Powered Roller Conveyors Offer a Way to Quickly Move Loads

What is a Powered Roller Conveyor?

A powered roller conveyor is a type of powered conveyor where round rotatable rollers are mounted on both sides of the belt to drive it forward or backward. The belt can be used as low-speed conveying system to transport light-weight materials in bulk quantities.

It offers high acceleration and deceleration rates with high speeds like other driving methods like Itoh Denki and chain conveyors.

But the processes involved in setting up belts are complex requiring high maintenance costs compared to other plug and play variants of powered roller conveyors.

Powered Roller Conveyor Components:

• The power pack which consists of DC motors that drive the rollers. It is flexible enough to use belts for both incoming and outgoing section of roller conveyors.
• Rollers are mounted with rubberized wheels to support belt movement with speed fluctuations, acceleration, deceleration, etc.
• Belt guide is used to maintain proper alignment between belt and roller during operation.
• Drive controller regulates the motion functions in roller conveyors like timing control mechanism according to belt length, etc.

Powered Roller Conveyor Working Principle

The working principle of roller conveyors depends on the belt length and rotation speed.

If the belt is too long, rollers cannot drive it properly due to increase in resistance.

Similarly, if roller rotation speed is lower than a critical velocity, belts won’t be able to provide driving forces.

The roller conveyor accelerates quickly at speeds greater than or equal to the threshold value which depends on the belt length.

When belts reach a specified velocity where momentums are high enough to maintain motion, conveyor can move objects with variable weight load capacities.

This depends upon the pulley ratio from input section to output section of roller conveyors.

Industries that use powered roller conveyors include:

•         Food industry
•         Automotive Industry
•         Pulp and Paper Industries
•         Textile Industries

Material handling solutions such as motor-driven roller conveyors and motorized belt conveyors can greatly improve the efficiency and safety of any facility.

Powered roller conveyor systems provide an easy way to move materials around a facility with minimal human interaction.

By using powered roller conveyors, facilities can reduce the number of people needed to transport goods through a building.

They also protect those employees from injury or strain as they will no longer need to handle heavy items.

Types of motor-driven powered roller conveyors available on the market today:

• Chain-driven roller conveyors
• Reciprocating rollers
• Inline rollers
• Motorized belt/pulley systems

Each type of motor-driven roller conveyor has their own benefits and uses in a facility.

Chain-Driven Conveyors

Chain driven motorized roller conveyors (also known as “incline drive systems”) are designed to transport loads on an incline, whether it is up or down.

These motorized roller conveyor platforms feature an electric motor sprocket that drives the chain backward or forward depending on which direction you wish to move the platform.

This motor sprocket is connected to a gearbox that can generate speeds up to 60 fpm (feet per minute).

While these motorized roller conveyor platforms will not work for moving materials horizontally across a floor, they do take little power and will work well in tight spaces with gentle slopes if speed is not a concern.

Another advantage of motorized incline conveyors is that they can be installed and used as permanent motorized roller conveyor systems, even if the floor or incline angle changes over time.

Roller Pressure Conveyors

Roller pressure conveyors are extremely energy efficient and last for a very long time. Unfortunately, they often do this at the cost of an inflexible system.

Since their pressure accumulators generate pressure through friction, it cannot be released as pressure is increased.

Roller pressure conveyors use pressure accumulators to generate pressure through friction. As pressure accumulators are pressed together the pressure increases.

However, you cannot reduce pressure equally throughout all accumulators in a roller pressure conveyor because it is generated from pressure thicknesses and pressure height.

If pressure rests too high for too long, wear and tear on the equipment becomes an issue.

Electric pressure release roller conveyors can apply pressure throughout the system, and then lower pressure equally through pressure exhaust valves.

This allows pressure to be lowered in a controlled manner by equalizing pressure throughout the system.

In addition, electric pressure release roller conveyors can include additional features that add convenience and versatility to your roll handling equipment.