Friction-Driven Overhead Conveyor System
Alternative to Power and Free

Conveyor Overview

The backbone to the IntelliFinishing design is the spinning tube (friction-driven) conveyor paired with smart controls. This technology provides ultimate flexibility and efficiency allowing carriers to:

Move trolleys both forward and reverse
Stop in a zone or within a process
Move at variable speeds within zones
Change processes or destinations of products with immediate system response

The capabilities of the conveyor allow for the following system features:

Reduced footprint (as much as 43% on one project)
Safer for Load/Unload, Masking, Painting, Inspection, etc.
Responsive to ERP and lean product flow
Part recipes can vary process times for some parts without affecting process times for other parts
Have both driven and non-driven lines on the same system
Highly configurable and modular
Easily incorporate vertical lifts and shuttles to move parts to another line without unloading

Unlike Power and Free or monorail systems, the IntelliFinishing conveyor does not use a chain to move the parts, eliminating the chance of falling debris from a dirty chain contaminating the part. Dripping lubrication, greasy take-ups and chain stretch have also been eliminated with this system, giving you a clean, quiet and energy efficient conveyor system while reducing maintenance.

The conveyor system is truly de-coupled, meaning parts stopped at one section of the system do not stop the processing of parts in other sections of the system. For example, loading, stopping for masking, inspecting or labeling will not affect parts that are moving through the oven (no more over-baking).

Spurs (with no return chain) may be included or added in the future as a process changes or if special part processing needs arise. No need to over-build your current system since it is much easier to expand our system than chain systems. Furthermore, spurs are used in many ways in a typical layout including:

Masking, inspection or repair
Loading or Unloading
Deadheading to change part orientation

Construction

The IntelliFinishing conveyor is a bolted together floor supported system with friction driven trolleys on a rotating tube instead of a chain to drive the system. Due to the bolt together construction, this conveyor can be easily modified and moved and can be installed in half the time of conventional conveyor systems. We offer a variety of conveyor models with the ability to handle different weight categories which enables us to further customize a system to fit your specific process needs. (The IntelliFinishing conveyor is exclusively provided by IntelliTrak and can be used in other applications.) Take a tour of the construction site of a recent IntelliFinishing customer.

Maintenance

With our friction conveyor there is no maintenance or mess of keeping the chain constantly lubricated, additionally there is no mess or contamination of processed parts from falling lubrication or oil.

Operation

Each conveyor section has a separate motor which allows individual sections of the conveyor to speed up a part in a process area or slow a part down based on the part recipe. The separate motors also turn off and on the individual conveyor sections when there is a part present making this system more energy efficient because the full system isn’t always running, only the process areas being used at the given time. Additionally, the Chainless Power and Free conveyor has a much quieter operation due to no metal on metal noise.