Soloan, a production company, was looking for a solution to automatically transport products of varying size through a spray booth for a coating to be applied. It wanted the conveyor system to have 100 adjustable product carriers. Soloan turned to Vicoma for a concept design and FEA analysis.
About the project: design product carrier
The client asked Vicoma to evaluate and improve its basic concept for the product carriers. The biggest challenge was to make it easy to clamp different size parts onto them. The ultimate design consists of three parts: a support arm, an outer beam that is attached to the conveyor line and an adjustable inner beam that slides easily into the outer beam on plastic sliding plates.
Vicoma’s role: improve concept design and FEA analysis
Vicoma made several improvements to the basic concept, which led to a significant technical improvement. Vicoma then carried out a finite element analysis (FEA analysis). A strength calculation like this is important to guarantee that small and big parts can be clamped to the product carriers without any problems. After the analysis, a number of changes were made to ensure the product carriers met all the relevant strength requirements. Finally, Vicoma provided the basic engineering necessary for the sliding mechanism for the adjustable product carrier.
Result: fully-functional, adjustable product carrier
The project was a success. Vicoma was in close contact with Soloan right from the start, which enabled Vicoma to tailor its advice specifically to the client’s requirements. The existing concept was improved in consultation with the client and all the changes were clearly described in specifications for the product carrier. Vicoma’s contribution led to the design of a fully-functional, adjustable product carrier.
