Skate wheel conveyors – make light work out of conveyor logistics

Quiet, suitable for the load, smooth running: this is how a perfect conveyor system should be in order to ensure your company and your employees can profit from it in equal measure. Our skate wheel conveyors play an important role in a system like this – even if they are actually intended for the lightweights among the transport goods. Yet where do skate wheel conveyors function best, and how can you integrate them into your processes? {cms.var.company_name} has the answers.

How do skate wheel conveyors fit into my conveyor system?

All continuous conveyors are ideal to keep the flow of materials and goods in the company moving without any physical effort, while also maintaining perfect organisation. There is no type of conveyor technology that has an edge over the others – it's only the individual combination of different elements that allows the highest levels of efficiency to be achieved.

Conveyor belts are ideal to cover long distances at a uniform flow rate and with the support of a motor. However, as soon as a transported good needs to be loaded or unloaded, placed or packaged individually, continuous conveyors with a gravity-powered drive are the better choice.

A motor isn't necessary either when shifting goods between two workplaces, and a conveyor belt is usually counterproductive. This is when roller conveyors and skate wheel conveyors are used.

Of course, setting up the entire conveyor systems using skate wheel conveyors isn't a problem either. This solution is particularly cost-effective and is highly flexible and extremely quiet when the available space is modest and there is a corresponding volume of goods.

Skate wheel conveyors or roller conveyors – which type do I need?

Our skate wheel conveyors and roller conveyors are frequently used in combination at the companies that utilise them. This results from the two systems sharing the same functional principle: the rotation of the rollers and skate wheels – and therefore the onward transport of the goods – is based on the combination of the force of gravity, kinetic energy and low friction.

While the roller conveyors consist of long rollers installed parallel with a specific diameter and therefore provide a continuous transport surface, each of the drive units used for skate wheel conveyors are installed as ''discs'' on axles in an offset arrangement.

This produces a smaller contact surface between the skate wheels and transported goods, which conversely means that less energy is needed to make these skate wheels rotate.

And this results in skate wheel conveyors being used for lightweight to medium weight loads in particular, as the overall size of the transport goods can be smaller than that of the goods which is needed to keep a roller conveyor operating without interruption.

Combining a skate wheel module with a roller module from the products offered by {cms.var.company_name} is easy to do as long as the maximum load-bearing capacity of both modules have been coordinated. To ensure the optimal interplay of all components, you should also make sure that the gradient required for a gravity drive is between three and five percent. You should safeguard any gradient that is higher by using an additional braking system.

How do I make the right choice of skate wheel conveyor?

The modular products in our standard product range consist of straight skate wheel conveyor elements, as they form the basis for the configuration of your conveyor system. Only once you have determined your need for straight elements exactly is it worth factoring in the curves or passages.

We are, of course, more than happy to help with the procurement of these special elements, and we can also assume responsibility for planning the entire conveyor system for you. And if you'd prefer to do the job yourself, it's best to keep the following aspects in mind when planning:

Belt width: the width of the largest good to be transported + x the spacing to the left and right

Axle spacing: the size of the smallest good to be transported – at least three axles must always be in contact with the base

Procurement of additional transport aids for the smallest goods: the base of the good to be transported must be level, smooth and stable

If you have any questions about our range of skate wheel conveyors, or would like advice about our complete planning service, please ask us.

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