system
indicating that the conveyor is full and the
drive motor is stopped.

For high-speed lines a more sophisticated system is required. Each conveyor may have
more than one sensor, so that different operating speeds can be used. If the conveyor is
empty then it may run at 150% of normal speed (catch-up speed), and depending how full
it is it may run at 100%, 50% and then stop once it is completely full. This is called
Modulated Speed Control, and gives maximum use of accumulation as well as gentle
bottle handling .
Many modern control systems utilise
photocells to detect the presence of bottles.
The photocell projects a beam across the
conveyor which is reflected back to it from a
reflector if no bottles are present.

Whilst the photocell has the advantage of

having no moving parts, they can give false
information if not aligned properly with the
reflector, or if the reflector or photocell
becomes wet or dirty.

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Overhead sensors do not require the

cleaning and adjustment that photocells
need. They are available as capacitive (for
uncrowned bottles) or inductive (for crowned
bottles). They can however give false
signals if the nesting pattern is not
maintained. If a void in the nesting pattern
falls under the sensor, the sensor may
indicate that the conveyor is empty when in
fact it is full.

A conveyor control system requires specialised design engineers and a good

understanding of the behaviour of the containers on the conveyor. The ideal system my
use a combination of different sensors and drives depending on the particular needs at
each point.

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Conveyor lubrication

Bottle conveyors require a lubricant on the surface of the conveyor chain to reduce the
friction between the bottle and the steel chain. This lubricant is usually applied in the form
of a liquid soap, diluted to 1% or 2%, and sprayed onto the chain as a liquid.
Here conveyor lubricant is delivered in a bulk container which is connected to the pump
(mounted on the wall) and then distributed to the bottle conveyors by the pump.
Distribution systems utilise either plastic or stainless steel piping. The piping supplies a
manifold at the beginning of each conveyor, with spray nozzles fitted to the manifold.
The spray nozzles direct a precise amount of diluted lubricant onto the conveyor chains.

Insufficient lubrication will lead to bottle jams, fallen bottles and cause the conveyor drive
motors to overload. A frequent cause of several motors tripping due to overload is often
insufficient chain lubricant.
Excess chain lubricant tends to form foam which builds up on the sides of the bottles. In
front of the Empty Bottle Inspector (EBI) this can cause bottles to be rejected as the EBI
sees the foam as if the bottle is dirty. After the Labeller excess foam can mark and stain
the bottle labels.
Generally chain lubricant is not needed on can conveyors, as the cans are coated with a
varnish that has a low coefficient of friction. However, with aluminium cans frequent
Page 41 of 90

conveyor cleaning is essential, as the aluminium that rubs off of the base of the cans
builds up to form a sticky and abrasive compound.
It is also necessary to lubricate the conveyor shaft bearings.

This bearing has been installed without a grease nipple being fitted. It will have an
operating life of about 5000 hours, after which it will fail.
For a single shift operation this may be adequate, but for a multiple shift operation the
bearing must be fitted with a grease nipple and lubricated weekly.

Page 42 of 90

Design parameters
Objective
To cover some design parameters of conveyors and the effect of design on performance
efficiency.

Here we explain a few of the more important concepts, but this is not an exhaustive
compilation of conveyer design specifications.
Combiners
The deflection angle on the guide rails should be as small as possible, ideally less than 10
degrees:

Parallel transfers

Parallel transfer units should have a length of at least 1,8m where one or two 81.25 mm
chains are used, increasing to 2,8m when eight to ten 81.25 mm chains are used.

Page 43 of 90

Incline or decline angle: the angle of incline

or decline of any conveyor should be equal
to or less than 3 degrees from the horizontal
to prevent bottles from falling. Picture shows
an incline conveyor under the subject of
incline conveyor angle.

The speed differential between two

conveyor chains should generally never be
more than 14m/min.

The total length of an individual conveyor

should not exceed 10m for light containers
or 8m for heavy containers, and the
conveyor should never be wider than ten
81.25 mm chains in total

Conveyor chain wear strips (slats) should be

at least 4,5 mm thick.
They must be held in place with countersunk
screws.

Page 44 of 90

The chain drive and idler sprockets are

available as one-piece or split sprockets.
The split sprockets are not as durable, but
are easier to replace.
It is essential to leave slots in the conveyor
frame so that the shaft and sprockets can be
easily removed.

Dead plates should be as short as possible, must be exactly level, must have countersunk
screws and must allow the smooth transfer of containers.

Page 45 of 90

Types and construction of crate and case conveyors

Objective
To cover types and construction of crate and case conveyors.

Crate conveyors convey plastic crates, case conveyors convey cardboard cases or
boxes, and tray conveyors convey cardboard trays. All three types will be considered in
this section.
Modern crate and case conveyors often have a frame of stainless steel, though mild steel
is also used, particularly in dry areas.

Image courtesy KHS

The conveyor shown above is a slat chain type of crate conveyor.

Page 46 of 90

Types of case Conveyors

There are three major types of crate or case conveyors:
Belt conveyors use a rubberised belt running either
on a smooth plate or on a set of undriven rollers.
Belts give a more positive drive than either rollers
or slat chains. They are useful for inclines,
declines or (as here) where the crates need to be
accelerated and separated. However they provide
no accumulation (the gaps between the crates
cannot be closed up).

Slat chain conveyors use a stainless steel slat

chain running on two plastic slat wear strips,
similar to a bottle conveyor. In the foreground is a
wide flex top 187.5 mm chain, following it a
conveyor using two 81.25 mm chains. In this
example the outer part of the frame forms the
guide that directs the crates.

Roller conveyors use many rollers across the

conveyor frame to drive the crates or cases.
Different types of rollers are available. They cannot
be used for inclines, but have the advantage of
providing dynamic accumulation as the crates can
close-up to fill the conveyor when a machine
stops.

Note: Wherever a guide rail is used it must be plastic and there must not be metal parts
touching the crates. Metallic guide rails can cause scratching and scuffing of the crates,
which must be avoided as they are expensive and designed to last for several years.

Page 47 of 90

Different types of crate conveyor slat chain are available:

Stainless steel slat chain. This chain consists of
segments linked together by pins. The chain
shown here can only run in a straight line, but
flexible chains that can curve and are used in
corners are also available. Available in two sizes,
81.25 mm or 187.5 mm.

Plastic roller chain. This plastic chain consists of

chain links made from plastic that are held
together by steel pins running across the chain.
The rollers on each link ensure that the chain
provides accumulation in that the crates can
close-up to each other.

Plastic slat chain with built in ridges to provide a

positive drive to the crates. For use on moderate
inclines.

Plastic slat chain. Can be used on plastic crates

but is more suitable for cardboard cartons or
trays.

Stainless steel slat chain with rubberised inserts.

Used where good grip is needed, such as in the
wet conditions inside a crate washer or on
inclines and declines.

Page 48 of 90

Different types of crate conveyor roller are available:

Straight rollers can be undriven, driven by friction
clutch or positively driven. The friction clutch is
shown on the far left and drives the roller until a
certain resistance is reached, (e.g. a crate jam)
whereupon the roller stops turning even though the
drive piece is still turning inside. Positively driven
rollers have a fixed drive and so will keep turning
as long as the motor has the power to turn them.

2 roller drive sprockets

Friction drive roller

Friction roller with friction clutch removed

Friction drive roller

Positive drive roller

Positive drive roller

Taper rollers are used on corners. They are always

positively driven and thus can cause injury.

The taper shape moves the crate around the

corner without the guide rail having to push against
the crate. This type of rollers can also be used to
turn cartons

A conveyor section using straight rollers.

A conveyor section using taper rollers.

Page 49 of 90

Accumulation, dividing and combining

Objective
To cover dynamic crate accumulation, transfers, dividers and combiners.

Crate Accumulation
Unlike bottle conveyors, crate and case conveyors are almost always single lane
conveyors. There are no bulk conveyors to provide dynamic accumulation, thus
transfers are relatively simple. The reasons that single lane conveyors provide sufficient
accumulation are:

The crate or case conveyor will provide significant dynamic accumulation if it is of the
roller or slat-chain type.

Each crate accumulated will itself accumulate between 10 and 25 bottles, depending
on the crate used.

Crate accumulation is only really needed between depalletiser and unpacker, and
between packer and palletiser. This is achieved with relatively long single lane crate
conveyors.

Static accumulation is required, and is explained in a later section.

Dynamic accumulation on a typical crate conveyor is shown below

Here is the empty crate conveyor.

With normal running, the transit loading of this section is 6 crates.

Page 50 of 90

When the downstream machine stops, a total of 12 crates will be fitted onto the
conveyor (11 are shown). The dynamic accumulation is thus 12 crates for this short
section.

Crate transfers
Crate transfers from one conveyor to the next are relatively simple because the
conveyors are normally single lane.
At the point of transfer, idle rollers may be fitted to bridge the gap between the two
conveyors. This prevents the crates from rocking or falling as they cross the gap.
The idle roller is not driven, it merely supports the crates and is the equivalent of a
deadplate on a bottle conveyor.

One area where crate transfers are more complex is on the depalletiser unloading table.
Here the crates have been unloaded onto the table and need to be separated into a single
lane.

Page 51 of 90

Image courtesy KHS

To do this the accelerating roller pushes each row from the table and onto the discharge
conveyor. As soon as a row moves onto the roller, the table conveyor must stop so that
the rows are separated.

Page 52 of 90

Crate turners
In our example of the depalletiser table, the crates have been divided into a single lane
conveyor.
However the orientation is still random. The orientation of a crate can be LONG edge
leading or SHORT edge leading.

The top conveyor has crates LONG edge

leading, the bottom conveyor has them
SHORT edge leading

When the crates are LONG edge leading

then there is an increase in the amount of
dynamic accumulation, as more crates
can be fitted on the conveyor.
When the crates are discharged from the depalletiser, some will be long edge leading and
some will be short edge leading. The first task is to ensure that they are all in the same
orientation, which is achieved with a crate turner.
The orientation of each crate is detected
with photocells.
If the crate is NOT to be turned, then the
turner arm is in the position shown inside
the red box.
If the crate is to be turned, the arm is
retracted and the crate runs on the extra
slat chain which is at a much higher
speed. This causes the crate to turn and
thus all crates leave the turner in the
same orientation.

Page 53 of 90

Crate dividers / combiners

A crate divider is a device that diverts a
single lane of crates into two or more
lanes. A combiner diverts two or more
lanes into one lane. Various designs
have been developed with different
degrees of success.
One of the more successful devices is
the Garvens type of crate divider, that
can also be configured as a combiner.
The plastic slats run on moving rails and
are controlled by guides.
This type of device uses plastic slats
running on a set of rails. The guides can
be moved by pistons, so that the slats
slide across the rails and move the crates
to the desired position.

Image courtesy KHS

Combiners, such as the one shown here,

may utilise two conveyors feeding into a
single lane, with some form of switching
mechanism to regulate the feed from
each side as required.

Page 54 of 90

Crate magazines
Objective
To cover static crate accumulation.

Crate magazines provide a significant amount of STATIC accumulation for crates on a

packaging line. The are necessary because of imbalances in the line operation at start-up
and shut-down.
If the line is empty and being started up, as the bottles are fed into the washer, through the
filler, pasteuriser, labeller and up to the packer, more and more empty crates are being
discharged from the unpacker, but are not being used by the packer as no bottles have
arrived at the packer.
Static accumulation is thus required whilst the line is being loaded with bottles. The
simplest method of doing this is to remove the empty crates at the unpacker discharge and
stack them on the floor.
More sophisticated methods include the robotic crate magazine shown below, which
automatically stacks or destacks crates as required by line conditions.

The crate magazine is also essential during normal line operation, to accommodate
variations between the packer and unpacker. If, for example a problem occurs at the crate
washer, then the crate magazine can be used to supply empty crates to the packer whilst
the problem is being rectified.
Page 55 of 90

It is essential that in normal operation the crate magazine is not allowed to be

completely full. It should normally (with packer and unpacker both running) be about 75%
full. This is important, otherwise a small stoppage at the packer will immediately stop the
unpacker (As the empty crates from the unpacker cannot be loaded into the full
magazine), and then the whole line is quickly stopped unnecessarily.
You may ask why should it be that the crate magazine would fill up; it should be designed
to be of the correct size. The answer is that the crate magazine gradually gets fuller and
fuller because of glass breakage. For every bottle broken on the line, if a crate holds 12
bottles, then 1/12th of a crate is added extra to the line. For every 12 bottles broken, an
additional crate is added to the magazine.
On a typical production line running 45000bph, with glass breakage of 1%, about 600
crates extra are added to the magazine each 24 hours.
The magazine will thus quickly fill up, and if the crates are not removed every day the
lines performance will soon suffer.

Page 56 of 90

Crate conveyor drive controls systems and lubrication

Objective
Identify types and construction of crate conveyor drives, their lubrication and their control
systems.

Crate Conveyor Drive

For slat chain type crate conveyors, the drive
motors are usually fitted directly to the chain
drive shaft.

This crate conveyor has a fixed speed.

Where the conveyor speed may need to be

adjusted, a variable speed gearbox may be
installed as shown here.
For roller conveyers and the drive motor will
drive a chain which runs inside the conveyor
frame and turns each of the rollers. For belt
conveyors the drive motor will drive a chain
which will drive a roller which turns the belt. A
chain tensioning device is then needed to
take up slack as the chain gradually
stretches.

Page 57 of 90

Conveyor controls
The control systems on crate and case conveyors tend to be simpler than those of bottle
conveyors. Crate conveyors are usually of fixed speed, so complex speed control is
avoided.
Generally, photocells are used to detect when the conveyors are full, the control system
then stops the drive motor to prevent undue pressure on the crates. Note that the
photocells shown here are protected from damage and fixed to a strong steel plate so that
they will not vibrate out of position.

Crate conveyor lubrication

Steel slat chains do not need continuous lubrication for conveying plastic crates. A small
amount of chain lube should however be applied to reduce wear. The drive chains for
roller conveyors require periodic cartridge lubrication, as do each of the many bearings
found on all types of crate and case conveyor.

Page 58 of 90

Types and construction of pallet conveyors

Objective
To cover types and construction of pallet conveyors.

A typical pallet conveyor is shown below:

The pallet conveyor frame is almost always made from mild steel, because the conveyor is
used in a dry area, and the high strength needed for heavy loaded pallets would be
prohibitively expensive if made from stainless steel.
A typical conveyor consists of a set of rollers mounted inside the frame that are driven by a
motor.

Page 59 of 90

There are two major types of pallet conveyors:

Chain type conveyors, as shown here, use
a set of heavy duty chains to move the
pallet. They give a more positive drive than
rollers as the whole chain is in contact with
the bottom of the pallet, as opposed to the
top part of a roller. However, if any wooded
planks (slats) are missing from the pallet
then it will easily jam on a chain type
conveyor.

Pallet roller conveyors, as shown here, use

a set of positively driven rollers to move the
pallet to the desired point. The pallet is
supported even if a few planks are missing.

Note: Pallet conveyors are usually constructed in units that accommodate a single pallet,
as shown above. Each individual section is then independently driven and controlled.
Unlike crates or bottles, the pallets are not allowed to press up against each other and
provide accumulation. There is thus no dynamic accumulation, merely the static
accumulation provided by the conveyor holding a single pallet. This is sufficient as a single
pallet may hold 1000 bottles.

Page 60 of 90

Types of pallet
Unfortunately not all pallets are the same. They vary in height, width and length, as well as
in the number of fork lift entry points.
A two way entry pallet, as shown here, has
holes for fork lift access from two directions
only.

Construction of a two-way pallet is simpler,

they will be lighter, and they will be easier to
place on the conveyor the correct way
around.

A four way entry pallet is designed with

access holes for forks to enter the pallet
from any of the four sides.
However, this does not mean that the pallet
can be placed on the conveyor in any
orientation.
Pallets are normally not square, and may
have dimensions of for example, 800mm by
1000mm. For this reason they must be
placed in the correct orientation so that
crates are packed on them in the correct
pattern.
Because of the orientation, the additional
entry holes in a four way pallet are rarely
used.

Page 61 of 90

Pallet transfers
Objective
Identify the processes of pallet transfer and the machinery required

Types
There are three major types of pallet transfer device:
Pallet turntable: The pallet enters the
turntable, the turntable rotates 90
degrees with the pallet, and then the
pallet leaves the turntable. This means
that the orientation of the pallet on the
discharge conveyor is the same as it
was on the infeed conveyor.

Pallet 90 degree transfer: In this type of

transfer the pallet orientation is changed.
This type of transfer is used to change
the orientation of pallets, so that, for
example, they are in the correct
orientation to be picked up by a fork lift
truck. The pallet enters the transfer unit
on the rollers. When it is fully inside the
unit, the rollers are stopped and the
chain conveyor is lifted up from below to
support the pallet. The pallet then is then
conveyed out by the chain conveyor.

Page 62 of 90

Pallet shuttle. Used to transfer from

several pallet conveyors to a single
conveyor. Often seen when several
palletisers supply pallets to one pallet
pick-up point. The shuttle car travels on
rails and moves to each conveyor as
needed.

Page 63 of 90

Pallet magazines
Objective
To cover pallet magazines (accumulation).

Pallet magazines provide a significant amount of STATIC accumulation for pallets on a

packaging line. Like crate magazines, they are necessary because of imbalances in
the line operation at start-up and shut-down.
If the line is empty and being started up, as the bottles are fed to the unpacker, into the
washer, through the filler, pasteuriser, labeller and up to the packer, more and more
empty pallets are being discharged from the depalletiser, but are not being used by the
palletiser as no crates have arrived at the palletiser.
Pallet accumulation (storage) is thus required whilst the line is being loaded with
bottles. The pallets are stacked in a magazine, usually in stacks of 15 pallets. Typically
each stack of 15 pallets is discharged from the pallet stacker and removed by a fork
lift.
Pallet magazines, or pallet stackers, are often installed as dual purpose stackers and
destackers. They can thus feed pallets into the line when required, or stack pallets
from the line when required.
This pallet magazine accepts pallets from a chain conveyor. The pallet stack is lifted
by a hydraulic lift conveyor section, after which forks are inserted to support the
pallets.

Page 64 of 90

Page 65 of 90

Pallet conveyors drive control systems, and lubrication

Objective
To cover pallet conveyors drive control systems, and lubrication.

Drive systems
Pallet conveyors are usually single speed motors.
The most common variation required in drive systems is the use of SOFT-START motors.
For empty pallets, or full pallets that are very stable, a normal motor is acceptable. The
normal drive conveyor motors give a jerk when started, as the conveyor is suddenly
changed from stationary to running at normal speed.
Where the pallet load is unstable, a soft-start motor should be installed. These motors are
designed to gradually change from stationary to normal speed over a period of 1-2
seconds. Soft start drive motors thus prevent crates falling from unstable pallets, and are
much cheaper than installing an expensive frequency converter.
Pallet conveyor motors always drive a chain mechanism, connected to the rollers in the
case of a roller conveyor, or connected by sprockets to other chains in the case of a chain
conveyor.

Page 66 of 90

Conveyor controls
Like crate and case conveyors, the control systems on pallet conveyors also tend to be
simpler than those of bottle conveyors.
Pallet conveyors are almost always of fixed speed, so complex speed control is avoided.
Often reflective photocells or pressure bar with limit switches are used to detect when the
conveyors are full, the control system then stops the drive motor to prevent collisions
between the pallets.

Some pallet conveyor control systems use pressure bars with installed limited switches
built in between the rollers of the conveyor to control the start and stop of the conveyor.
The pressure bar is activated by the weight of the pallet.
Conveyor lubrication
No lubrication system is needed for the conveyor surface, as the pallets are moved
positively by the rollers or chains and do not slide on them to take up dynamic
accumulation.
The drive chains require periodic lubrication, as do each of the bearings found on the drive
shafts. Most rollers are fitted with sealed bearings so that the individual rollers do not need
to be lubricated.

Page 67 of 90

Page 68 of 90

Safety
Objective
Your Safety
The two areas of concern regarding conveyors and safety are the risk of injury from
the moving parts of the conveyor systems (sprockets, chains etc), and the risk of injury
from flying glass on bottle conveyors (and sometimes crate conveyors) which occurs
when bottles break under pressure.
Injury from flying glass
Injuries caused by flying glass are primarily defended against by wearing protective
glasses, safety gloves and overalls. However, this does not address the root cause of
these injuries, they are often the result of excess line pressure, fallen bottles or faulty
control systems. It should be compulsory to wear eye protection in this area.
On this conveyor the bulging of the guide
rails shows that there is excessive
pressure. Possibly the controls do not
operate reliably, so that the conveyor runs
continuously.
The combination of excess pressure, and
a poor nesting pattern so that the bottles
are grinding against each other, is likely to
cause a high rate of bottle breakage, with
the possibility of flying glass as the bottles
are still warm from pasteurisation.

Fallen bottles create a hazard when they

are picked up. It is essential to switch off
the conveyor so that the pressure on the
bottles is reduced before trying to pick up
a bottle.
If the conveyor is still running, you have to
push against the bottles, which can easily
break causing cuts or other injuries.

Page 69 of 90

This man is feeding test bottles into a

Filtec machine, on a line running at
1000bpm. He is wearing safety goggles
however he is not wearing safety gloves
with a consequent risk to his hands.
However he should NOT be inserting
bottles like this. Filled glass bottles can
burst any time.

Page 70 of 90

Injury from moving parts.

All types of conveyors also present the
risk of injury from mechanical moving
parts.
Note: The Electrical Safety isolator switch
of the conveyor must be switched off
before the work can commence.
The open space between this conveyor
sprocket and the conveyor frame is very
dangerous. If your hand is in this space
(perhaps to remove some broken glass)
the turning chain will drag your hand
further into the conveyor, causing a very
serious injury that will remove your skin,
flesh and possibly your whole hand.
Nip-points
It is important that all nip-points as above
are covered.
In addition, there should be no open
chains or sprockets, they should be
covered with a safety barrier or cover.

Page 71 of 90

Nip points exist on crate and case

conveyors at almost every transfer,
particularly between belts and rollers.
For example, there is a nip-point here
between the two belts, and between the
belt and the roller. Placing your hand into
either of these positions can easily lead to
injury.

Safety Features
It is important to have safety switches on bottle conveyors, crate conveyors and pallet
conveyors. The minimum standard should be to have a lockable isolator next to each
conveyor motor.
It is preferable to also have rope stops fitted to the full length of crate conveyors. These
are wire ropes running the length of the conveyor. Should your hand become trapped
between the rollers, you can immediately pull on the rope switch to stop the conveyor.
An emergency stop switch is of little use to you if your hand is trapped in a conveyor
and you cannot reach it !
Secondly use should be made of friction drive rollers wherever possible, as these
rollers will not injure your hand if trapped, as the friction drive slips and the roller stops
turning.
A lockable electrical safety isolator switch

Page 72 of 90

On this pallet conveyor plates have been

fitted between the chains so that
operators may cross safely.
However crossing over either chain or
roller pallet conveyors is very dangerous,
as if you fall between the rollers and are
trapped, a full pallet can easily sever an
arm or a leg.

On this pallet inspector, plates have been

fitted between the rollers to allow the
operator to cross over without falling
between the plates. However, in this
location if the operator does walk across
the plates, he will activate the photocells
which control the inspector, possibly
starting the machine and causing injury.

This crate magazine can only be entered

via the safety doors. When the doors are
opened the magazine operation is
stopped. And cannot be restarted until the
door is closed and the reset switch
outside of the door has been pressed, to
acknowledge that the operator is outside
of the machine.

Index of terms
90 degree corner

Type of transfer that utilises two straight conveyors where

Page 73 of 90

transfer

transfer takes place at a 90 degree corner using a dead

plate.

Accumulation

Manufacture of product that is not yet required by the next

process and is stored until needed.

Auxiliary

A secondary aid

Batch

In manufacturing, a group of materials or products that are

all processed together at one time, and when the work is
done, the next group is processed. Example the milling
process in the brewhouse.

Bi-Directional
Accumulation
Table

Accumulation matt that moves in one direction to accept

containers and the opposite to unload them.

Capacitive Sensor Sensor that detects the movement of non-metallic items

such as glass bottles.
Chain lube

Term describing soap based lubricant applied to bottle

conveyors.

Continuous
production

Manufacturing process where a continuous flow of materials

is converted to a continuous stream of finished product.

Conveyor

Device to move material

Cos 30

Mathematical term, cosine of 30 degrees, equals 0.866

Countersink

A type of screw that is recessed to be below the surface of

the material it is fixing in place.

Dead Plate

A fixed plate used to bridge between two conveyors over

which the conveyors move by being pushed from behind.

Decline

Slope down

Deflection angle

The angle at which a body is moved sideways.

Density

Mass divided by volume. Lead is very dense. Air is not.

Dynamic
Accumulation

The accumulation available on a conveyor once the transit

capacity has been subtracted.

Flex-Top

Type of slat chain that can flex to travel around corners.

Frequency
Converter

Electronic device capable of varying the electrical frequency

of the power supplied to a motor.

Friction drive

Type of clutch fitted to rollers so that the rollers stop

turning under extreme load.

Page 74 of 90

Garvens divider

Type of divider using sliding slats on a set of conveying

rods.

Gearbox

A device to change speeds

Guide rail

Plastic wear strip on either side of the conveyor that directs

the flow of containers.

Hopper

A container, which slopes to a funnel shape.

Impregnated

Permeated with something

Incline

Slope up

Incrementally

Small steps or changes carried out in a sequence. A little at

a time.

Inductive Sensor

Sensor that detects the movement of metallic items, such as

the crowns on bottles.

Inserts

Material fitted into space of other material

Line rating

Speed at which line should run continuously

Magazines

A container holding contents in packed order

Manifold

A place where (usually) different fluids or gases meet and

can be redirected

Mass bottle
conveyor

Bottle conveyor more than one slat chain wide.

Mountings

Brackets holding guide rails

Nesting

Cans/bottles properly formed in groups

Overload

Force which exceeds a devices capability

Parabolic curve

The shape of curve followed by a ball thrown from a height

and falling to the ground.

Parallel Transfer
Unit

Conveyor section of double width that allows for the smooth

transfer from one conveyor to the other without the use of a
dead plate.

PET

Plastic used to make soft drinks bottles, (Polyethylene

Terephthalate)

Photocell

Sensor that emits a light beam and detects if the beam is

reflected back into the sensor.

Pressure Free

Combiner that uses speed changes to accelerate containers

Page 75 of 90

Combiner

into a single lane, and thus needs no guide rail on one side.

Prohibitive

Out of the question

Screw Conveyor

Conveyor that uses a rotating screw to move solid particles

or granules

Slat

Thin strip of plastic supporting the conveyor chain.

Slat chain

Conveyor chain designed to be supported by a slat on either

side.

Soft-start motor

Motor that accelerates gradually up to its operating speed.

Spray nozzle

A device where fluid exit is restricted to increase pressure.

Static
Accumulation

The sum of the transit capacity and the dynamic

accumulation

Taper roller

Cone shaped rollers used on crate conveyor corners

Tensioning device Device to overcome chain slack

Throat

In a furnace, the flow restriction where the molten material

leaves the furnace.

Transit Capacity

The amount of bottles held on a conveyor between two

machines when both machines are running at the same
speed.

Trough Belt
Conveyor

Conveyor that utilises a rubber belt, formed into a trough

shape, to move ore or minerals. An endless belt.

Turntable

A conveyor that can rotate

Two way entry /

four way entry
pallet

Type of pallet defined by the number of directions forks can

enter the pallet

UHMWPE

Ultra high molecular weight poly ethylene. A dense and hard

wearing plastic.

V profile

The set of machine speeds that form a V shape when

plotted on a graph and are used to ensure the maximum
efficiency and effective use of accumulation on a packaging
line.

Value Added

A process that increases the value of the product.

Variable Speed
Drive

Another name for a frequency converter.

Page 76 of 90

Page 77 of 90

Questions
Question One:
Which of the following are types of conveyors ?
TICK HERE
A

Static conveyors

Air Conveyors

Water conveyors

Gas conveyors

Question Two:
Which of the following conveyors are commonly found in the bottling hall ?
TICK HERE
A

Pedestrian escalators

Screw Conveyors

Bottle conveyors

Bucket Conveyors

Question Three:
Which of the following materials would you move with an air conveyor ?
TICK HERE
A

Glass bottles

PET bottles

Cans

Kegs

Page 78 of 90

Question Four:
Which of the following companies manufacture packaging conveyors ?
TICK HERE
A

IBM

Heineken

Simmonazzi

Alfa Romeo

Question Five:
Which of the following materials would you move with a screw conveyor ?
TICK HERE
A

Crates

Malt

Cans

Bottles

Question Six:
Which of the following is the major purpose of conveying ?
TICK HERE
A

To add value to the product

To stabilise the product

To move the product to where it is needed

To increase product shelf life

Page 79 of 90

Question Seven:
What type of accumulation is provided by a bi-directional table ?
TICK HERE
A

Dynamic accumulation

Long-term accumulation

Static accumulation

Transit accumulation

Question Eight:
An accumulation table is to..
TICK HERE
A

Store bottles & feed downstream

Store bottles & feed upstream

Store bottles to allow up/downstream bottles to stop for

long periods

Store bottles for downstream machine when upstream

t

Question Nine:
The dynamic accumulation on a conveyor is equal to which of the following ?
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A

The total accumulation plus the transit capacity

The total accumulation minus the transit capacity

The total accumulation divided by the transit capacity

None of the above

Page 80 of 90

Question Ten:
The static accumulation on a conveyor is equal to which of the following ?
TICK HERE
A

The total accumulation

The transit capacity plus the dynamic accumulation

The total number of bottles on the conveyor

All of the above

Question Eleven:
The V profile describes what on a packaging line ?
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A

The physical positioning of the machines on the line

The different speeds of the machines on the line

The line when viewed from the side

The path of the bottle washer chain

Question Twelve:
The speed of machines upstream of the filler is
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A

Slower

Faster

The same

Manually controlled

Page 81 of 90

Question Thirteen:
Which of the following statements is true ?
TICK HERE
A

Upstream machines must be slower than downstream

machines

Upstream machines must be the same speed as

downstream machines

Upstream machines must be faster than downstream

machines

Machines upstream of the filler are faster than the filler,

machines downstream of the filler are faster than the filler

Question Fourteen:
If the filler runs at 100% of line rating, what speed does the bottle washer run
at ?
TICK HERE
A

100 % of line rating

90% of line rating

115% of line rating

48000 bph

Question Fifteen:
Bottle conveyor frames are almost always made from which material ?
TICK HERE
A

Stainless steel

Spring steel

Mild steel

Plastic

Page 82 of 90

Question Sixteen:
Conveyor slat chains can be made from which material ?
TICK HERE
A

Stainless steel

Spring steel

Mild steel

Bone

Question Seventeen:
Which of the following are wearstrips made from ?
TICK HERE
A

Nylon

Ultra high molecular weight poly-ethylene

Plastic

All of the above

Question Eighteen:
Which of the following is NOT a type of bottle conveyor transfer ?
TICK HERE
A

Parallel transfer

90 degree transfer with dead plate

Idle roller transfer

End-to-end transfer with dead plate

Page 83 of 90

Question Nineteen:
Which shape of guide rail gives equal pressure at each point ?
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A

V-profile

Circular

Parabolic

Inverse square

Question Twenty:
Which of the following formula is used to calculate the correct guide rail
setting for a mass bottle conveyor:
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A

W = D + (N-1 x D )

W = D + ((N-1) x D COS 30 )

D = W + ((N-1) x D COS 30 )

W = D + ((N+1) x D COS 30 )

Question Twenty-one:
For what products would you use a stainless steel guide rail on the conveyor
?
TICK HERE
A

Glass bottles

Aluminium cans

PET bottles

All of the above

Page 84 of 90

Question Twenty-two:
What would be a maximum speed differential between two conveyor chains ?
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A

1.4 m/min

14m/min

140m/min

There is no maximum

Question Twenty-three:
Which of the following are types of crate or case conveyors ?
TICK HERE
A

Slat chain conveyor

Screw conveyor

Bucket conveyor

Air conveyor

Question Twenty-four:
Which of the following are types of crate or case conveyors ?
TICK HERE
A

Roller conveyor

Slat chain conveyor

Belt conveyor

All of the above

Page 85 of 90

Question Twenty-five:
Which of the following is not a type of conveyor roller ?
TICK HERE
A

Incline roller

Taper roller

Friction roller

Direct drive roller

Question Twenty-six :
What type of accumulation is provided by a crate magazine ?
TICK HERE
A

Dynamic accumulation

Transit accumulation

Static accumulation

All of the above

Question Twenty-seven:
Compared to the control systems on bottle conveyors, how would you
describe the controls used for crate conveyors ?
TICK HERE
A

Simpler than those on bottle conveyors

More complex than those on bottle conveyors

The same as those on bottle conveyors

None of the above

Page 86 of 90

Question Twenty-eight:
What materials are pallet conveyor frames normally made from ?
TICK HERE
A

Stainless steel

Spring steel

Mild steel

Plastic

Question Twenty-nine:
.............conveyors are required at machine infeed/discharge and inspection
points
TICK HERE
A

Single lane

Bulk

Pressure free combiners

Straight

Question Thirty:
Which of the following are types of pallet transfer ?
TICK HERE
A

Turntable

180 degree transfer

Pressure free combiner

Parallel transfer

Page 87 of 90

Question Thirty-one:
Which type of drives are normally installed on pallet conveyors ?
TICK HERE
A

Variable speed drives

Single speed drives with adjustable gearboxes

VSDs

Single speed drives

Question Thirty-two :
Which of the following is NOT a type of pallet conveyer ?
TICK HERE
A

Chain conveyor

Roller conveyor

Slat conveyor

None of the above

Question Thirty-three:
Should the conveyor width be adjusted for every change in bottle width?

yes, but not always necessary

yes, but we don't do it

no, the line is designed properly

no, we never do it

Page 88 of 90

Question Thirty-four:
Name 2 major types of pallet conveyor

slat and chain

gear and belt

belt and chain

chain and roller

Question Thirty-five:
Which of the following are potential hazards relating to conveyors ?

Risk of injury from flying glass

Risk of injury from moving parts

Risk of injury from nip points

All of the above

Page 89 of 90

Answers
Question 1
Question 2
Question 3
Question 4
Question 5
Question 6
Question 7
Question 8
Question 9
Question 10
Question 11
Question 12
Question 13
Question 14
Question 15
Question 16
Question 17
Question 18
Question 19
Question 20
Question 21
Question 22
Question 23
Question 24
Question 25
Question 26
Question 27
Question 28
Question 29
Question 30
Question 31
Question 32
Question 33
Question 34
Question 35

B
C
B
C
B
C
C
A
B
D
B
B
D
C
A
A
D
C
C
B
C
B
A
D
A
C
A
C
A
A
D
C
A
D
D

Page 90 of 90