Despite the benefits of a belt conveyor, many large warehouses and distribution centers use a live roller conveyor as it allows proper accumulation of packages or products. The loads are supported directly by the rollers that are mounted in a frame. This kind of conveyor has the ability to store items being moved for a certain amount of time before they are released into a palletizer or sorter. Live roller conveyors come in a number of different categories, depending on how the rollers are being driven. The three common ones include line-shaft, belt-driven and motorized roller conveyor.
Belt-driven roller conveyors
As its name implies, the belt-driven live roller conveyor is driven by a belt that moves below the roller bed. Once the belt is moved by the motor, it also moves the rollers above it. This type of roller conveyor promotes better accumulation as it allows easy creation of zones along the entire conveyor system.
Line-shaft conveyor
Among the various kinds of live roller conveyor, this one is the least expensive. It features a long metal shaft that runs underneath the roller bed and is being connected to the rollers through rubber O-rings. Same as belt-driven conveyor, it is also usually powered by a motor that moves the shaft, which in turn, moves the rollers. Its greatest drawback is the high maintenance requirements of the parts.
Motorized roller conveyor
A motor-driven roller conveyor features a section of motorized conveyor that has two small zones or sections. There is an internal motor in a roller in every zone which turns the rollers. Rubber O-rings are usually used to connect the rollers to each other in each zone. The motors that are employed in a motorized roller conveyor use lower energy than the ones employed to drive other types of live roller conveyor. However, they don’t move as fast as the other two roller conveyors identified above yet they are easier to maintain.
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