Ceiling conveyor system for system linking
Task: Plant linking of production, assembly and packaging
In a large cleanroom (ISO Class 8), various pharmaceutical plastic parts are manufactured, assembled, and packaged at many different locations. The production hall has an area of approximately 140 x 35 m. The machines are distributed throughout the hall.
The parts should be transported in batches and independently of each other and fed to various assembly and packaging machines
The entire conveyor belt should be suspended from the ceiling as far as possible
Existing interference edges caused by machines, media supply columns, light strips, ventilation outlets, building edges, conveyor belts, etc. must be taken into account during planning
The complete responsibility for project planning, assembly, control system construction and commissioning shall be carried out by MTF Technik
The implementation took place in several steps starting in 2006 and lasted 6 years
For the most part, assembly can only be carried out in very tight time windows (either on Sundays or during two so-called rest weeks per year)
The conveyor belts must be divided into sections with a maximum length of 4 m to access the production area via elevators. The assembly of the sections must be carried out largely on-site.
Solution: Large controlled overhead conveyor system with distributors and switches
Conveyor system consisting of approximately 150 conveyor belts with a total conveyor length of approximately 700 m, from the machine discharge conveyor belt to small bunker conveyor belts, large Z-conveyor belts with 75° bends, distribution diverters, and piping systems. The illustration shows only a small section of the entire system. The conveyor lines marked in red, yellow, and green indicate a project section that will be implemented in one step.
Approximately 250 MTF devices (conveyor belts, separating attachments, separating drums, material buffers, etc.) are used throughout the hall: Decentralized control system with several Siemens S7 controllers (one control cabinet per product) and control of the drives via bus systems
Decentralized control units and touch panels for system operation including several 7-segment displays and signal lights for monitoring system status
Special control with interface to a higher-level production data acquisition system
Interfaces to existing production machines (material requirements, release messages, etc.)
Remote maintenance modules in the control system to make program changes quickly and easily
Material overflows at the respective line ends with weighing systems for level control or quantity determination of the overflow containers
Reversing belts and pipe switches for distributing the flow to different delivery points
Reversing belts and pipe switches for distributing the flow to different delivery points
Multi-Tech conveyor belts with individual lengths of up to approximately 45 m and widths between 200 and 400 mm, depending on the product. The sections are 4 m long and can be assembled on-site using bolted connections. The belts, when split, have detachable endless connections.
Sophisticated sensors on the conveyor belts for permanent monitoring of the system status (jam monitoring, etc.)
Complete documentation of the system including allocation of conveyor belts to individual production machines
Maintenance agreement with the customer regarding regular maintenance and repairs (in preparation)
