Roller conveyor systems are used in a number of different industries. As there is a large variety of roller conveyors, this means their functions are almost endless. From warehouses to retail, roller conveyor systems are applicable to almost all industries.
There are many different ways roller conveyor systems can be utilised in a warehouse and distribution centre. For example, different areas of a facility can be connected together using roller conveyor systems. Items can be transported from a storage area to packing areas reducing the need for employees to be going from one end of a facility to another.
Additionally, warehouses and distribution centres often have large pallets that need loading and unloading. Therefore, a pallet roller conveyor is crucial in making this process easier and more efficient. Having these conveyor systems allows for a more streamlined process and can also help with tracking.
Roller conveyor systems are a vital element of the manufacturing industry as assembly lines and packaging stations are one of the main components of the manufacturing process. Spiral roller conveyors are a great addition to manufacturing facilities as you can utilise the full space of the building. By having areas of production elevated, more space can be used in the facility and multi-floor production can also be more accessible.
In retail stores, checkouts may utilise roller conveyors to help accelerate the transaction process. By helping customers move their items along through the checkout counter, the process is made more efficient whilst still prioritising customer service. Roller conveyor systems can also be used in the back of retail stores for unloading stock, improving operational efficiency and decreasing stress for employees.
There are many examples of roller conveyor systems in an airport. The process of handling luggage is streamlined using roller conveyor systems. From checking in luggage at the beginning of your trip to grabbing your bags at baggage claim at the end of your journey, conveyor systems are used in all aspects of luggage handling.
Often referred to as the arteries of a mining operation, the mining industry cannot function without conveyors. If the conveyor stops, production stops.
Conveyor equipment is therefore required to be robust and reliable to ensure the highest efficiency under a variety of different conditions.
Choosing a dependable conveyor roller is an important step to ensure an efficient conveyor system. But choosing the right one for your application can be a confusing task.
In this post, we explain the different types of rollers used in conveyors and some of their benefits. But before that, lets explore the characteristics of a high-quality conveyor roller.
There are many conveyor roller manufacturers in the market but only a handful are experts at what they do. When you need a conveyor roller, make sure you choose a high-quality product with all the right qualities such as:
High-quality manufacturing
It is important the roller adheres to international standards and is manufactured using quality processes to ensure you receive a high-quality product.
Belt-friendly
The conveyor roller must be belt-friendly to reduce risk to conveyor belt damage.
Tough and durable
For the chosen application, the conveyor roller must be tough and durable for long life. For this, it is important to make sure the chosen roller is appropriate for the product specifications, transfer requirements, and service environment.
Low noise
Operational noise is an important factor to consider, especially in closed environments such as underground mines. Low noise keeps disturbance to surroundings under control and promotes worker well-being.
Minimal vibration
Vibration usually occurs due to a loose connection between the roller and frame. Increased vibration causes high noise and reduces roller life due to fluctuating loads. Good conveyor rollers are fitted with precision bearings that are self-lubricating. Attention must be paid to bearing choice, manufacturing methods, and sealing arrangements for minimal vibration.
We touched briefly upon the different qualities to look for in a conveyor roller. But by their very nature, some rollers will be better than others at certain features.
Various types of industries use roller conveyors to simplify the production process. Roller Conveyor is one type of conveyor that is commonly used in industry apart from Belt Conveyors. The roller conveyor used usually has a variety of types and dimensions that are adjusted to the needs of each production line.
General knowledge about roller conveyors is an industrial machine whose function is to move goods from one place to another using parallel rollers. To find out more about the types of Roller Conveyors, and to find out which type of Roller Conveyor will suit your needs, you can read this article.
Why Should You Use Roller Conveyors?
Using roller conveyors increases industrial productivity in packaging lines to become more efficient and effective.
Roller conveyors can save costs and reduce the processing time for the distribution of goods.
Power roller conveyor replaces human work that is done manually continuously to become automatic in a short time.
Standard Rules of Connect Automation for Roller Conveyor Use
Goods transferred must have a length touching 4 rollers, to prevent it from getting stuck on the conveyor rollers.
Placement of goods onto the roller conveyor is not slammed.
The total weight of goods on the roller conveyor that is transferred is a maximum of 50 kg.
To maintain the durability of the roller conveyor, it is necessary to pay attention to the input of goods manually. If goods are dropped onto the conveyor, the roller will receive an "impact" that is heavier than the load and tends to be damaged quickly.
Minimum gravity roller angle of 5°.
On a gravity roller, every mm in length the height decreases by 100mm.
If the roller length exceeds mm, it is recommended to use a motor (power roller conveyor).
Most Suitable Roller Conveyor Applications for:
Warehousing
Packaging line
Logistics
Distribution or storage lines
Liaison between conveyor belts
There are various types of conveyors used by the industry. One of them is roller conveyor. Roller conveyor itself also has different types according to the needs of each production line.
Types of Conveyor Rollers Based on their Body Structure are divided into 4, namely:
Gravity Roller Conveyor
Understanding of Gravity Roller Conveyor is one type of roller conveyor that is often used. Gravity Roller Conveyor facilitates the process of transferring goods without having to use additional driving force, both motors and humans.
Gravity Roller Conveyors are generally used on packaging production lines or product transfers that are already in cardboard packaging. Roller Gravity Conveyors can also be used to transfer products from different elevations, such as between conveyor belts and during product loading-unloading processes to modes of transportation.
General dimensions of Gravity Roller Conveyor:
Width : 300 - 600mm Length : Maximum of mm Height : 350 - 800mmFlat Roller Conveyor
Flat Roller Conveyor is commonly used for product packaging and labeling production lines, it can also be used as a bridge between different production lines. Flat Roller Conveyor can be applied using a motor and without a motor as a drive.
Flat rollers without motor drives are the choice of several industries because the speed of each process that occurs on the conveyor is different in duration. The different speed is because it is done manually by humans, not machines. Meanwhile, Flat Roller Conveyors that use a motor drive system are used for transfers between production lines without a lot of manual processes that occur on the conveyor. If the product being transferred has a large mass, using a motor drive will simplify the transfer process.
Industries that use Flat Roller Conveyors generally have quite large product dimensions and weights, for example the electronics industry, the ceramic or marble stone industry, the furniture industry, the logistics industry, and various other industries.
General dimensions of Flat Roller Conveyor:
Width : 300 - 600mm (on demand) Length : Maximum of mm (on demand) Height : 350 - 800mmStraight Roller Conveyor
The definition of Straight Roller Conveyor is a type of roller conveyor that is commonly used by arranging rollers in parallel. The parallel arrangement of the rollers makes the roller designs used have the same dimensions and diameter.
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Curve Roller Conveyor
The definition of Curve Roller Conveyor is a type of roller conveyor that is used to connect production lines with a turning position or has an indentation to save production space. Curve Roller Conveyors can be applied both in the form of Curve Gravity Roller Conveyors and also in the form of Curve Flat Roller Conveyors.
For Curve Gravity Roller Conveyor, each roller has different dimensions and diameter depending on the angle of the conveyor curve and the width of the Roller Conveyor transfer area. This design is very dependent on the dimensions and load of the product being transferred on it, the width of the transfer area, the angle of indentation, the initial height and the final height.
As for the Curve Flat Roller Conveyor, it is usually applied using a motor drive to transfer the product. The dimensions, length and diameter of each roller of the Curve Flat Roller Conveyor depend on the type of drive system used. For this reason, you need to read the section below.
Types of Conveyor Rollers Based on the Drive System Used, Divided into 2, namely:
Power Band Roller Conveyor
The definition of Power Band Roller Conveyor is a Roller Conveyor that uses Round Belt/Band transition elements that are connected between rollers or connected to a drive stick to transfer mechanical power using a motor. Round Belt/Band has a high frictional force so that it is able to move the roller.
Power Band Rollers can use roller materials such as Stainless Steel and are more hygienic for industries that require Food Grade materials compared to Power Chain Roller Conveyors.
General dimensions of Power Band Roller Conveyor:
Width : Maximum of mm Length : On demand (adjusted to the load and motor capacity) Height : 350 - 800mmPower Chain Roller Conveyor
The definition of Power Chair Roller Conveyor is a Roller Conveyor that uses a Chain transition system that is connected between rollers to transfer mechanical power using a motor.
Power Chain Roller Conveyor has a stronger ability to transfer products weighing more than 50kg compared to Power Band Roller Conveyor.
Chain sprocket types: RS40, RS50 and RS60 with mild steel and stainless steel material options.
General dimensions of Power Chain Roller Conveyor:
Width : Maximum of mm Length : On demand (adjusted to the load and motor capacity) Height : 350 - 800mm
Frequently Used Types of Roller Materials:
Stainless Steel
Galvanized Steel
Aluminum
Roller Rubber
PVC Rollers
Smooth Roller
Edge Roller
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When trying to understand and improve the conveying process, you have to understand all the types and designs of idlers that can be used in your conveyor system. In this article we will describe the basics.
In the evolution of idlers, many types of rollers were designed. Each of them having special features such as minimizing the pressure on the belt, cleaning the belt and many others.
The simplest way to differentiate the idler designs would be to divide them to carry and return idlers.
Carry idlers transport the material from place A to place B
Return idlers transport the conveyor belt back to the place A
However, the differentiation of rollers is more granular, as explained below.
Conveyor system with different idler types
Troughing idlers are a type of the carry idlers. The main part of the troughing idler is a center roller which is accompanied by wing rollers on its sides which are connected in a troughing angle (for example 45 degrees).
Thanks to the troughing angle, the carried material is gathered in the center of the belt so that the material does not fall off the belt during transportation.
Troughing idler sketch
The troughing idlers can be seen in sets of 3 or 5. The more rollers are used, the better is the distribution of the loaded weight and enables higher transportation capacity.
Impact idlers are used at the place where material is loaded onto the belt. The newly loaded material presents a high-pressure impact on the belt and idlers with rubbered disks can better absorb the impact.
Impact idlers are positioned at a close range and are usually manufactured in 89mm diameter.
The transition idlers optimize the higher pulling tension which is observed close to the head and tail pulley. The transition idlers continuously adjust the troughing angle from 0 degrees to the 45 degarees right behind the head pulley in order to create the right belt shape for successfully transporting the material. Contrarily, the belt has to be flattened from 45 degrees to 0 degrees before getting onto the tail pulley in order to distribute the tension properly.
Conveyor belt with load that needs to be flattened before a tail pulley
The belt has to be nicely aligned to the pulley in order to avoid long term damage. In the conveyor systems you would mostly see 2 or 3 transition idler sets.
When carrying the belt back to the feeder, it also needs support. However, since the belt does not carry any load, the support does not have to be as robust. Therefore, return idlers can be positioned in two or three times the distance of the carrying rollers. Even the number of rollers per idler can be reduced to one or two rollers.
If a single roller is used, it is usually called a flat return idler which spreads over the whole width of the belt and can be attached to the conveyor support structure.
When two rollers would be used, it is called a V return idler.
The return idlers can also be covered with rubbered disks which should be removing sticky materials from the belt.
The belt should be perfectly aligned when moving onto the pulley. In reality, the belt is often slightly shifted due to incorrect belt splicing or imbalanced material loading. In such cases, training idlers can align the belt nicely to the pulley in order to prevent damaging of the belt when put into tension in an incorrect position.
If your conveyor system needs to be more moveable or when the environment is not suitable for a static idler, you would be needing garland idlers. These idlers are attached to the conveyor frame and enable better mobility. While decreasing the maximum loading capacity.
The last component that plays a big part when using a conveyor system is a tension controller. In order to transport load as effectively as possible, the belt has to be in a high tension. The pulleys would move the belt faster and the belt would avoid up and down resonations which slows the movement.
Idlers are an integral part of any conveyor system. These components support the belt once it is loaded, allowing it to move material smoothly from one location to another. Troughing idlers are designed such that the loaded belt itself forms a trough, which both reduces the risk of material spillage and increases the ultimate load-bearing ability of the conveyor for improved safety and productivity.
How Troughing Idlers Work
Troughing idlers consist of three or more idlers that guide the conveyor belt. They are found on the carrying-side of the belt and are installed along the entire length of the conveyor. The troughing idlers work to keep the belt in the same configuration all along its length, which thus maintains the same cross-sectional area as the belt carries mined materials from their source to the drop off point. A troughing idler is comprised of a central idler roll, which has a fixed width, and two or more wing idlers located on each side of the central idler roll. The wing idlers can be adjusted up or down to change the toughing angle, which affects the depth of the trough created by the conveyor belt as it moves.
Benefits of Troughing Idlers
Troughing idlers offer two important benefits. First, the troughing idlers keep the belts shape consistent throughout its journey, which improves both stability and carrying capacity. Second, troughing idlers reduce the amount of material that may accidentally spill over the edge of the conveyor system, which improves productivity and also increases the safety of workers, who may be at risk from falling material while working near conveying equipment.
When it comes to bulk material handling, belt conveyor idlers are needed as integral and vital part of the system. They consist of one or more rollers which are supported or suspended by appropriate frames and transoms. Rulmeca production includes different types and configurations of belt conveyor idlers.
In a belt conveyor one may identify two types of belt conveyor idlers. The upper carrying sets have the function to support the loaded sections of the belt and to move the material. Instead, lower sets support the unloaded belt on its return section.
The upper troughing sets may basically be in two arrangements: flat, with a single horizontal roller generally supported by two fixed brackets from the conveyor structure; troughed, generally with 3 rollers supported within a frame which is itself fixed to the conveyor structure. Then, there may be other belt conveyor idlers in the loaded sections: impact troughing sets that have rollers with rubber rings or suspended garland sets.
Finally, Rulmeca selection of belt conveyor idlers include self-centering troughing sets which are used for correcting the belt tracking and maintain it constantly in central position.
Within Rulmeca wide selection of components, all types of belt conveyor idlers basically share the same functions. They support the belt and conveyed materials along its full length preventing it from stretching, bending and failing. This favors the smooth and efficient running of the belt conveyor and reduces the risk of material spillage, resulting in improved safety and productivity.
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