Conveyor System Technology krones AirCo Air Conveyor
Gentle Product Conveyance The krones AirCo conveyor links the systems of a bottling line, and provides an important integral part of a smoothly running production line. Using state-of-the-art sensors, and intelligent system control, it contributes decisively to the efficient operation of the overall system. Possible downtimes of individual machines can be bridged with the buffer function of the conveyors. The use of different accessories on the bottle guide rails allows for processing the most diverse types of bottles. krones air conveyors are accordingly in a position to accomplish every conceivable task and project. Due to their modular construction and special design, they contribute to a gentle, low-noise, low-energy, trouble-free conveyance of empty PET containers. System Advantages: High operational safety due to robust basic construction Short change-over times during product changes Low-noise, and energy-saving Easy operation Low maintenance Quick start-up 2 krones AirCo
Design Features Stable modular housing construction (plate thickness: 2 mm) The guides for carrying the containers are made of UHPE Secure container guidance in patented triangular chute Installation possible on floor, wall, or ceiling Upon container size changeovers, fully automatic container guide adjustment via pneumatic cylinders Standard Design Sound and low-germ transport of containers (without increased requirement for germ reduction) Can be retrofitted at a later point with Enhanced Hygienic Design Enhanced Hygienic Design Filter concept: Expanded hygienic version Conveyor housing for separating from the ambient air with clear plastic screens The housing can be easily opened for inspection and cleaning krones AirCo 3
Filter Systems Standard Filter F5/F7 Micro glass fibre paper Suitable for up to 100 % humidity For standard use in production halls Radial fan Main filter F5/F7 Prefilter G4 Prefilter F5 Main filter H13 Radial fan Main filter F5/F7/F9 Prefilter G4 Standard Filter F5/F7 with Prefilter G4 Main filter with separately changeable prefilter G4 Main filter F5/F7: Micro glass fibre paper; suitable for a humidity of up to 100 % Prefilter G4: Bonded fibre fabric consisting of polyester fibres with thermal bonding For use in bottling halls with high exposure of coarse dust and soot particles, e.g. dry section Standard Filter F9 with Increased Cleaning Performance, Prefilter G4 Main filter with separately changeable prefilter G4 Main filter F9: Micro glass fibre paper; suitable for a humidity of up to 100 % Prefilter G4: Bonded fibre fabric consisting of polyester fibres with thermal bonding For use upon high demands on the blower air The air conveyor application is either in standard design, or in the Enhanced Hygienic Design for establishing optimised microbiological conditions. Enhanced Hygienic Design Suspended matter filter H13 with separately changeable prefilter G4/F5 For use in the bottling hall when removal of submicron particles is of utmost importance Used together with air conveyor in Enhanced Hygienic Design 4 krones AirCo
System Components DW-d23-p040-0 07/05 DW-d23-p040-0 07/05 Neck-Ring Guides The design of neck-ring guides on air conveyors has a significant influence on the performance of the conveyor system. Mounting of neck-ring guides via slip-on, or clip system. No longer screw-mounting. Optimum neck-ring guide geometry can be provided for each container type. Easy and quick change possible upon wear. No adjustments necessary after change-over. Thanks to their easy exchangeability, different sections can be tested easily. The extremely well gliding material on PE basis guarantees troublefree operation, even with poor preform quality, or complex container shapes. Automatic Neck-Ring Guide Adjustment System In order to be able to process containers with different neck finish diameters, krones offers the automatic neck-ring guide adjustment for straight chutes and for curves. Upon type change-overs, the distance of the neck-ring guide is adjusted via pneumatically actuated cylinders. Neck-ring guide with clip system (top picture) Neck-ring guide with slip-on system (bottom picture) Rails Robust design Highly wear-resistant brushes or sliding rails Universally adjustable container height and diameter When adding new container types to the product range, retrofitting of guide rails is possible at any time krones AirCo 5
System Components 1 Combining, left 2 Combining, right 3 Distribution, left 4 Distribution, right L-type gates 1 2 3 4 DW-e23-p026-0 08/05 Gates Distribution and combining via pneumatic adjustment units High reliability due to simple structure and minimal wear Reliable operation thanks to exchangeable handling parts Short change-over times of handling parts Förderrichtung X-type gate Triple gate Gate 3 to 3 DW-e23-p025-0 08/05 DW-e23-0117-0 07/05 DW-e23-P041-0 07/05 Container conveyor Air conveyor DW-e23-p019-0 8/05 Infeed/Transfer Units Compact design Safe container handling Easy, manual height adjustment of air conveyor Option: Automatic height adjustment Automatic guide rail adjustment corresponding with container height and diameter Rejection Unit Possibility for manual or automatic removal of containers from the transport path Can be delivered in two different versions for either manual or automatic function 6 krones AirCo
Drive Operation Control Drive Speed regulation of all air conveyor drives via frequency converter Optimised output curve of the radial fan in the respective output ranges guarantees optimum performance Entire housing and wheel in stainless steel Welding seams are reduced significantly and dirt corners are eliminated to a great extent by using the laser welding process Low-noise design of the entire air conveyor Operation Modern optical appearance Easy operation Improved resolution and therefore more use of graphics possible Clearly structured menu Less operating steps Improved diagnostics Fault diagnostics via line image Direct and clear fault messages Diagnostics support via drawings, images and help texts Assistence for trouble shooting Suitable for teleservice Control functionality possible as an option Control Unit An intelligent control of the entire line is the prerequisite for a high line availability. krones developed a clearly structured control system which enables optimal utilisation of the line capacity through the machines and conveyors regulation. In order to guarantee an uninterrupted production, the machine speed is continuously measured by sensors, and adjusted to the system s current buffer capacity. Upon product change-overs, the air conveyors can be reset to handling the new container size, while the conveyors of other sections are still carrying the previous type of containers. This considerably reduces system downtimes caused through changes. 1 Pressure control 2 Digital display 3 Connection for overpressure 4 Passage for electrical connections 1 2 3 4 Pressure-Controlled Regulation System It is possible to control each section of the air conveyor separately. The frequency of the radial fan is automatically adapted to the filter contamination (manual re-adjusting not necessary). The adaption of the frequency converters is controlled via the pre-set total overpressure in the transport chute. Sensors Reliable and trouble-free operating sensors, which are not influenced by the production environment, provide a non-interrupted production process. Therefore, krones uses ultrasonic sensors, which will not be affected by the usual contaminations occurring in the conveyor area. Thus, optimum operation reliability is achieved. As usually, the ultrasonic sensors do not require cleaning, enormous savings in time and costs can be achieved when compared to conventional systems. krones AirCo 7
krones AirCo Air Conveyor Layout variants Space Reserves With a wall or ceiling installation of the AirCo, the space below can be used for other purposes. Floor installation Installation height up to 4.5 m Ceiling suspension Wall mounting DW-e23-p020-0 08/05 MS Safety Securing of all moveable function units with protective housing Drive unit guard Safety regulation of the European CE standard, the American UL regulation and corresponding DIN standards must be fully complied Confirmed with inspection certificate of the Employers Liability Insurance Association Service Thanks to a worldwide network of sales offices and services in conjunction with the krones teleservice, we are able to provide optimum support even after your equipment has been installed. Our modern storage system allows us to supply spare parts immediately if required. Our qualified specialists handle maintenance and servicing of your line quickly and efficiently. krones ag Böhmerwaldstraße 5 D-93073 Neutraubling Phone: +49 (+94 01) 70-0 Fax: +49 (+94 01) 70-24 88 E-mail: info@krones.com Internet: www.krones.com Subject to technical changes Printed in Germany 0 900 22 875 2 Erhardi Druck GmbH 1,000e 08/05