A major Co-Packer approached Thomas Conveyor & Equipment (TCE) with an opportunity to help them increase their efficiency. They were looking for a solution to introduce empty trays to their current production line.
The production line was approximately 60’ in length. They were manually bringing empty trays to 4 to 5 stations along the 60’ line. They wanted to purchase an automatic tray former and convey these trays directly to the different stations along the 60’ run. The tray former would be located at the beginning of the production line.
Thomas Conveyor designed and manufactured an elevated conveyor line, which would fit directly over the existing conveyor line and transport these empty trays along the entire 60’ length run. The operators would only have to reach up to get an empty tray and proceed to fill they tray with product and place back on the existing conveyor. The operator remained facing the same direction and did not have to bend or twist their body to accomplish the task. This also would reduce the amount of workers needed who were manually supplying each station with empty trays.
This portable conveyor was designed and manufactured with “rolling” stands to allow the conveyor to be positioned exactly where production was needed. All stands were equipped with lockable casters.
The solution included one incline conveyor to be positioned at the discharge end of the tray former to put the trays at the desired height, and a second conveyor which ran the entire 60’ run of the production run. This conveyor was located over the existing conveyor as to maximize efficiency and minimize use of floor space.
The conveyors were equipped with Variable Frequency Drives (VFD’s) to adjust speed of the belt as to provide the correct number of trays to each station. The system also included a pull-cord “e-stop” so anyone along the line could stop the system if required.
The first system worked so well they immediately purchased a second one to provide the same benefits to another production line.
Be sure to contact Thomas Conveyor & Equipment Co,. Inc. at (708) 449-2100 or visit our website at www.tceconveyors.com for all you material handling needs.
Incline Conveyor accepts empty trays from new Trayformer and conveys them to desired height.
Second conveyor transports empty trays along production line. This conveyor designed to be placed over existing production conveyor to save space and deliver trays efficiently and to several work stations along the line.
A chute located at the end of the second conveyor dumps and unused trays into a cart for use at a later time.