Orion Packaging (powered by Pro Mach) showcased its new low-profile, three-strand chain conveyor at Pack Expo 2014. With a pass height of four inches, the Lo-Pro enables convenient loading of multiple loads via hand-powered pallet jacks or electric “walkies” equipped with long forks. It’s also suitable for half-pallets, which are becoming more popular within the beverage industry. These pallets are preferred for direct store delivery, offering flexibility in building and locating in-store displays.
The Lo-Pro conveyor best fits facilities that use one vehicle to carry multiple pallet loads (e.g., beverage distribution). The operator brings the load to the infeed zone of the conveyor, and then lowers it onto the chain drive. The machine’s logic control then takes over staging the load and conveying them one at a time into the wrapping zone of an Orion MA rotary tower automatic stretch wrapping system for unitizing with stretch film. Up to 80 loads per hour are possible with the system. Load capacity is 4,000 pounds.
The conveyor’s modular design allows for customized lengths. A typical installation consists of up to 50 feet of infeed conveyor, 10 feet of conveyor in the wrap zone, and 50 feet of exit conveyor. About four loads can be staged for every 20 feet of conveyor. To minimize maintenance and boost reliability, the system uses ac motors.
Orion Packaging, 4750 County Road 13 NE, Alexandria, MN 56308; (901) 888-4170 or (800) 333-6556