Industrial Automation and Motion Control Blog | The Knotts Company

Here is a quick video from Dorner Conveyors explaining the basic steps for installing a side mount drive package on a 2200 Series conveyor.

Open up the catalog (section 3 to be exact) and you will see over 20 different pages of t-nuts, screws and fasteners. Then hop over one more section and you will see a few dozen joining plates and brackets. Little overwhelming if it your first time parousing the catalog.

Editor's Note: This is a guest post from Jaimie Swartz, Co-President of FIRST Robotics Team 2554.

Editor's Note: This is a post from Justin Sanford, a Strategic Account Manager at The Knotts Company.

Editor's Note: This is a post from Rich Eckhard, a Strategic Account Manager at The Knotts Company

For any food processing facility, the conveyor is a key component to insure products are delivered in a consistent and reliable method to the appropriate stage in the process.  The stage could be cleaning, cutting, adding or removing byproducts or additives, and various packing stations.  For food processing conveyors, FDA approved conveyors are mandatory.  FDA approved conveyors are designed to perform its primary duty while keeping food products and the employees who perform work safe and efficient.

Sanitary conveyors must meet FDA guidelines to insure the process is safe and the food products produced are kept safe from unintended microbials. Food processing plants should make sure their cleaning and sanitation procedures meet or exceed FDA requirements.  With the right conveyor equipment along with the right cleaning and maintenance practices, meeting these requirements should be an easy part of the plant maintenance process.  Some areas to review as part of a plant equipment cleaning and sanitation master schedule include:

Panel Gasket

• Automotive vinyl protectant applied to rubber panel gasket makes installation easier.
• Cut rubber panel gasket 2-3" longer than the opening to make the corners stay tight
• When installing rubber gasket, start by tucking each end in, then work from the middle out

End Fasteners

• When working with end fasteners, pre-assemble the bolt to snug, then back off a 1/4 turn to easily slide the fastener into the T-slot.

Linear Bearings

• If your linear bearings are not sliding properly, try tapping them with a soft face mallet to align the pads with the T-slot.

Panels

• Leave the protective film on the panels to protect them during installation; just roll up the edges until your project is fully assembled.

Joining Plates

• When using joining plates or gussets, leave the bolts loose and clamp the bars to ensure a square fit before you tighten the bolts completely.

End caps

• Tired of end caps popping off? Tap the end of the extrusion. The threads will prevent the plastic plug from popping out.

You have an application that requires you to move product from point a to point b. The most logical method is to use a conveyor. Before you get overwhelmed by the different types of conveyors, you need to step through the application and answer a few simple questions.

2011 is quickly coming to an end so here is a look back at our Top 5 Blog posts for the year.