EuroMat Vertical Carousel
Mechanical Design
Carriers (shelves) are connected to transport chains that rotate the entire stored inventory around inside a steel clad casing in either direction working on the shortest routing principle to deliver the requested items at an ergonomic height to the operator.
The carriers are presented at the access port in front of the operator at a picking / placing height, usually 900mm, depending on the pitch of the carriers.
Intermediate carrier levels can be installed at any time to cater for small parts in bins etc. Multiple levels can be configured to meet the desired volume criteria.
The picking port working area is illuminated by directional low voltage LED
The machines can be manufactured to fit into a given space or area allowing the user maximum benefit of available floor space, between columns, in recesses etc.
The carousel carriers can be made to a required size in their length, anything from 500mm to 6000mm long (weight dependent) can be achieved, we commonly supply a carrier at 3500mm long to maximise the storage capacity.
Each of these 4 carousels has a carrier length of 4,050mm making maximum use of the area available and storing 5,000 SKUs. The installation goes into the ceiling void.
A stainless steel worktable at the access port provides a stable area to sort and count products.
This carousel has 4,500mm long carriers each with a 500Kg loading storing tote bins of 600 x 400 x 325mm.
A EuroMat vertical carousel has excellent stability obtained through the unique double chain transport and drives system to eliminate the need of top and bottom curves and does not require guide rails for keeping the carriers level.
As standard, EuroMat has twin drive motors providing a guaranteed 100% unbalanced loading capability in almost every application.
A further benefit is that should one motor gearbox fail the other is powerful enough - in balanced load conditions - to continue to operate the machine ensuring minimal disruption, downtime and worry free operations.
Twin motors also mean that the carousel is never overworked and will perform its tasks and continue to provide reliability and good service.
We can supply carousels with mixed carrier pitches to suit varying product heights for greater storage volume with more carrier levels than might otherwise be achieved in a single pitch.
Loads on the carrier starts at 100Kg and goes up to 1,000Kg in an overall design load up to 20,000Kg as a maximum.
Carrier loads are 100, 150, 250, 350, 500 and 750Kg per main level.
Standard machine loads are 2,800Kg, 3,600, 5,400, 6,000, 10,000, 13,500 and 16,500Kg. 20,000Kg load is achievable but requires to be designed around the application.
3 carousels in line, each has 3,500mm long carriers with a 600mm depth storing small to medium parts in bins and on shelf.
Variations in the length provides the potential to use less machines when a number of units are needed or having more storage capacity in a single machine.
Picking and Storage
Carrier depths can also be made to order, variations in depth from 200mm to 1200mm. Carriers may be either plain for use with bins or slotted for use with adjustable dividers to store cartons.
Pitch between carriers ranges from 200mm to 1000mm. Single carriers for bulky parts, two tier for medium sizes and three tier carriers for small parts in bins are standard. Any combination is possible.
Carrier configurations can start as one layout and be turned easily into another without expensive re-work.
Flexibility is realised through a number of purpose designed storage options, one of which is pull out drawers.
Varied size length, depth and height drawers for smaller parts or low volume items.
Electrically interlocked doors provide secure storage compartments accessed by PIN or swipe card.
An automatic full length door can also be supplied.
Product picking and placing positions are provided by a visual reference using LED lamps set into the working table in front of the bins, specifically identifying individual bins in picking sequence order or alternatively as defined by the user.
To aid picking of heavier items we provide steel rollers in front of the bin using them as a fulcrum point as seen here between the light bar and the bins.
On long carriers, in conjunction with a PC, we install a number of remote confirmation buttons to keep picking flowing as quickly as possible without the operator having to return to the screen.
Controls
There are 3 options that can be employed depending on your requirements.
EC-1 control keypad, as above, is a call for a carrier level through the numeric display; it does not hold part numbers.
EC-1 integration to the host is achieved via a PC; we also supply a comprehensive software package that offers many options including manual area picking.
DSC-1 has additional functionality including alpha numeric part number, via a plug in keyboard, and location format.
DSC-1 has inventory management built in for up to 10,000 part numbers and interface with software to link directly a host PC.
Both of the above have the following features:
- Automatic operation with path optimisation
- Error messages displayed by code and plain text
- Up and down buttons for emergency mode and step / jogging
- Serial link for connection to a PC
Also available with software and a PC
- Remote confirmation buttons positioned along the cabinet width.
- Bar Code Scanner, can be introduced at any time, no changes needed.
- Label printer, part number, batch, description and bar code printing
Screen layouts can be designed to suit individual requirements; the software is SQL Database and contains many functions for storage and materials handling use.
A VPN connection provides remote support.
Biometric finger print scanner, secure logon and automatic logoff, user access is defined by the system administrator.