Cable reels improve safety for parcel carrier
September 1st 2004

Lynx Express has chosen cable reels from Kabelschlepp Metool to power an innovative parcel handling project that is designed to enhance efficiency.

Lynx’s original Nuneaton hub, now more than 20 years old, is still in full-time operation. Metool has been involved with the company’s in-house engineering team in an ongoing refurbishment of the final stage of the handling element of the operation where parcels, coded according to their destination, pass from sorting bays down an out-feed belt onto rollers and into a trailer for onward delivery to the network of branches.

The Metool reels feed a power cable to an automatic roller line, capable of moving backwards and forwards and extending from the end of the out-feed belt inside the full length of the trailer. Handlers stacking the trailers start the rollers when parcels begin to arrive on the chutes and then, as the trailers begin to fill up, the rollers can be retracted to create more space until the trailer is fully loaded and ready to be driven away.

Previously, coded parcels were collected from the out-feed belt and placed onto pallet trucks that were then moved into the waiting trailer or, alternatively, manually handled and stacked ready for outbound movement.

The new system enables parcels to be moved much more swiftly, the process requires less energy and improves operator safety.

The reels chosen for this application are SC30/1V/D8 springoperated cable reels with 8 core 1.5mm2 cable to reel 13m (with one dead turn), travelling at 30m/min.

reels conform to BS 5424 and additional safety features, such as circuit breakers, have been included for optimal operator safety.

The equipment is plugged-in, not hard-wired, for ease of maintenance.

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