Bauer Gear BM Series Geared Motors For Overhead Conveyors

June 2, 2013
Overhead Conveyors

Thurella is a leading Swiss juice producer and accounts for a third of all the apple juice concentrate produced in Switzerland. The company processes around 30,000 metric tons of fruit and 7,500 metric tons of vegetables every year and is also active in the contract bottling business including juices, beer and ice tea.

One of Thurella’s bottling plants, which contains several production lines, is located in Eglisau, CH. In the past, fork-lift trucks were used at the facility to move pallets into and out of storage, to pick pallets, and to load them onto trucks and railcars. This required a lot of labour and inevitably led to a corresponding level of human error. Due to its limited warehouse capacity, the bottling plant had to be reconfigured frequently, which reduced output and raised costs.

To solve the material handling problems, the facility was improved by refurbishing the warehouse and installing an electrical overhead conveyor (EOC) system which can handle up to 338 stock movements per hour (in or out) and operates three shifts per day. The length of the EOC run is approx. 450m. Pallets move along at 90 m/min.

The EOC manufacturer in Schopfheim (Baden, Germany), selected Bauer Type BM20 geared motors to power each of the systems nineteen vehicles (load carriers). The BM20 units, designed for overhead conveyor drives, feature a low-backlash coupling for high positioning accuracy and are fitted with a transmitter for exact motor speed control. Units incorporate low noise gearing and are completely enclosed and sealed against dust and water spray.

The new EOC system, which leverages gravity to lift heavy pallets, brings with its higher stock turnover and faster loading and unloading of trucks and railcars, combined with lower costs and a lower error rate. In addition, it is much safer than rapidly moving fork-lift trucks.

Bauer Gear BM Series Geared Motor