Custom Circular Conveyor

Oval, rectangular and round layouts cover most lines. When they do not, the loop is built to the cell rather than the cell to the loop. Custom Circular Conveyor here means the track path, not a modified standard. Arc diameters, straight lengths, curvature direction, mounting orientation and carrier spacing are all specified per line.

What can be non-standard

Track path. S-curve loops reverse curvature part-way round, which lets the track wrap an obstruction — a column, a pit, an existing machine — or bring a carrier back past a station it has already visited. Irregular closed paths beyond that are built to drawing.

Arc diameter. The standard series runs 200 to 1000 mm. Diameters outside it, and intermediate sizes between the published steps, are supplied; delivered lines include a 790 mm arc.

Straight section length and count. Any length by splicing, in any number of sections.

Mounting orientation. Horizontal, vertical, and other non-horizontal orientations. Vertical mounting changes the load picture materially — gravity moves into the carrier’s weaker direction — so it should be settled before sizing rather than after.

Rail configuration. Single rail or dual rail. Delivered lines include a vertically mounted double-track heavy-load system.

Environmental configuration. Protective covers, stainless components and lubrication arrangements are selected against the working environment. Cleanroom lines have been delivered, including for frozen food production.

Protection configuration is confirmed per application at quotation. We do not publish a whole-machine ingress protection rating.

Drive. Timing belt, chain, link drive — called connecting rod drive in older catalogues — or toothed ring with direct pinion drive.

What counts as a Custom Circular Conveyor

A good deal of what customers describe as a custom line is not one. A loop with a straight run at an unusual length, a station count nobody else has asked for, a particular servo brand, a frame height set by the neighbouring machine — all of that is configuration within the standard range, and it quotes and builds on standard terms.

The line becomes custom when the path itself stops being a published shape: curvature that reverses, arcs of different diameters in one loop, a closed path that is not an oval, a rectangle or a circle, or an orientation the standard mountings do not cover.

The distinction is worth making at enquiry because it changes what we need from you. A configured line can be quoted from the requirement list below. A custom path needs the cell — what the loop has to pass, what it has to avoid, and what stands in the middle of it.

What stays standard

Custom track geometry does not mean bespoke components. The guideway sections, rollers, carriers, positioning mechanisms and drive hardware are the same standard parts used across the range, which keeps lead time, spares and maintenance procedures consistent with a standard line.

The trade against a modular line is real but narrow: modular V30 and V50 lines are built from five standardised part families with fixed interfaces, so they reconfigure in the field and ship on stock lead times. A custom path gives that up in exchange for fitting a cell nothing standard fits.

Performance

Payload is quoted per carrier against fixture geometry and mounting orientation.

What we need to quote for a Custom Circular Conveyor

The information that actually determines the line:

• Track layout — horizontal, vertical, or a path around a described obstruction
• Number of carriers and the centre distance between adjacent carriers
• Fixture plate envelope — width and height along the straight rail direction
• Carrier payload
• Whether a pressing force is applied to the workpiece while it is held
• Time to traverse one carrier pitch, including positioning
• Number and accuracy of positioning stations
• Servo motor brand preference, if the plant has a standard
• Working environment — high temperature, oil, dust, cleanroom
• Any special requirements not covered above

A structured version of this list is on Circular Conveyor Quotation.

How a Custom Circular Conveyor is confirmed

A custom path is settled on drawings before anything is cut. The sequence is the same on every project: the requirement comes in, our engineering team returns a layout with the path, arc diameters, carrier pitch and station positions set against it, and that layout goes back and forth until it matches the cell.

When it does, the parameters are written into a technical specification confirmation form and signed by both sides. That document — not the enquiry email and not the first sketch — is what the line is built to, and it is why a requirement change caught before signature costs a revision while the same change caught afterwards costs hardware.

Changes do happen at that stage, and they are easier than they sound while the line is still on paper. On one delivered oval line the station count went from two to eight during design review, the drive motor moved to the other side of the loop to clear the operator position, and the base plate fixing holes were then corrected for the interference the new motor position created. All three landed before production, which is where they belong.

Lines are assembled, aligned and run on their own frame before despatch, and crated for export as a complete machine where the size allows.

Engineering data

• S-Curve Track Set
• Circular Guide Rail Selection
• Conveyor Slide Load Calculation
• Circular Conveyor Loop Parameters

Frequently asked questions about Custom Circular Conveyor System

How do I know whether my line is custom or just a non-standard configuration?

Look at the path. If the loop is still an oval, a rectangle or a circle — even at a side length, arc diameter, station count or frame height that appears in no table — it is a configured standard line. It becomes custom when the path itself changes: curvature that reverses part-way round, arcs of different diameters in one loop, an irregular closed path, or a mounting orientation outside horizontal and vertical. The practical difference at enquiry is that a configured line can be quoted from the requirement list, while a custom path needs a description or a sketch of the cell it has to fit.

What is signed off before production starts, and what happens if the requirement changes?

The layout is confirmed on drawings, and the agreed parameters are then written into a technical specification confirmation form that both sides sign. Everything built afterwards is built to that document. Changes raised during the drawing stage are routine — station counts, motor position and fixing patterns all move at that point on real projects. Changes raised after signature are quoted as changes, because by then the rails, frame and drive have been cut to the confirmed geometry.

Can a custom line be modified after it has been delivered?

Within limits, and the limits follow from the path. Adding carriers is a configuration change if the pitch positions exist. Lengthening a straight section is possible because straights splice, though the drive element, the frame and the carrier pitch have to be reworked together rather than one at a time. Changing the shape of the path is not a modification — it is a new loop. Any work that opens a joint needs the alignment re-set afterwards, so it is our engineers’ job rather than a plant maintenance task.

Does a custom path make spares or maintenance harder?

No, and that is deliberate. The parts that wear or get replaced — rollers, carriers, drive element, positioning mechanisms, lubrication devices — are the same standard items used across the whole range, so a custom line is held on the same spares list as a standard one and serviced by the same procedures. What is specific to your line is the geometry, and the geometry is recorded on the confirmation drawings. The one thing worth keeping on site is that drawing set, because any future modification is worked from it.

Is there a limit on how long a loop can be, or how many carriers it can carry?

We do not publish one, and in practice the ceiling is set by the drive rather than by the rail — straight sections splice to any length, while a long path means more drive element to tension, more carriers accelerating together and more mass for one motor to index. Loop length, carrier count and required cycle time therefore have to be checked together rather than separately. Send all three with the enquiry and our engineering team will say where they conflict, and which of them is cheapest to relax.

Request a Quote — Circular Conveyor System