Accumulation Roller conveyors

The purpose of an accumulation conveyor is to provide a ‘stop zone’ – usually at the end of the conveyor – where products literally come to a stop. This can be to facilitate packaging or handling, or merely to prevent them falling off the end of the belt and onto the floor !

A short length of gravity roller conveyor makes a simple but effective accumulation zone, as illustrated in the upper picture on the left.Products reach the end of the belt and simply slide to a halt on the roller section.

More sophisticated conveyors can have ‘accumulation’ built into them. One example is the lineshaft driven roller conveyor. In such a system each individual roller is driven by a drive-belt, each of which connects to a communal drive shaft. When a product reaches the end of the conveyor it is stopped by a bar or ‘wall’. At this point, the weight of the product ‘jams’ the rollers underneath, causing their drive belts to ‘slip’, and forming a simple clutch. The roller stops turning, and hence the underside of the product is not scoured or scratched.

A more unusual example is shown in the lower picture, and might be used where the products are too light (or too heavy) for a lineshaft driven conveyor. This 'travelator' conveyor has unpowered ‘freewheeling’ rollers. However, the rollers themselves are attached to a drive chain, and move down the conveyor, carrying the products with them. When the product reaches the end of this belt, the rollers simply keep on moving forwards, but ‘freewheel’ underneath the product. The product remains stationary and – once more – is not scratched or scoured.