Delft University of Technology
Faculty Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering Transport Technology / Logistic Engineering
P.P. Janssen Een overzicht van hangbanen.
Literature survey, Report 93.3.LT.4071, Transport Technology, Logistic Engineering.
In production and distribution systems demands on logistic support systems are becoming higher and higher. The transportation system becomes heavy loaded. This means that not only AGV's, roll-conveyors and moving belt conveyors, but also overhead conveyors must be considered for supporting an automatic system. Overhead conveyors consist of a trolley, constructed a few metres above the floor on a rail. The trolley carries the load, which hangs below the trolley. It is possible to build a route, so that the loads can be transported to different stations.
Overhead conveyors can be divided into four groups, hand-, chain-, power & free and electric overhead conveyors. These groups distinct from eachother by the way the trolleys are driven. The names are already explaining it: hand overhead conveyors by hand; chain and power&free by chain; and electric overhead conveyors by an electric motor on the trolley.
The hand overhead conveyor is the basic overhead conveyor system. The profiles, used by the handconveyor, are also used by the chain conveyors and the power & free conveyors.
Chain overhead conveyors have in principle a permanent route and a central driving gear of all trolleys. The chain, to which all the trolleys are connected, formes a closed circuit. This means that no joints and elevators are possible. Rather the other groups have these possibilities. This makes these groups more flexible and they have more facilities.
Power & free is a combination of a chain overhead conveyor and a hand overhead conveyor. This combination makes a deconnectable chain overhead conveyor. The chain provides the driving, just as with the chain conveyor, however the trolleys and the chain are not connected. The trolleys are driven by ridge beams so they can travel freely in freeline under the chain, just as with the hand overhead conveyor.
In electric overhead conveyor systems the trolleys have their own driving engine. This means that the shape of the profile is different. The trolley is supplied and directed through the electric rail. A fully automatic system is possible, because of the fact that each trolley is separately directed. The speed of the electric overhead conveyor is much higher than the speed of the other overhead conveyors.
Reports on Logistic Engineering (in Dutch)
