When it comes to designing conveyors for solving handling
solutions starting with a simple concept that can be
adapted to operate via more sophisticated technology
makes practical sense, according to Ray Hart, director at
Rusmail conveyor systems. He says that a prime example of
this is the overhead cable conveyor

Sometimes called a ‘rope’ conveyor,
the ‘cable’ conveyor concept has been
in existence for many years, but
seems to have received little recognition in
the UK, yet it has real benefits for many unit
load handling applications. The operating
principle is very simple. The nylon rope or
metal cable forms a continuous loop which
is driven by one or more motor/pulley
combinations, depending on the conveyor
route. The cable is attached to a series of
trollies which run in a metal track. Carriers
are attached to the trollies and the items to
be conveyed are supported from the carriers.

The design of carrier will depend on the
type of load being conveyed. The track can
be in galvanised or stainless steel
construction.

The cable conveyor will move unit loads
such as boxes, crates, bags or sacks; in fact,
any item that can be easily attached
directly to the conveyor using hooks, or
placed in a suitable carrier attached to a
hook or other suitable hanger.

The conveyor is available with a variety of
pulley sizes, horizontal bends and vertical
curves to match the flow path of the
conveyor. It is extremely flexible and is
capable of rising vertically up to 60 degrees. The
number of drive motors will depend on the
conveyor length and the load being carried.

As an example, a recent Rusmail project
included a cable conveyor 450m long and
required a total installed power of only 1kW
with a load capacity of approximately
3500kg.

The conveyor can be supported from the
floor with posts and beams or hung from
above from the roof structure. The conveyor
weight is low at only 5kg/m except in the
area of the drive motor and curve assemblies.

One of the major benefits is the flexibility of
being able to use roof space to accommodate
the conveyor rather than take up valuable
and useful floor space.

The conveyor can be supplied with
automatic loading and unloading
devices depending on the application. It can
also readily incorporate product
identification and sortation as part of the
control system and can be fitted with fixed
speed or inverter variable speed drive(s).

The cable conveyor is readily available in
the UK and is already established with
several major projects having been
completed successfully. As examples, two
recent applications have involved
conveying food products in a chilled room
environment, moving vegetable products in
stacked cardboard boxes and plastic crates.

Another example involves a series of cable
conveyors conveying products in
sacks containing various order items, all as
part of a major online retailing operation.

This extensive system, close to 2km
long, involved sack identification and
sortation and automatic unloading.

The overhead system also lends itself to
smaller projects involving displaying items
for public view in retail or exhibition
environments. Other applications include
laundries, postal/courier services, carton
supply to packing stations, sandwich
production, cheese production, paint shops,
car seat production and removal of waste
packaging materials.

Rusmail believes the cable conveyor is a
cost-effective, flexible, low maintenance,
quiet and safe method of conveying unit
loads. It is well worth considering whether it
could be the solution to your specific
handling problem.