New high speed/ high tech conveyor system for NZ Quality Waters - Putaruru
CEO, Ian Riley set a very high specification for the new high speed P.E.T. – water-filling system. Ian was adamant that he wanted a dry working environment. He also insisted that there would be no water or line lube used to reduce friction between bottles and the conveyor chain, no dead plates, no line pressure which candeform bottles and definitely no areas where bottles can jam or hang up.
Rexnord HP8506 Mat-top belting was chosen for the automatic depalletising system because of its high performance characteristics, belt strength, 19mm pitch – enabling nose boards to be used and the perforated top drastically reducing the friction between the Mat and the bottles.
The 5.5 metre long Mat-top x 48 inches wide allows a complete pallet of bottles to be loaded onto it. Because of the variation in bottle shapes, heights and capacity – 330ml to 1.5 litre, it was necessary to use a compact ‘cyclo drive’ gearbox with a ration of 731: reduction linked to a V.S.D. allowing the speed of the Mat to be djusted to suit the various sizes of bottles. At right angles to the Mat-top conveyor is a six-track conveyor incorporating PS 820-K325 Rexnord chain. The platinum chain is the latest generation developed by Rexnord to allow chains to run without water or line lube for lubrication. This chain can be run at higher speeds and in longer lengths. To connect the six-track conveyor to the depalletising conveyor a specially shaped side plate was designed to match the nose board, ensuring that a dead-plate was unnecessary.
The secret to ensuring that there are no fallen bottles, jam-ups or hang-ups is to have the chains running at different speeds progressively getting faster across the width of the conveyor. The final takeaway chain was a Rexnord PS880 tab K325 running ten per cent faster than the previous chain and incorporating a special transfer box allowing bottles to move from one conveyor the next without a dead plate.
A feature of this box is that the chainsare hinge guided (i.e.: reduced running clearance between chain and wear profiles) and a 1.5mm gap between the chains ensures that the bottles naturally form a single lane and don’t jam. Finally the bottles are neck blown into the tri-block (rinser-filler-capper) and exit via a three track – six metre accumulation conveyor feeding the NZ manufactured Apex Packaging in-line labeller. Because of the multiplicity of bottle shapes and sizes, Apex developed and manufactured an in-line bottle orientater ensuring that the line speed was maintained and once again transfer boxes were installed to eliminate dead plates.
Ian Riley stated that the conveyor system built in-house using Rexnord and Marbett components, enabled a kit-set like assembly to be carried out and had been a very good cost saving exercise. The new high-speed line had exceeded his expectations and after having put up with old technology for years on the other three conveying lines it was now time to reap the benefits of a system designed for the future.