Recent orders for Durr installations at Vauxhall, IBC and ERF highlight the variety of options available to the industry today.Without conveyors, the mass production of goods would not be possible. The automobile, one of the mainstays of transportation today, would still be prohibitively expensive, affordable only by the wealthy. But at the beginning of the 20th century, Henry Ford began to use conveyors to produce the renowned Model A, and the automobile industry was born.

The Automation and Conveyor Techniques Division of Durr, one of the international leaders in automated paint finishing systems, specialises in designing, engineering, and manufacturing an extensive range of conveyor systems for an equally extensive range of applications.

Whether you need a power and free, overhead chain, subtug conveyor, or any combination, these and many other types of systems offer the capability, flexibility and reliability that's necessary in a demanding market.

Recent orders for Durr installations at Vauxhall, IBC and ERF highlight the variety of options available to the industry today.

Both the Vauxhall and IBC sites wanted to progress to waterborne materials to comply with recent environmental legislation.

In Phase I, Vauxhall needed to introduce new equipment and rearrange the layout to suit their newly extended spray booths.

A former repair booth had been converted to a production spray booth and, because the new oven was off-set, the existing conveyor needed to be extended, the shuttle needed to be modified, and the drive needed to be altered to cater for the new production speed.

A variable speed drive, as opposed to a fixed speed drive, was used to give the flexibility for future variations in production requirements.

Phase II involved a new spray booth to create Colour Line 3.

The conveyors for the transfer of bodies from the storage area to the new spray booth were modified to suit the new equipment at the required production speed.

Because the new paint process required more space, the cross-transfer was shortened to allow the booth and the conveyor to be extended.

Two small roller conveyors were added to alter the route and assist transfer, and a new camlift table allowed for a variety of different routes.

An existing camlift was relocated to create a queuing position and reduce cycle time, and an existing second camlift was repositioned in a cross transfer area to reduce cross-transfer and queuing time.

As well as switching to waterborne materials, IBC, which manufactures the Frontera vehicle, was also interested in improving their level of automation.

Their overall scheme was to install robots for a number of processes, particularly the underbody sealing and seam sealing areas.

This also involved completely modifying the existing plant and conveyors.

While the new conveyors at this site were supplied by Jervis-Webb to match the existing ones, the project was co-ordinated by Durr's ACT division.

In Phase I, one underbody sealant/PVC robot with new conveyor system replaced many of the manual sealant operations.

As the existing conveyor was an inverted power and free design, a second, high-speed IPF conveyor was added that runs on a drive chain through the new robot station.

There is approximately a 130-second cycle time to allow for process and transfer operations.

In Phase II, which is in progress, an existing conveyor loop will be removed and replaced by a temporary bypass to allow production to continue while a new longer loop with IPF conveyor is installed.

This will be for the additional robot cells which come into operation in summer 2000 for sealing both the exterior and the interior of the bodies.

In addition, the sealant material supply systems will also be uprated to cater for the robots and remaining manual stations and the sealant lines extended to suit the new process station locations.

In the robot cells, stabilisers are used to ensure accurate body positioning in conjunction with cameras that alter the robot spraying trajectory, if necessary, for accurate application.

The Vauxhall and IBC facilities demonstrate that Durr is able to modify and adapt existing conditions to suit the ever-changing needs of automotive companies, particularly in an age of environmental legislation and alternative fuel options.

The flexibility and modular build of Durr's systems ensure that future changes can be absorbed easily.

ERF are consolidating their current Sandbach and Middlewich sites into a completely new facility in Middlewich.

The ACT division is acting as overall project co-ordinator, and is supplying spray booths, electrical and mechanical services as well as all the conveyors thus providing a 'one-stop' solution for ERF.

There are five main assembly areas: engine, axle, chassis, final, and cab.

The engine assembly requires an overhead chain conveyor set in a continuous loop, consisting of 12 stations with a 15-minute index.

The 32 positions of the axle assembly's subtug conveyor also run on a 15-minute cycle.

The engine and axle, each separately assembled, are manually loaded onto the chassis during the chassis assembly.

An option has been left open for the future possibility of an automated transfer from engine build stations to the chassis line.

The chassis assembly area runs on a subtug conveyor loop with 30 positions, including a series of overhead-crane transfers.

When the chassis is fully assembled and the interior has been painted, it moves on to final assembly.

The 36-position rollerbed of the cab assembly transports the frame, or skid, along the rollerbed, where it also meets up with final assembly, consisting of a 3m wide flat slat floor conveyor with 12 positions and a 15-minute index.

The ERF contract highlighted the ACT division's ability to handle complete projects, from beginning to end, and provide a comprehensive turnkey installation service that is tailored to specific customer needs.

The ACT division of Durr specialises in designing, engineering, and manufacturing a wide variety of automation and conveyor techniques and systems that match the needs of the client, whether it be to adapt an existing system, to construct a complete paint shop, or to co-ordinate a major project.