Cheryl Miller posted on March 28, 2024 09:51
| Masters of the Merge |
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Simplistic to sophisticated and everything in between.
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Merge and combine technology basically means you’re taking multiple lanes down to single lane. Options can be simplistic to elaborate based on product flow, speed, cost, footprint and other job specific application criteria.
A basic 2 to 1 dual-lane belt merge, is typical when the use of servos exceeds budget. We use speed-to-length ratios for precise product stagger at the merge.
Another popular option is activated roller belt or ARB (by Intralox). In the video we show two manual hand pack stations that feed an ARB for a super simple, seamless merge. Next, we show a metering conveyor that gaps two lanes of product into single lane flow using DARB (dual-stacked angled roller belt).
Also featured is a merge that incorporated pulse and photo-eye sensors, logic processor, servo motor controllers and VFD's, to develop a unique solution that alleviated gaps between product, allowing for more consistent spacing.
One customer originally requested three separate 2:1 combiners. However, Multi-Conveyor’s engineers concluded that a much smaller footprint 4:1 combiner would achieve the same production output. By using blade stops, commonly referred to as traffic cop, we merged four lanes of traffic down to one, saving the customer both space and money.
In contrast, Multi-Conveyor recently created a 2:1 dual lane belt merging to one lane, that servo roll diverts into 5-lane accumulation, then merges back from the 5:1 to a reduced flow single file. Very cool.
The video also shows more sophisticated technologies used in vertical stack, bi-level, inject, multi-elevation and asynchronous merge systems. Our electrical team may include: vacuum metered belting; processor-to-servo controller communications; Ethernet/IP CIP encoders; sensing logic; VFDs; time released gap inject, to name a few.
We'll combine lanes, elevation levels, starts, stops, and timing for products of all sizes and shapes, creating a precision merge that matches or surpasses your goals. It's that simple.
See even more detailed merge and combine technologies including, pressureless combiners and single filers,