Challenge
The customer had a series of existing metal belt apron conveyors that transported sprue up a large incline. Their system included General Kinematics tunnel conveyors that led up to these apron conveyors. The subsequent discharge created piles of material to be re-melted in their furnace. The apron conveyors were extremely high in maintenance and were causing the foundry many problems.
Approach
Needing to get the material up a considerable amount of elevation, GK’s sales and engineering teams went to work in developing several creative designs to determine the best solution for this challenge.
Solution
GK modified the existing tunnel conveyors to begin the incline much further back in the system to gain the maximum amount of elevation. These were followed by curved section conveyors to absolutely minimize any elevation that would be needed at the transfers. Lastly, the curved sections were followed by very long steeply inclined conveyors to gain the maximum elevation possible.
Results
The results of these modifications worked very well and the customer is extremely satisfied with the results. The units are in and operating and the feedback has been excellent. Down time has been decreased significantly and this improved system is working very well.