Overhead Conveyors

An Overhead Conveyor System offers many advantages in terms of the

ability to transport products, pieces or parts in unused plant spaces above
the work area.come down to places needed for loading or
unloading.handle heavy loads and odd shaped items.incorporate
cleaning, painting, heat treating, baking, or similar operations.and can be
easily modified if production needs change. Use the links below to skip
to a specific topic on this page.

Overhead Conveyor Types

System Layout Information

Chain Pull Calculation

Drive Specifications

Trolleys & Attachments

Safety Devices

Screen Guarding

Pitfalls To Avoid

Overhead Conveyors are of three basic types:

Free Systems with hand pushed trolleys available with a complete

line of curves, brackets, switches, turntables, crossovers, lowerators,
etc

Power Systems with chain, drive(s) and a complete line of

horizontal and vertical curves, take-ups, attachments, load bars,
safety devices, etc

Power and Free with chain, drive(s), trolleys with load bars,
horizontal, and vertical curves, switches, take-ups, stops, etc

Overhead Conveyors have three basic capacities:

Light Duty:

For 1 lb to 75 lbs per hook loading

Medium Duty: For 75 lbs to 200 lbs per hook loading

Heavy Duty: For 200 lbs and 1200 lbs per hook loading

(Note: Load bars are available for each to increase hook

loading)

Overhead Conveyors come in three basic styles:

Round enclosed track, 1-5/8 & 2-3/8 diameter

Rectangular enclosed track

I-beam, 3I, 4I and 6I

The following are some basic considerations to help you layout your system:
- Start with drawing a plan to scale of the building area in which
the conveyor system will be installed, showing all aisles, columns,
obstructions, equipment, and areas to be considered. - Determine
the type of load carried.
Consider the size and type of load to be carried and also the type of carrier
or hook to be used.
- Then consider the total load to be carried on each trolley.
This is an important factor in determining the size of the trolley, chain, track
and drive to be used.
- Plan the material flow which involves the speed at which the
conveyor will operate, and the spacing of trolleys, carriers or
hooks.
The desired conveyor speed is calculated by taking the required number of
parts per hour, multiplying this by the carrier spacing and dividing by 60
multiplied by the parts per carrier. Manual loading and unloading of an
overhead conveyor is considered to be between 10 and 25 FPM.
- Consider the type of conditions under which the conveyor will
operate.
This includes temperature, paint and chemical conditions and the
accessibility for lubrication or other factors which would have important
bearing on the type of components to be used especially the kind of trolleys,
turns and bearings.
- Choose the horizontal and vertical curves based on the size of
load and desired carrier spacing.

See tables A and B below for radii and trolley spacing minimums

- Be sure that the loads do not interfere with each other in curves
by laying out the horizontal and vertical curves and then laying in
the loads. - Allow for one trolley spacing of straight track between
horizontal and vertical changes to ensure proper chain alignment. Try to place the drive in the high point in the system with the takeup in front of the drive preferably in the low point in the system,
but close to the drive as possible.
This will ensure that slack chain is pulled away from the drive chain.
- Figure the total chain pull by first calculating the weight of the
product, carrier, chain and attachments on the entire system.
The most practical thing to do is to provide an ample margin of safety in
planning the chain and drive size.
- One means of figuring the total chain pull, particularly on simple
systems involving only one drive is the Total Moving Load
Method as described below:
The quick chain pull method for simple systems with one drive andno more
than 18 changes in direction is:

Calculate the total moving load and multiple this number by the friction
factor from Table C. This will give you a quick chain pull to help choose a
drive, system size, and type. To this figure you must add the vertical loads
by adding and subtracting the up and down loads. Multiply the vertical drop
or rise by the number of pounds per foot and consider the worst conditions
of loading. Many times a load going up will be cancelled by a load going
down.

Overhead Conveyor 180 Degree Take-Up Types:

Sc

Sp

Air
*Note*
Take-Up travel is normally 8, 12 or 16 and amount of chain that can be
taken up isdouble the travel.

*Note*
The X number designation of I-beam conveyors is a combination of the
chain pitch (3,4 or 6) and the diameter of the chain pin (.48, .58, or .
68)

Overhead Conveyor Trolleys:

Trolleys for overhead conveyor systems come in many styles and types

depending on the application and cost.

in two styles:

The brackets come

Forged: where strength and rigidity are desired.

Stamped: where economy is important and demands on the trolley

are not too great.

The wheel connections come in two syles:

Swaged: most common due to low cost and strength

Bolted: used where there is a need to replace wheels due to heavy

loads and contaminant conditions.

There are two basic choices for trolley wheels:

Retainer Type: These are typically used in light or moderate load and
low contaminate conditions such as transportation, parts delivery or
assembly operations. The advantage is low friction, minimum ball
wear, and the least drive energy.

Full Ball Type: These are used for heavier loads and
contaminant conditions. Also, they are use in high temperature
conditions up to 500 degree Fretainer types have a maximum range
of 325 degrees F.

(There are special types of wheels such as thermoplastic wheels designed to

resist cleaning solutions available in 3 I)

*Note*Wheels can be open or sealed depending on the application.
Overhead Conveyor Attachments:
Attachments for overhead trolleys come in many varied sizes and types
depending on the application and load.
Load Bars: designed to connect two trolley brackets designed to negotiate

around horizontal and vertical curves without binding.

3I load bar: 6 hole centers500 lbs capacity
4I load bar: 8 hole centers..1000 lbs capacity
6I load bar: 12 hole centers.2400 lbs capacity

1. H Attachments:(the most commonly used attachment)

It is used to suspend almost any type of hook, tray or rack.

They come in pairs and are bolted together between the trolley
brackets.

2. B Attachments:

Normally used to support the load bar from a pair of trolleys but can
be used for other applications.

3. C Attachments:

Are used when the carrier has a clevis.

Can also be used with a bent rod hook to carry light loads.

4. I or Dummy attachments:

Are used on intermediate or spacer trolleys that carry no load.

5. Indexing Swivels:

Come in many different styles in order to rotate your carrier or

product.

90 degree indexing swivel hook type with detents

at 90 degreeshas a 125 lb capacity and is used on
3I and 4I systems.

90 degree star wheel indexing swivel which

makes contact with stops along the travel of the
system to rotate the swivel.has a 125 lb capacity
and is used on 3I and 4I systems

6. Rotary Rack Swivel hooks have a gear rack which provides positive
turning action when engaged by a corresponding gear.

7. Spinner hooks provide for continuous rotation

when engaged by a fixed friction bar Capacity is 50
lbs

8. Sanitary hooks which have a C yoke to be used with a sanitary pan

under the conveyor rail and trolleys.
Overhead Conveyor Safety Devices:
Anti-backup uphill safety devices for vertical curves in the event of chain
breakage to prevent chain runaway.
Anti-runaway downhill safety devices for vertical curves. Involves a limit
switch to cut the drive off and a mechanical device to stop the chain from
running away in the case of chain breakage.
Screenguarding For Overhead Conveyors:
There are two basic styles to accommodate light, medium and heavy loads.
These are used to provide protection from falling parts from the conveyor
system.
Welded Wire Mesh Guarding: This is used for most light and medium
loads.

The mesh is normally 2 x 4 of welded rods.

The sides and floor panels are joined with a steel helix.

Standard panel lengths are 96 (widths and sides vary)

Expanded Metal Guarding: This type is for heavier loads and is

fabricated from structural steel to fit the application (more expensive)
Pitfalls To Avoid With Overhead Conveyor Systems:
1. When a system is beginning to exhibit problems one pitfall is
to fail to look at lubrication and dirty conditions as the cause.
2. When adding footage to a two drive system one pitfall is to install
new chain with old chain.
10 of new chain may be 10-3 long on old chain due to stretch (wear)
which means the new and old chains are different pitches. 200 of new chain
would be 205 of old chain and when the new section rotates to the opposite
side of the drives the 205 will become 200 and the system take-up on that
side will not be able to handle it causing damage to occur.

It is not easy to do, but the new chain needs to be dispersed evenly in
20 to 30 sections evenly through out the system in order to
minimize the pitch difference.

3. When replacing or adding new components to a 4I system one

pitfall is to not realize that 4 I systems have two trolleys drops, 7-3/16 and
8.
Trolley drop is the distance from the top of the track to the centerline of the
chain. The trolley drop for 3 I is 5-1/2 and the drop for 6 I is 10.

The problem comes when the wrong drop trolley comes to the
drive.it will not go through.

4. When making up chain one pitfall is to not use the manufacturers

trolley nuts and bolts.
The nuts and bolts are special with thin line locking nuts and exact length
bolts.

The wrong length bolts or thicker nuts may not engage the drive and
turns properly.