1st Edition

Conveyors Application, Selection, and Integration

By Patrick M McGuire Copyright 2009
    210 Pages 157 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    210 Pages 157 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    Put simply, this is probably the first book in 40 years to comprehensively discuss conveyors, a topic that seems mundane until the need arises to move material from point A to point B without manual intervention. Conveyors: Application, Selection, and Integration gives industrial designers, engineers, and operations managers key information they must consider to determine which type of conveyor to purchase and how to optimally integrate it into their system to meet their transport needs.

    Tapping into his more than 20 years of experience in the materials handling industry, the author discusses requirements for specific products or materials and environmental factors, covering operation in extreme temperatures. Each chapter details a specific type of conveyor—including chain, belt, and gravity varieties—and highlights its primary features, such as load capacity and rate, and operation. The text also addresses costs and objectives of material handling, exploring rate calculations, controls systems, and other relevant aspects. It includes photographs of actual installations and a glossary of key terms.

    Learn from the Experience of a Conveyor Expert

    Unless you have conveyor experience, you’ll need help deciding on the best mode of transportation for your product. This volume stands apart as an aid in this decision process because it does not take a myopic view of one specific type of conveyor. Rather than solely covering bulk material handling or screw conveyors, it analyzes all of the major varieties of conveyors. This book is not meant to be an engineering manual for designing conveyors, but rather a broader guide to integrating conveyors in a transportation system.

    Introduction

    What Is Material Handling?

    What Are the Major Objectives of Conveyor Application?

    What Are the Real Costs of Material Handling?

    The Driving Force

    Supporting It All

     

    Equipment Selection Guide

    Conveyor Selection

    Notes

     

    Tabletop Chain Conveyor

    Tabletop Chain

    Modular Plastic Conveyor Belting

    Application Details

     

    Belt Conveyors

    Flat Belt Conveyors

    Belt Curves

    Trailer Loader/Unloaders

    Specialty Flat Belt Conveyors

    Cleated Belt Conveyors

    Troughed Belt Conveyors

    Belt Types

     

    Static (Gravity) Conveyors

    Static Wheel

    Static Roller

    Application Details

    Spurs and "Y" Curve Switches

    Gate Sections

    Flexible Conveyors

    Extendable Gravity Conveyor

    Flow Rack

     

    Powered Conveyors

    Live Roller Conveyors

    Modular Conveyor

    Sorters

     

    Heavy Unit Load Handling Conveyors

    Gravity Roller Conveyors

    Roller Transportation Conveyors

    Roller Accumulation Conveyors

    Multistrand Chain Conveyor

    Right Angle Transfers

    Turntables

    Ancillary Equipment

    Application Details

     

    Overhead Chain

    Free Systems

    Power Systems

    Power and Free Systems

    Accessories

    Inverted Power and Free

    Application

     

    Miscellaneous

    Chutes

    Vibratory Conveyors

    Air Conveyors

    Screw Conveyors

    Bucket Elevators

    Chip Conveyors

    Automated Electrified Monorail

    Assembly Platform Conveyors

     

    Rate Calculations

    Unit Handling

    Bulk Handling

     

    Integration and Control Systems

    System Design

    Controls Systems

     

    Environmental Considerations

    Above 177°C (+350°F)

    Between +40°C (+104°F) and +177°C (350°F)

    Between +2°C (+35°F) and +40°C (104°F)

    Between –7°C (+20°F) and +2°C (+35°F)

    Between –7°C (20°F) and –18°C (0°F)

    Between –18°C (0°F) and –40°C (–40°F)

    Below –40°C (–40°F)

    Summary

     

    Glossary

     

    Bibliography

     

    Index

    Biography

    Patrick McGuire has been in the material handling industry for more than 20 years. He has a BS degree in computer integrated manufacturing systems and his professional engineering license for industrial engineering. He started with a very small conveyor manufacturer in upstate New York, J & S Conveyors, where he was the Engineering Manager. They designed and built a wide variety of conveyors. They manufactured tabletop chain conveyors, flat belt conveyors, heavy unit load conveyors, and troughed belt conveyors.

    After J & S, he went to work for Rapistan, the world’s largest manufacturer of material handling systems. Rapistan has since been bought by Siemens AG. Rapistan specialized in unit handling, primarily distribution systems. McGuire was involved with the office that also specialized in-process manufacturing systems. They built one-of-a-kind conveyors and systems for giants such as Corning, Kodak, Xerox, General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler. He worked as a senior systems engineer and a project manager.

    After 10 years of custom product and system design, he took a position with the products group, where he worked on such things as the high-speed divert for airport baggage and then became the product manager for the heavy unit load product line. In that position McGuire led a group of engineers in designing, documenting, and selling a full line of pallet handling conveyors. He has since worked as the Director of Product Engineering for American Ironhorse Motorcycles, and the Director of Manufacturing and Technology for Transnorm System, a specialty conveyor manufacturer.

    Currently, McGuire is the Manager of Engineering Services for Glidepath, which is leading a movement of business and engineering systems integration and automation. As a member of CEMA, he co-authored or edited several chapters of the new CEMA Application Guide for Unit Handling Conveyors.