Industrial Automation and Motion Control Blog | The Knotts Company

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:

With the technology today in motion control and machine automation, there can be a large number of terms used that are unfamiliar.  This can lead to miscommunication or in the worst case, a machine that does not work.  Here's a short list of common components and terms that are commonly used with respect to machine automation that will hopefully help to reduce some confusion.

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.

1. Weight- What is the weight of the load that you need to move? Select a force factor that is 25% greater than the load to help compensate for friction.
2. Speed- How fast will you be moving the load? When you have higher speeds you will need to increase your force factor to move the load quicker. Depending on speed and weight the force factor could be as much as twice or greater than the load itself.
3. Air Pressure- This is critical for the proper performance and getting the most life out of an air cylinder. Too low of a pressure and your load won’t be moved efficiently or speed requirements not met. Too high of a pressure creates stress on the cylinder and could possibly damage the cylinder as well as the load.
4. Bore Size- Select the correct bore size to determine your force factor at your selected pressure. There are charts available to assist in this selection from the manufacturers or you can consult with your Automation Specialist.
5. Mounts- How a cylinder gets mounted affects the performance and life expectancy. By selecting the correct cylinder mount you will optimize cylinder strength, efficiency and alignment. Selecting the correct Pivot or Rigid mounting style will help you avoid side load problems which are the major cause of cylinder failure.

Interested in a Cylinder?

Editor's Note: This is a guest post from Todd Youngblood of The YPS Group.

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.