Indexing Conveyor Question

[450x]

Hello,

I have an application that involves two short (10 feet), and parallel (2 feet apart) indexing conveyors that are mechanically linked through shafts and at either end. Each conveyor is made from matching timing belts and timing pulleys. The conveyor is used to transport sections of stainless steel tube that sit in profiles that are attached to the timing belts. The conveyor is driven by a servo drive and servo motor with a gearbox (ratio to be determined). I need to index the conveyor a distance that matches the profile pitch, then stop and wait for another index trigger from another piece of machinery. The indexing is always in the same direction so the profiles on the belt will “recirculate”. Lets assume that I have ten indexes in one full rotation of the conveyor, will I get accumulating positional errors if I perform my index solely on the encoder count from the servo motor, or should I use a registration sensor? When I spec a gearbox, is the ratio an exact ratio? ie could a nominal 3:1 gearbox be in reality a 3.0000001:1?

Thanks
Martin

 

[Skogsgurra]

It is considered bad practice to post in several fora. You will start more than one thread on one subject. And that always leads to confusion. Please don't.

Gunnar Englund

http://www.gke.org

 

[450x]

Skogsgurra

I appreciate your feedback. I found this forum after my original posting and thought is was more appropriate for my question. I will not "double post" in the future.

Martin

 

[tygerdawg]

You should define your positional tolerance requirements and index speed requirements. Sounds like this could be easily done with an AC induction motor, gearbox, and inverter drive. See

http://www.seweurodrive.com

for an online simulator/gearmotor selector program to determine the correct gearmotor for your needs. Your application is very textbook, perhaps other gearmotor companies have something similar (Dodge, Nord, others)

TygerDawg

 

[FACS]

The gear box shouldn't give you problems in that respect. If the conveyors are linked with a common shaft, then you should be able to just use the encoder on the Servo.

However, some type of home sensor is always a good idea, in addition to the servo encoder.

Measure and verify.

Charlie

http://www.facsco.com