UK subsidiary of German conveyor manufacturer, has successfully installed two innovative conveyor lines using heavy duty wheels, for an assembly lfor heavy construction machinery.

Derby-based Fredenhagen, the UK subsidiary of German conveyor manufacturer, has successfully installed two innovative conveyor lines using HMC Brauer heavy duty wheels, for the assembly line of a major heavy construction machinery corporation. The first installation was in Leicestershire, where Fredenhagen were tasked with supplying the complete conveyor handling technology and systems for a heavy-duty conveyor for the assembly of telescopic handlers. These items, weighing over 13 tonnes each, are assembled on a new automated assembly line, based on Fredenhagen's 'Skillet' conveyor technology.

The conveyor comprises 21 'skillets' or pallets, each 4m long by 3.8m wide, and running on four heavy duty HMC Brauer wheels on a pair of rails.

The wheels on one side of the skillet are double flanged, providing alignment with the rail on one side only, while those on the other side are flat, enabling the skillet to adjust to any slight lateral movement without sticking or jamming.

Jonathan Halliday, Fredenhagen UK General Manager, explains, 'The wheels are a critical part of the conveyor system, which runs in indexing mode every 15-25 minutes; any problem with a wheel could bring the entire system to a halt, losing valuable productivity for our customer.

As well as being strong, the wheels for the conveyor also had to have a relatively small diameter to enable the entire Skillet conveyor system height to be kept as low as possible.

We were already aware of Brauer's range of products and had a Brauer Wheels Catalogue in our office, so we were quickly able to find the right solution for such a demanding application, the flanged wheels being rated at 7.5tonnes each (max) and the unflanged wheels being rated at 12.6 tonnes (max).' The UK installation has proved to be so successful that Fredenhagen has now installed a similar line for the same company, in the USA, using the same configuration of HMC Brauer running gear.

Fredenhagen are currently investigating the possibilities of using Brauer Wheel products on similar heavy duty conveyor applications.