Alcoa
Automation of aluminium sheet rolling mill.
This new system reduced the manpower to roll a stack of aluminium sheets from 3 to 1. Previously one man had feed the front of the mill and the 2 behind had lifted the sheet high and passed it back over the top for further rolling.
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The main rolls of the mill |
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And a man feeding a sheet through the rolls |
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Coming out of the back of the mill a multi strand conveyor removes the sheet and passes it onto a wigwag conveyor. |
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This reverses the direction and pivots to feed back on a higher level multi strand conveyor. |
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Then back over the top of the mill back to the operator. The entire system is as one unit mounted on rails which powers back to allow for roll changes. |
Black & Decker
A Platen Conveyor System to assemble hedge trimmers:
The Parts are carries on platens which are puck based and index the platens from station to station.
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Major parts are loaded at specific points and auto assembly includes vibro screw fixing: |
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Grease filling: |
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Electric flash testing and 6 other electrical tests: |
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To pass-off: |
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Brinton Carpets
Underfloor system
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A simple system to remove carpets from underfloor delivery under the loom. |
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Convey out and elevate to roll onto either trolleys or roll out onto an inspection table. |
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Ford Motor Company
Tray Dispensers
These vacuum formed trays hold instruments for instrument displays: speedometers, rev counters, etc...
Each tray holds a high factory cost and the trays are stacked about 15 high on trolleys. These dispensing units protect the instruments from damage, keep them clear of dust and rapidly present a fresh tray to operators - about 10 seconds.
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End doors allow the trolleys to be wheeled into one side of the unit - an empty one in the opposite side collects empty trays. |
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The stack is lifted from the trolleys and traversed in line with the feed line. The lowest tray is decanted onto the feed roller section. The trays then accumulate until called on. The photograph on the left is a left side feed unit. |
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When a new full tray is needed the lift levels and lowers to line up with the feed tracks. A new tray is released and loaded as the empty tray is powered off to be re-stacked on the other side. |
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These stacker/dispensers are fully clad and controlled by a programmable logic controller.
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Ford Motor Company
Inlet Manifold - Turn over, Clean, Load onto plattern on accumulation Conveyor.
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An inlet manifold is presented by a walking beam conveyor at this point. Where two finger grippers pick it up. |
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It is then lifted and rotated through 180� whilst it is spun to remove swarf from the apertures. |
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The manifold is then placed in a plattern on a slat conveyor. |
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These are then turned and accumulated side by side. |
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General Motors - Liverpool
Box Stacking & De-Stacking Systems
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These stacked boxes of instruments are placed from trolleys onto the unload feeds to the system. |
The stacks are indexed forward where the lowest is decanted and when called forward is conveyed onto the lift when lowered. At the same time and empty box is ejected. |
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As the lift raises the the full box is pushed over to the operator's side. Pivoting can be included as can enclosures.
These systems are used under and alongside twin track assembly conveyors |
General Motors - Twin Tracks
Assembly Conveyors in carousel form
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Two conveyors, low width, with 180� turns for the assembly platterns. |
The platterns are used for assembling instrument displays. |
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The tight turns require escapements to ensure correct feeding in between cross flights on belt |
Because the process involves many fasteners collecting trays are included for these within the structure. Other features include foot rests and overhead lighting and tool suspension systems. |
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These twin track conveyors are also served by stackers for presenting the components.
George Carter Pressings Ltd
Plate De-stacking, Inspection and Stacking System
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This system receives packs of plate (to will be pressed into heavy wheels) and conveyors them on powered roller conveyors to a de-stack scissor lift... |
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Then through a turn-over unit after which the underside is inspected... |
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The the stack is re-built and faulty material is powered off onto a stillage - see 1st photograph. |
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GEC Alstrom - Stafford
Part of a system for handling 6M long laminates for large transformers
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Laminates of trapezoidal profile are punched out and loaded endwise on to this powered roller conveyor. |
The conveyor is mounted on a powered bogie which enables it to power off the laminates into various apertures at different positions and heights before they are used for manually assembling very large transformers. |
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The laminates are up to 6M long and 1M wide. The scissor lift can raise to 1.5M |
GKN Birfield Extrusions
3T skip tippers
Men were used to lifting 5Kg extrusions from floor level in the floor of a 3T skip then lifting and placing it in tooling. There were claims for back injury and on that basis we were able to supply a number of special tippers. The result of introducing these tippers greatly improved productivity but we understood afterwards that if the Capex application had been based on cost effectiveness it would not have been forthcoming: it is easier to get money for H&S or environmental matters than efficiency!
Glynwed Tubes
High speed tube handling systems
Goodyear Disney Land
Quite a bit of Roller Conveyor for handling tyres.
HuF (UK) Ltd
An assembly system for Jaguar Door Handles
| The 2 handed systems accepts a two part plastic handle. It inserts a hinge pin with a coil spring mounted in a plastic sleeve and also inserts 2 square nuts from a pair of bowl feeders. |
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Hewlett Packard
Robot insertion into PCB - Ireland
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PCBs approximately 600 X 300mm had to be so positioned that a robot could insert components accurately. The size was so large that the cost of a robot to do the insertion was too much. |
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We decided that the innovative solution was to place the PCB |
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This 3 position slide is fitted with 3 precise needles which locate in the PCB: thereafter a double air cylinder precisely positions it for insertion. |
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Polypipe - Tube Collator
This system collects and collates plastic tubes cut from a continuous extruder. The batches of up to 100 are indexed until an operator indexes them off the head end into plastic bags.
 
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The cut tubes pass through a collator which count and position the tubes. |
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They are tamped to square them and retained between two angled belts. The operator programmes the number per batch up to about 100 - �30. |
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The terminal chute is designed to accept plastic bags. The operator, with a foot control, indexes each batch into the chute. As this is being done batches being collated are held back to maintain the correct count. The entire system is sheet cladded and has polycarbonate windows for inspection. The PLC control system is built into the panelling. |
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Apart from straight rigid tubes the system can receive flexible tubes but these cannot be collated in the same way and are received in loose batches which pass through the system but need a longer gap between batches. |
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Jaguar Cars
Engine Check System
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Engines are built on the floor level jigged slat conveyor on the right of this photo. |
They are then loaded onto platterns on these roller slat conveyors which accumulate and deliver them to ball tables where inspection is completed. |
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Return platterns are sent back to the start by using one of the return bands of the roller slats. |
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Lloyds of Burton
Casting steel used to be carried out in this shell moulding process by craning a 10T crucible of molten steel to each pouring point. These were 50mm diameter in a sand core resting ona bed of line stone on beams - shown on the left of the picture.
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Spillage, slowness, waste and danger were all eliminated by the twin carousel and recovery system we supplied. |
The moulds are now carried round on the 2 carousels which each can carry 100T of steel castings. Pouring is at the far end on both 90� bends. The support rollers are cast iron and carried on quick change shafts in case of steel spillage.
The castings are carried on beds of limestone... |
...on 1200 X 1200 carriers which also carry thermal shielding. Apart from the ends the carousels run within an extraction enclosure. |
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At the unload area castings, shells, etc are pneumatically transferred to a vibrator. This breaks up the shells which with limestone drop through a hopper to a bucket elevator which feeds a triple screen vibrator. |
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This separates dust which is blown to an outside bunker, limestone which is screw fed to 2 bunkers for reuse and broken shells which are fed to outside scrap storage. |
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Luxfer Cylinders
A system to automate the handling of medical cylinders.
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Mayflower Vehicle Systems
Interpress Conveyor
A series of special conveyors to handle pressings between presses ranging from complete Jaguar side panels, Land Rover roofs to smaller pressings. |
These conveyors solved various problems: prior to these innovative units large, heavy flat bed belt conveyors had to be positioned by fork truck between the presses and moved whenever a tool change was needed. Also there was nowhere to store the old conveyors. They also damaged the pressings especially aluminium ones with rubbish being carried by the belts which became pressed into the skins. |
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The new conveyors could be interlinked to form any length of conveying surface required. They can be electronically interlinked with a stop facility at the take of point |
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They can also be folded up and pushed about by one man. |
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The extended length is about 3M and the closed length about 1M |
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The running urethane surface does not damage the pressings and sheds and debris carried through |
Nuts & Bolts
Scrap handling conveyors and oil recovery system
A centralised system to recover scrap and oil from under 2 lines of cold headers and thread rolling machines.
One conveyor is 100Mlong and the other 50M. They both meet at a pit where the scrap is discharged and spun to recover oil. |
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The conveyors are drag scrapers formed from 50 X 25 steel formed alternatively into an 'H' link (scraper) and pairs of twin links locked by machined pins. The Head and Tail sprockets are hexagon castings. |
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The steel troughs were welded as one piece (100M !) and lowered into the floor pits from a series of gantries. Each 6mm mild steel trough is lined with a 12mm continuous length of armour plate steel.
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The return chain is carried on flanged rollers.
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Perkins Engines
Cast Iron Underfloor Swarf Handling System from Engine Machining Line
There are hotspots on the image below hover over the image to view
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Pirelli
Cestelli Feed System. This system handles wire inserts for car tyres on cestellis (Italian). They are passed onto a twiple position lift and automatically positioned for feed into trollies. The wire inserts have just passed out if a coating process.
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Cestelli rolling down infeed conveyor |
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Cestelli being received at high level |
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Automatic transfer, by rodless cylinder and pawl, onto top level of trolley. |
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Lift at lowest level. |
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Rover
3 Twin slat conveyors for building Metro rear wheel assemblies
Twin drives and electromagnetic clutches to allow slates to be run jointly, separately or even one in reverse.
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Jigs are bolted to slats at regular pitch. |
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The twin tracks can run independently, even in reverse, or locked together |
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Twin drive arrangement with electromagnetic clutch and fluid couplings |
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Shear pin device on head shaft. |
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ROF - Birtley
A shell case annealing system
| A system which carries �150 shell cases around a carousel conveyor and rotate them as they pass through a heated area. This to relieve the stresses set up during their production. |
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Shells on rotating jig heated section. Vertical coolers in the background. |
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Close up of rotating jig section. |
Searle Air Conditioning
A system for conveying Air conditioning units.
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Up to 1 tonne and 3M long X 1.5M wide X 800 high air conditioner units. Roller conveyor, Turn over unit, Slewing system and storage tracks. |
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Ball tables and roller conveyor with units on boards |
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Whilst the Air conditioners as large the enclosures on them are made from quite light material. This turn-over unit accepts any size of air conditioner on powered roller conveyor. It then closes together the upper and lower sections of conveyor to prevent the product moving and then turns through 180� before opening up to allow the inverted unit out. |
Star Aluminium
Scrap aluminium collection and transfer system.
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This powered mobile container collects end cuts of aluminium. When full it moves to position above a inter floor access... |
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In this photograph can be seen the cam followers and the ends of the bomb shell doors. The container is traversing towards the lowering point |
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This shows the container being lowered before the bomb shell doors are opened automatically |
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This is at the base of the lowerator. The twin chains can be seen as can the hydraulics which open the doors. |
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Thompson - Oil Drilling Rods
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Male and female ends for welding to each end on infeed side conveyor. |
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Welded female ends at cooling position |
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Infeed conveyor to pick and place unit which loads friction welder chuck. |
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Wellman - Quench Conveyor
A Heat Treatment Quench Conveyor for RHP bearings.
The basic tank is made from 6mm plate mounted on an rolled steel channel base frame. The conveyor is guided into the tank with flanged wheels that run in channel guides. The conveyor had to be folded to enable it to be fitted within a low roof height. |
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The tank holds oil and the conveyor top cladding is sealed to the tank. The infeed chute is sealed by a ceramic granular seal. This is to preserve an endothermic atmosphere above the oil to maintain quality. |
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The oil in the tank is heated by 48 immersion heaters around the edge of the tank and pumped through a heat exchanger to control the temperature. The tank also has a 50mm air gap around and an outer skin of sheet steel which holds 50mm of ceramic fibre insulation. Explosive discs are also included as a safety aspect.
The mesh conveyor is a chain edges woven balance mesh with cross flights and side plates to retain components being handled. |
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One aspect of this trial assembly was that the contracts crane - Iron Fairy - could not lift the conveyor high enough for insertion and a second one had to be brought in to tip the tank up to accept it. An aspect of planning which had been overlooked! |
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