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Can you Handle It?

27th Aug 2021

MATERIAL HANDLING SOLUTIONS FROM PROSAW.

When it comes to sawing, often the slowest part is actually loading and unloading the machine with stock lengths and cut pieces of material.

Over our 58 years’ experience of supplying sawing machines, we have provided 100’s of material handling solutions to our wide range of customers and industries.

Often the solution is a variation on a theme, however whether it is bundles of tubes/bars, steel beams/columns, or any piece of material really, Prosaw can provide your company with a bespoke material handling system to increase your production and throughput.

STILLAGE ARMS

The addition of side stillage arms to an infeed conveyor eliminates the need for a machine to run out of material to process. These steel fabricated arms will hold additional stock lengths to allow easy loading of a machine by its operator.

From small sections through to large heavy solid bars, adding stillage arms means the machine can run for longer periods and avoid the waiting time for a crane or forklift truck to load the machine.

CROSS TRANSFERS

A more powerful and automated solution are cross transfers. These can be either Lift & Carry (as it says LIFT the piece of material and CARRY it forward to the infeed conveyor) or the lower cost option of a Drag system which drags or pulls the material across nylon slideways and on to the conveyor.

The movement of steel around any workshop can be both time consuming and hard work for operators. The installation of a cross transfer system reduces the need for overhead cranes or lifting equipment to position stock lengths on to a machine infeed conveyor.

Either system described allows the operator to stay by the machine and keep feeding material onto the input roller conveyor and cutting area.

POWERED CONVEYORS

Moving heavy pieces of material can be achieved on good quality free running roller conveyors. However, for a safer and more efficient way, the use of powered conveyors will take the hard work out of moving your material around the workshop.

Available in short lengths or for longer steel beams and columns, a powered conveyor system can be built to suit your application and available workspace. Conveyors are designed and built by Prosaw using either tubular, or for heavier applications, solid rollers with bearing blocks. These are driven by heavy duty chain and sprockets with variable speed motors for easy positioning of material at the saw.

 EJECTORS SYSTEMS

After sawing any material, often the bottle neck is the output side of the machine, with longer cut length pieces remaining on the output conveyor waiting to either be collected or moved to the next process.

One solution is again cross transfers working in reverse as described above. These can drag or lift off the material onto support arms or move the material no the next work station.

Another solution for round materials is a full-length pusher, this acts as a sweeper arm to roll the workpiece clear of the output conveyor. An example of this can be seen in our video ‘processing solutions’

For rectangular and square material, an output table which tips or inclines by means of a pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder also works well in ensuring the production of cut pieces continues.

 CUT PIECE MARKING

After sawing to length, certain applications require full traceability or piece marking prior to packing. Prosaw can offer various marking solutions including hard stamping, dot peen and ink jet marking.

All systems allow for multiple characters being marked on the material and can be mounted in a way to allow either marking on the cut face of a billet or the side of a profile or section for easy identification.

 CUT PIECE WEIGHING

Some applications involve either cutting material to a given weight with the need for verification or the total weight of a cut pack being provided. Prosaw can integrate weighing systems in a variety of ways using load cells mounted underneath output tables or conveyors.

The use of collection pockets for multiple bars can also provide a solution to weighing packs of material and also allow for easy packing for distribution.

WHAT’S YOUR NEED?

When it comes to material handling systems and integration with sawing machines, Prosaw have a wealth of experience. Our short video below, 'processing solutions' gives an overview of just a small selection of these solutions with both bandsaw and circular sawing machines.

 Whatever your needs may be, give Prosaw a call and request a visit by one of our experienced team or send us a brief summary of your requirements and let us provide you with an answer to your handling issues.

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