For employees working in a manufacturing plant or other factories, safety and efficient automation are strongly prioritized. From food and beverage production to e-commerce, items need to move rapidly and undergo rigorous quality control to ensure orders are successfully fulfilled. Fortunately, conveyor systems can cut down on manual tasks and streamline the productivity of assembly lines worldwide. That’s why we build innovative and responsive standard and specialty conveyor systems, including our patented OutRunner Spiral.
Span Tech’s OutRunner Spiral conveyor uses a unique drive system which has many advantages for spiral designs. This changing elevation conveyor system drives each tier of the spiral conveyor, which distributes the overall loading throughout many points and reduces the amount of “pull” needed at any single location. Additionally, OutRunner Spiral conveyors are somewhat similar to drum-style spirals which are very common in the industry. However, a huge flaw with drum spiral designs is the need to have a pulling element after the spiral’s last tier. If the drum ever stops and the pulling element is allowed to continue to run, the entire conveyor chain will “fold up” against the drum. This is quite a dramatic event and certainly unwanted in any situation.
Why Should Companies Use an OutRunner Spiral Conveyor?
If you’d like to update the conveyor system in your facility, there are three main reasons to include an OutRunner Spiral in your production flow:
- 1. The OutRunner Spiral conveyor changes the elevation of the products.
- 2. The system introduces product dwell time (for proofing, curing, cooling, drying, etc.).
- 3. The OutRunner Spiral promotes product offloading (accumulation).
Changing elevation of a product is probably the top reason customers purchase the OutRunner Spiral and other spiral conveyors. These systems give you the ability to go from one elevation to another with a relatively small footprint and without the need for special automation. Spirals are unique for this as they are literally just conveyors formed into helical shapes. If your product can be transported at an incline on a standard conveyor, it can also be inclined with the OutRunner Spiral conveyor.
Some products require time to rest for various reasons — bread dough needs time to rise (proof), some glues or chemical reactions need time to cure and other products need time to cool off or dry after being baked, washed or cooked. Like the OutRunner Spiral system, a spiral elevator allows for a very large amount of product to be temporarily held while still being on the production line.
Because the OutRunner Spiral conveyor and other spiral systems can hold a large amount of product, they are sometimes used for product accumulation. However, most spirals are not good solutions for that because once a product enters a spiral, it must travel all the way to the exit before it can re-enter the production line. Almost all spirals are “FIFO” (First In, First Out) and are not designed to run in their opposite direction. There are specialty spiral applications designed for this sort of thing, but they are very large and extremely costly.
What are the Advantages of the OutRunner Spiral?
Compared to other changing elevation solutions at Span Tech, there are many advantages of the OutRunner Spiral worth exploring. However, the top two benefits are in the system’s overall flexibility and robustness.
OutRunner Spiral Flexibility
The OutRunner Spiral can be designed with an infinite amount of possibilities to meet the specific needs of your company’s assembly system:
- Many chain widths available
- A large range of minimum/maximum conveyor elevations
- A large variety of chain styles (high friction, cleated chain, etc.)
- Exit orientation options (4 exit orientation options for a 4-tier spiral, 6 for a 6-tier)
- Custom conveyor centerline radius
- Custom number of tiers
- Clockwise/counterclockwise direction
- Material of construction (powder coated or stainless steel)
- Up/down flow
- Extended infeed/outfeed conveyor lengths
OutRunner Spiral Robustness
Like all Span Tech products, our OutRunner Spiral is designed to last. To help prevent any over-torque situation, we ship every spiral with a torque-limiter designed into the drive train. If the torque ever exceeds a certain amount (something becomes jammed), the torque limiter will “trip” allowing the system to safely stop.
Optimize Your Facility With the OutRunner Spiral Conveyor
Since its introduction in 2006, the OutRunner Spiral conveyor continues to revolutionize the workflow of warehouses and facilities across the U.S. If your productivity could use an enhancement, don’t wait any longer. Start a free estimate today, and one of our pros will get back to you within one business day. And, if you have any questions about the OutRunner Spiral, contact us at any time, and we’ll be more than happy to help.
