INTRODUCTION

1.1 MATERIAL HANDLING EQUIPMENT:

Material handling equipment is all equipment that relates to the movement, storage,
control and protection of materials, goods and products throughout the process of manufacturing,
distribution, consumption and disposal. Material handling equipment is the mechanical equipment
involved in the complete system. Material handling equipment is generally separated into four main
categories: storage and handling equipment, engineered systems, industrial trucks, and bulk material
handling. Material handling equipment is used to increase throughput, control costs, and maximize
productivity. There are several ways to determine if the material handling equipment is achieving
peak efficiency. These include capturing all relevant data related to the warehouse’s operation,
measuring how many times an item is “touched” from the time it is ordered until it leaves the
building, making sure you are using the proper picking technology, and keeping system downtime to a
minimum.

1.2 CONVEYOR SYSTEM:

A conveyor system is a common piece of mechanical handling equipment that moves

materials from one location to another. Conveyors are especially useful in applications involving the
transportation of heavy or bulky materials. Conveyor systems allow quick and efficient transportation
for a wide variety of materials, which make them very popular in the material
handling and packaging industries. Many kinds of conveying systems are available, and are used
according to the various needs of different industries.

1.3 SOME TYPES OF CONVEYOR SYSTEM:

 Flexible conveyors:

The flexible conveyor is based on a conveyor beam in aluminium or stainless steel, with

low friction slide rails guiding a plastic multi-flexing chain. Products to be conveyed travel
directly on the conveyor, or on pallets/carriers. These conveyors can be worked around obstacles
and keep production lines flowing. They are made at varying levels and can work in multiple
environments.
 Vertical conveyors:

Vertical conveyors - also commonly referred to as freight lifts and material lifts - are
conveyor systems used to raise or lower materials to different levels of a facility during the
handling process. Vertical conveyors can be systematically integrated with horizontal conveyors,
since both of these conveyor systems work in tandem to create a cohesive material handling
assembly line.

 Spiral conveyors:

Spiral conveyors raise and lower materials to different levels of a facility. In contrast, spiral
conveyors are able to transport material loads in a continuous flow. Most spiral conveyors also have a
lower angle of incline or decline (11 degrees or less) to prevent sliding and tumbling during operation.

 Vibrating conveyors:

A Vibrating Conveyor is a machine with a solid conveying surface which is turned up on

the side to form a trough. They are used extensively in food grade applications where sanitation,
washdown, and low maintenance are essential. Vibrating conveyors are also suitable for harsh, very
hot, dirty, or corrosive environments.

1.3 BELT CONVEYOR SYSTEM:

Conveyors are used as components in automated distribution and warehousing. In

combination with computer controlled pallet handling equipment this allows for more
efficient retail, wholesale, and manufacturing distribution. It is considered a labour saving system that
allows large volumes to move rapidly through a process, allowing companies to ship or receive higher
volumes with smaller storage space and with less labour expense.

Rubber conveyor belts are commonly used to convey items with irregular bottom surfaces, small
items that would fall in between rollers or bags of product that would sag between rollers. Belt
conveyors are generally fairly similar in construction consisting of a metal frame with rollers at either
end of a flat metal bed. The belt is looped around each of the rollers and when one of the rollers is
powered by the belting slides across the solid metal frame bed, moving the product. In heavy use
applications the beds which the belting is pulled over are replaced with rollers. The rollers allow
weight to be conveyed as they reduce the amount of friction generated from the heavier loading on the
belting. Belt conveyors can now be manufactured with curved sections which use tapered rollers and
curved belting to convey products around a corner. These conveyor systems are commonly used in
postal sorting offices and airport baggage handling systems. A sandwich belt conveyor uses two
conveyor belts, face-to-face, to firmly contain the item being carried, making steep incline and even
vertical-lift runs achievable.

Belt conveyors are the most commonly used powered conveyors because they are the most versatile
and the least expensive. Product is conveyed directly on the belt so both regular and irregular shaped
objects, large or small, light and heavy, can be transported successfully. These conveyors should use
only the highest quality premium belting products, which reduces belt stretch and results in less
maintenance for tension adjustments. Belt conveyors can be used to transport product in a straight line
or through changes in elevation or direction. In certain applications they can also be used for static
accumulation or cartons.
 LOAD DETECTION IN CONVEYOR BELTS

CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS

Two pulleys are mounted on T stands opposite to each other on a fixed support. The
pulleys carry a conveyor belt over them. The conveyor belt is run by a motor placed adjacent to one of
the pulleys. This setup constitutes a conveyor belt system. To detect overloading conditions a limit
switch sensor is placed beneath the conveyor between the two rollers. The whole setup rests on a
fixed base.

Over load parts are detected on conveyor by using the limit switching sensor. These detectors are
useful to avoid over loading on the conveyor. When over load occurs limit switch is ON, then alarm
unit is processed by producing the long beep alarm sound. When it is detected the load part is
removed from the conveyor unit.

2.1 PULLEYS:

A pulley, also called a sheave or a drum, is a mechanism composed of a wheel on

an axle or shaft that may have a groove between two flanges around its circumference.  A rope, cable,
belt, or chain usually runs over the wheel and inside the groove, if present. Pulleys are used to change
the direction of an applied force, transmit rotational motion, or realize a mechanical advantage in
either a linear or rotational system of motion. It is one of the six simple machines. Two or more
pulleys together are called a block and tackle.