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Delivery period: May 2014

Industrial washing plant intelligently equipped from 6 m depth
Screws go into a “washing machine” – that sounds unspectacular and almost trivial even in the context of an industrial company. But the many process details at the screw manufacturer make you sit up and take notice: Between the various production phases, high-quality screws and their steel transport boxes are repeatedly cleaned and dried in five washing machines and five dryers. Downtimes? Of course, these are best avoided altogether. Due to possible urgent batches even at high throughput rates, the SAP-controlled processes of the conveyor system are particularly flexible and efficient.

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Features

Conveying Elements: Roller conveyor
Strand conveyor
Converter and change of direction
Storage techniques
Lift table
Convey Goods: Empty and filled screw boxes
Industry: Metal industry and processing

From the basement 6 m high to the car wash

Steel boxes full of screws weighing up to 500 kg are transported from the production area in the basement to the so-called FlexShuttle by forklift. Four transport boxes weighing up to 2 t together and stacked on top of each other are loaded onto the FlexShuttle by the forklift. In the interaction of FlexShuttle and lifter of the conveyor technology specialist ALFOTEC, the stack of boxes with the screws to be cleaned is destacked, separated and moved up to the ground floor, box by box.

The FlexShuttle consists of two mirror-inverted C-profiles. Inside, a carriage runs, which is pulled back and forth by means of a servo motor on a toothed belt in a precise position. Since the FlexShuttle can approach each individual box and close gaps, there is no loss of time and the available space is used quickly and to the maximum. When the lift reaches the ground floor, which is 6 m higher, it sets the box down: A roller conveyor mounted on a revolving platform swivels under the box, picks it up and swivels it through 90 degrees again to bring the transport box into the conveyor section of the car wash.

Five washing machines and dryers
Prior to the washing process, an employee transfers the box data to the SAP system by hand scanner, thus providing an overview of the production throughput. The scanning process also records which washing program is started. The system has been programmed intelligently and flexibly enough to control a total of five washing machines and five dryers, if necessary with express batches.

conveyor system with traversing carriage

No “dead” places

Via the heart of the system, a traversing carriage, wash crates are intelligently transported through the conveyor system square to buffer space, lid stations, feed roller conveyors, washing and drying stations. The trolley is controlled in such a way that no “dead” spaces are created by prioritised buffering. The boxes are automatically tilted, thus being emptied and transported further, while the bundles of screws fall onto a vibrating plate and a rake separates them. It is not possible to wash the screws in the transport boxes, because they are not perforated, have no lid, are also dirty and are therefore separated from the screws before the washing process.

Cleaning of the wash boxes and their contents

Via the heart of the system, a traversing carriage, wash crates are intelligently transported through the conveyor system square to buffer space, lid stations, feed roller conveyors, washing and drying stations. The trolley is controlled in such a way that no “dead” spaces are created by prioritised buffering. The boxes are automatically tilted, thus being emptied and transported further, while the bundles of screws fall onto a vibrating plate and a rake separates them. It is not possible to wash the screws in the transport boxes, because they are not perforated, have no lid, are also dirty and are therefore separated from the screws before the washing process.

High safety standard

Der Schraubenhersteller setzt auf einen hohen Sicherheitsstandard: Lift, FlexShuttle und das Waschanlagen-Karree sind durch Schutzzäune eingehaust. The screw manufacturer relies on a high safety standard: Lift, FlexShuttle and the washing bay are enclosed by protective fences. In addition, a light barrier brings the conveyor to a standstill, for example when a forklift truck in the basement drives into the lift with the FlexShuttle for loading or unloading, or on the upper level the boxes are scanned before the washing process.

Unusually high requirements

All those involved know that the requirements are unusually high because many different processes run in parallel and, due to the integration into a complex production process with frequently changing screw batches, a high throughput without production downtimes must be guaranteed. With ALFOTEC, the screw manufacturer chose a conveyor technology partner who could meet these requirements well.