A Metering and Merging Conveyor Solution with no Gates or Pushers.
August 24, 2011
Nercon Eng. & Mfg., Inc. introduces the Live Roller metering and merging conveyor. The Live Roller Conveyor uses a simple concept where the products are “stalled” on the conveyor until they are in proper sequence. An economical solution, products are metered and merged without the use of clamps, stops or sophisticated controls. This equipment will be demonstrated at Pack Expo Las Vegas, Booth #C3000.
The Live Roller Conveyor handles many types of packages including the growing use of formed shell packages, trays and form, fill and seal bags and pouches. Competing metering and merging equipment solutions for handling flexible bags and packages involve sophisticated controls and even servo technology, adding more cost to the equipment investment.
The function of the Live Roller Conveyor starts when product is introduced onto a primary modular plastic belt in which rows of rollers are integrated. The primary belt also has rollerless sections called indexing pockets. Down-stream, an exciter belt is located under the primary belt that engages the rollers on the primary belt. The exciter belt speed is set to drive the rollers on the primary belt in a backwards spinning motion. Products float on the roller sections briefly until the rollerless chain section emerges, putting the product in forward motion traveling on the indexing pocket. Simple plow rails or powered side rails are used to merge multiple lanes into single file.
Another benefit of this equipment is design and product size flexibility. The Live Roller Merge can be configured as a multiple laned unit with the indexing pockets arranged in a staggered pattern for down-stream merging. The belt construction is completely modular allowing for the best combination of roller deck and plastic belts that meet the needs of the application. Various sizes of packages can travel on the Live Roller Conveyor as long as they fit on the indexing pocket. The equipment has handled packages weighing a few ounces to fully loaded cases.
