Machines, devices and facilities for handling and conveying goods.

Conveyed goods - overview:
Bottles, cans, boxes, packets, tablets, containers, canisters, palettes, casks,
Bags, cartons, beer crates, batch containers
Powder, cereal, meal, sand, gravel,
Bread, pastries, cakes, biscuits, chocolates, waffle crumbs, meat

Continuous conveyor:

Continuous conveyors are available in many models for transporting bulk goods or unit goods. The conveyance path can run in a straight line and flat or spatially curved. The conveyed material is moved in horizontal, inclined or vertical direction. 
The localized arrangement is prevalent; portable versions are also possible and enlarge the area in use.
The special advantages of the continuous conveyor consist in the lower energy requirement due to a favorable payload and self-weight ratio and continuous operation of the system, low cost of operation and high operating safety. This results in low operating costs and high economy. These special features are fully effective, when the conveyance is used harmonically in conjunction with the overall technology of an operation. It is often possible to execute suitable working operations such as weighing, mixing, drying, refining, spraying etc. during the transport. The greater the mechanization and automation of the production processes, the better is the fusion of the main and auxiliary processes, separate according to the classic definition, into a complex technological and economic unit.
If the fluent feeding and inspection of the conveyed goods do not seem feasible within the framework of the production process, stores will have to be annexed (bunkers, assembly stores etc.) to connect discontinuous supply and continuous feeding or, continuous delivery and discontinuous reception.

Heavy duty conveyors, e.g. slides, roller tracks, mechanical continuous conveyors with traction, e.g. conveyor belts, box conveyors, chain conveyors, flow conveyors, such as pneumatic conveyors.

Heavy duty conveyors use gravity as the motive force. They are therefore suitable only for conveyor paths sloping downwards.
The majority of mechanical continuous conveyors works predominantly with electrical mechanical drives.
In case of conveyors with tractors, the carriers and tractors move with the conveyed goods on a common conveyance path; in case of mechanical conveyors with tractors, movements of the conveying mechanism do not coincide with those of the conveyed goods. Flow conveyors use the energy of a streaming gaseous or fluid carrier substance for transporting the conveyed goods in piping or channels.

Guidelines for the selection
The large number of existing models make most of the continuous conveyors suitable for the same task. The selection should therefore be made only after examination and comparative judgment of the most important factors characterizing its suitability.

Conveyed goods

It is mainly the type and characteristics of the conveyed goods that determine the type of the continuous conveyor that can be used advantageously. To be considered here, besides the basic properties (mass, density, shape, dimensions etc.), are the entirety of the conveyance sequence
of the secondary phenomena that have an effect, such humidity, temperature, sensitivity.

Conveyed quantity

The continuous conveyors involve various conveyance cross sections or related conveyance dimensions and conveyance velocities. This yields great variances in the conveyed quantities achievable with a reasonable economical expenditure.

Conveyance path

The continuous conveyors connect one or more feeding points with one or more delivery points. Certain models allow only a straight line connection from the feeding to the delivery point, while other versions allow a change in the direction of the conveyed goods flow. Even the length of achievable conveyance path and the height difference to be overcome are different in the individual models. Transfer points between sections of a conveyor are problem points and easily cause mostly undesired damage to the conveyed goods;
their number should therefore be restricted as much as possible.

Loading and unloading

Many a continuous conveyor can collect or deliver the conveyed goods automatically; others require feed and delivery by means of special devices. The conditions and facilities to be made available by the factory must be examined closely to avoid wrong planning.

A drive can be left out in simple conveyance jobs, if the conveyance path has a sufficient downward slope. The conveyed goods slide or roll downwards on a supporting construction; the gravity overcomes its frictional resistance.
Gravity conveyors are very undemanding in construction and operation. They are also particularly popular as connecting links between driven conveyors in complete conveyance systems, as handling devices on machines and in stores, as well as conveyance mechanisms for steep or vertical downwards conveyance.

Roller tracks are gravity conveyors with equidistant rollers along the conveyance section as carrier mechanism. They are suitable only to convey piece gods or containers with flat resting surfaces. The roller distance must always be somewhat smaller than half length of the resting surface of the conveyed goods. It is typically between 60 and 600 mm.

The roller bed is a mechanically driven roller conveyor. In contrast to the gravity-driven roller tracks, it can work on horizontal or lightly rising conveyance paths. It is used everywhere, where heavy loads are to be conveyed or specified velocities are to be maintained. Light roller beds contain group drives, in which the torque is transferred to the individual rollers through chain or belt drives.

Conveyor spirals:

The conveyed goods are moved in a trough, cylindrical at least on the bottom, through a rotary movement of a worm body with a large pitch; they can be fed and delivered at any point.
Conveyor spirals are suitable for bulk goods with a small or medium grain size, even in a damp or pasty state. Gravity and friction on the trough walls restrict the locking-in of the conveyed goods, generated by the friction between the conveyed goods and the worm, in the peripheral direction; this resolves into a movement in the axial direction of the spiral. The high frictional forces due to the relative movement between the spiral or trough wall and conveyed goods however cause high rubbing action and heavy pulverization of the goods. Shape-sensitive or high wear goods are therefore not suited for transportation by the spiral conveyor. The above-mentioned frictional forces also entail very high energy consumption in comparison with the other continuous conveyors.
We can classify them by shape as follows: Full, belt and segment spirals. The predominantly used full spirals can have one or more thread types. Belt spirals are meant for rubber-like, tough viscous materials; segment spirals exert an additional mixing effect on the conveyed goods.

Various versions:

Encased spiral
Trough spiral with cover or steel rod covering
Double spirals
Cooking spirals with double casing
Drive control