Hello Saadullah:

You are correct - this is package handling, not bulk handling.

As far as your project is concerned, you have not identified the type of existing conveyor being used. The options open to you will vary depending on this. As the worst case senerio is a slow moving belt conveyor (worst since you cannot have a lift or a divert system come up through the belt), I give you three of many possibilities to handle your problem.

Solution #1:

a) Place two stops on the conveyor and a photo eye. One stop is to prevent the packages from exiting the conveyor. The photo eye is to inform the control system when there are two package in position at the end stop. The second stop is to prevent any more packages from getting queued at the end stop.

b) Place your lift & tilt device at the end of the line so it can receive packages when lowered and then lift them to its upper position before tilting to deliver them to the packaging machine. This lift & tilt device will need at least four proximity switches to work properly.

Solution #2:

a) Change the configuration of the production belt conveyor so that it raises the product approximatel 35 - 40 cm at its discharge end.

b) Use stops, as described before.

c) Use a chute to feed the packaging machine.

Solution #3:

a) Use stops at the end of the conveyor, as described.

b) Reposition your packaing machine so it can accept the packages directly from the conveyor.

Other options are available. You can get general concept information from package handling conveyor companies such as Bosch, Rapistan, and others.

Hope this helps. ■

Difficult task, but not the tecnical one. The one of replacing labor with machines.

From the description that you supply, it is not easy to see whether a simple stop will help you out or whether you will need a piston operated actuator.

What I would guess is that a stop will help you put 2 packages together, from there you can push them into whatever you want, 2 by 2.

If you put your stop in an angle, one of the packages will go to the top, and the other one will stop behind it. From there you can push both.

Send a picture or a drawing of the setting, that way we can help you better. It is not a difficult task. There are no magic formulas.

Your conveyor has so many packages per second, so it will take certain amount of time to have 2 packages together, and you have that amount of time to wait, then you have to act fast to move them out of the way before the next one arrives.

You might work out a cue of packages waiting to be pushed into the machine if you are not fast enough.

Friction from the conveyor could damage the diaper's envelope. If you can align the packages in the conveyor, you can use a free fall after the conveyor head pulley to make your 2 packages, and you can even put them inside the packaging machine there.

Gravity is not my preferred choice, as the diapers sometimes might not have enough weight even to put themselves in. I do prefer pistons.

In any case, look into aligning the packages before they arrive to your contarption.

Regards,

Marco Flores ■

If your production is anything like fast then you always risk damaging a product by mechanical handling.

Blow the nappies up into a hood. Blow the first one against the side of the hood & the next one into the remaining space. Then blow these two into the machine. Surely this is your normal practice elsewhere in the factory. ■

A lot of recent threads remind me of a Donovan hit of the mid 60's. "First there is an island; then there is no island." Come on lads; get your acts together! Is there a bleeding conveyor there or not?

The only people not totally confused are the existing personnel at the end of the now imaginary conveyor. I suggest you leave them there until their job description is finalised! ■

Let me see. Let's go back to the beginning.

This is a school work.

There is no conveyor.

You are supposed to design a conveyor and demonstrate to the school that you have learned your lesson.

You need to calculate the power of the conveyor.

And then you need to design a device to put 2 diapers together in a back, or 2 packages of diapers in a box.

You do not have any idea of how the conveyor is going to be built, how long it's going to be, or anything of that sort.

First, if I were your teacher, I would like you to go to the library and look into all the books that are related to material handling. There you will find one book with the standards of the material handling association, or Conveyor Belt Manufacturer's Association.

It is a big book.

There you will find all the formulas you need, according to the type of conveyor, the number of idlers, the type of idler, the slope of the onveyor, etc.

If you don't find the book in the library, then you go into your information center and ask them to get the articles you need related to conveyor design.

If you can, get yourself a visit to a any type of factory that has conveyor belts, preferably to one that handles diapers, if not visit one that handles food stuff. There you will find conveyor belts.

Select one that fits your needs and just read the label on the motors and you will find a practical method to establish the power requiements.

This might not be of the liking of your Professor, but it's one way to go.

Then you center yourself in tha task of aligning the diapers. You will find it's not too difficult, once you get the hang of it.

Buy a box of diapers, with 2 bags of diapers inside. Put them on a table and just look at them.

Put the box on one side and put the bags on the other side, and trtry putting them together without touching them with your hands, dropping them, pushing them with boards, and so on.

Very soon you will find a way to do it.

Now you have to measure the foce required and the movements required to do the job.

You can use pulleys and counterweights to measure the forces involved .

See what happens if you use more force than the minimun .

I believe the goal of your school is that you learn to find out the information , getting into the forums is a good way , but asking the forum for all rthe homewark is not really what your proffesor is looking for.

Do not be afraid of trying something experimental. It is where the real fun is .

And that is the way technology is develop, not by asking a bunch of old guys what is what they would do.

Ypu can do that , and we will be glad to pitch in , everyone with its particular approach to killing flies.

But I believe you have to do your homework first , select the type of conveyor.

is it goung to be a flat rubber conveyor? or a metalic one . see it this way . lets suppose it is yopur factory , a small unit that only packs stuff.

And you are given the task to pack nappies , you have one week to come with the solution or the job is going elsewhere.

You can use robots or whatever menans yo can devise but yo have to do it with less cost than the way is being done today.

Use your imagination and for god sake , try something experimental . Do not go to the forums for a start. , as you were so wisely advised (put your act together first ) we will gladly help once we see you are in the ball park.

Regards

marco ■

There's another forum I visit that bans posts from students who try to get professionals to do their homework/coursework/projects for them.

Such activities are really plaglarism. What use will such students be when they graduate if all they can do is try to pass their workload onto other experienced people. ■

Hello Saadullah:

You have really changed the starting point.

Because of this, I suggest you start by contacting and working with package conveyor suppliers. They can help you frame the questions you need to deisgn a good system.

If it were I, I would consider a dual roller chain conveyor with pallets that could hold two product units. The pallets could have RFID transmitter/receiver modules on them for control purpuses.

If a change in elevation is mandated by your professor, dual belt lift or lift-rotate units are comercially available. When you get involved with these systems, you will find that small motors are used (1/4 - 1/2 HP are typical). If operator substitution is required, the use of industrial robots is always a possibility.

It sounds as if you are being asked to design a complete production line. If so, you have to consider the times required for each action (after deciding what actions are needed) and design in a control system that will not permit product movement until the any action at a given station is completed. Depending on the actions done, the control system can get complicated.

Before you proceed, however, you must define your requirements. Otherwise, anyone who is trying to help will get frustrated (you can already see this from some of the earlier responses).

Regards, ■

Hello Saadullah:

With what you described, I would not use a belt conveyor system.

A dual strand roller chain system with pallets, transfer units, RFID readers, and a lift/transfer unit would serve you better.

You can obtain basic information via the internet by searching for package conveyor systems. Some sites will provide you with the formulae you need (I've mentioned 2 possibilities before).

Good luck with the project. ■

Your drawing needs a lot more information, if you are going to use this for your final report.

Where is the floor?

How are the aisles?

How is the conveyor going to be protected?

How are the people going to be protected?

Which are the access?

How are you going to clean?

How are you going to lubricate?

Where is the emergency STOP?

Where is the ilumination?

How does it look from the top?

How does it look from the front?

What is around it?

What are the details of the head pulley?

What are the details in the tail pulley?

How are you going to align it?

How are you going to keep the tension?

Remember, you are studying because somebody is willing to pay for the abilities you are learning or acquiring during your education. Otherwise, you are training for unemployment.

You need to show initative.

You need to show knowledge.

You need to make your own mistakes, and learn from them.

The faster you make the mistakes, the faster you learn.

So hurry up and start making mistakes.

It doesn't seem like you are in a hurry.

It also doesn't seem that you are really looking.

The information is there, waiting to be used, but don't expect others to do your job.

You remind me of one of my Master students, she was gpomg from one teacher to the other, with her Thesis and she made everybody believe that she was making the changes, when it was only the Professor's imput, but, as we were many, she just kept going from one to the other. Like her, I have had several students, each one with their own style.

She believed she was being smart and she went on to do her PhD, through the Internet. Believe it or not, she got a PhD.

So you might do as she did. Go from one expert to another and get their imput and then put everybody's ideas together and you will be doing something, integrating, but if you don't even do that, you will be like she was, a reflection in a mirror, with no substance.

Whatever you do, start now, don't wait, you will never have enough time if you keep waiting for someone else to start for you.

Regards,

Marco Flores

P.S. If you really want to help your country and be an important part of its development, you need to start now. ■

"smoke and mirrors", "the triumph of style over substance"

Isn't that just the way of so much these days! ■

Yes, style is important, when you deal with students. They can handle images all right and analogies.

It is just a question of making them see what they want of themselves.

By the way, the complete quote comes from Leonardo Da Vinci, and he refers to those who only copy what other people have done.

Regards,

Marco ■

If you have to start from scratch use the sealy or the spotts

Design of machine elements.

Get yourself a box of Diapers and do what I told you , !do it now!

there is no time to loose !

We can help you but you need to show more drive!

experiment now!

now!

marco ■

older versions will also work .

NEW Edition -

"BELT CONVEYORS FOR BULK MATERIALS"(Sixth Edition)

This highly acclaimed book is considered by many to be the belt conveyor industry basic handbook. It details subject areas critical to selecting bulk handling belt conveyors. Contains photographs of equipment, including line drawings, formulas, and easy-to-use tables.

This hardcover manual is written for the experienced engineer, the recent graduate, consultants, professionals, and all who must design or approve projects involving the handling of bulk materials with belt conveyor systems. ($300.00) 599 pages. (2005)

CEMA Belt Book

Click Here to Compare 5th and 6th Editions ■

Dear Saadi,

Beumer in Germany does design such tilt conveyors.

http://www.beumer.com

I met a research PhD in Hannover University who was developing a new tilt conveyor, in the early 1990's. and now works for Beumer.

You might obtain some useful details from the University. ■