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Special Conveyors for Special Products
The Assembly Technology Expo highlighted some of the drive and control advances in conveyors used for solar, medical and other delicate manufacturing processes
Joseph Ogando, Senior Editor -- Design News, September 24, 2008
As manufactured goods become more sophisticated, so too do the conveyor systems that whisk them around the factory floor. These high-end models feature improvements to drive systems, controls and mechanical components that allow them to handle expensive, delicate or contamination-prone goods such as solar panels or medical devices. Here at the Assembly Technology Expo just outside of Chicago, Bosch-Rexroth showed off a collection of these advanced conveyor systems.
The company displayed a new conveyor system designed for solar cell manufacturing. "Solar cell manufacturing is exploding right now, and we found there were no standards for setting up the manufacturing cells," says Kevin Gingerich, marketing director for Bosch-Rexroth's Linear Motion and Assembly Technologies Group.
That's where the new TSsolar conveyor comes in. Based on the company's modular TS Conveyors, the TSsolar features modifications intended to protect delicate wafer- and thin-film solar cells as they make their way through their multi-step manufacturing processes.
According to Gingerich, the conveyor modifications include an upgrade to servo drives, which can better meet the need for controlled acceleration and deceleration of the panels. Each segment of the TSsolar features its own drive unit, which all work in a coordinated fashion to help manage the flow of multiple panels on the production line without collisions.
The TSsolar also stands up to hot glass panel temperatures associated with solar cell manufacturing. Gingerich says the conveyors have a high-temperature option that allows the belts to withstand temperatures up to 200C.
Other nods to the rigors of solar cell production include ESD protection and cleanliness provisions – such as coated belts that don't need external lubrication. These provison allow the TSsolar to meet ISO 14644-1 Class 6 cleanroom standards.
Solar cells aren't the only goods that need special handling. Semiconductors, flat panel displays, hard disk drives, medical devices, photovoltaics and micro-electromechanical systems also need conveyors that can protect them from ESD and contamination as well as gently transport them – without collisions or sudden starts or stops.
For the cleanroom conveyors used in these manufacturing processes, Bosch-Rexroth has entered into a joint sales agreement with Switzerland's Middlesex Industries SA, a specialist in cleanroom-capable handling and logistics systems.
Here at the show, Middlesex showed off a Series 8 Clean Drive conveyor. With a mechanical design that features ESD-resistant and low-particulate polymers for the conveyor wheels, the Series 8 conveyors are capable of meeting Class 100 cleanroom standards – though the company also offers models that meet more stringent standards. Adrian Pyke, Middlesex's vice president of U.S. operations, called it a system for "cleanish manufacturing" of products such as medical and electronic devices.
This conveyor system employs a unique drive system in which a series of custom-wound stepper motors with magnetic hysteresis clutches directly drive the conveyor's powered rollers. Photo sensors and a Linux-based controller, which has been embedded into the conveyor frame, round out the system.
Together, the drive, clutch sensors and controls enable the system to asynchronously accumulate goods without collisions or slippage on the belt. "The system creates a contactless buffer between all the objects on the conveyor," says Pyke.
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