New generation of high-performance sorting: BG Sorter

BEUMER Group invests all its expertise in new high-performance Sorter At LogiMAT in Stuttgart, Germany, BEUMER Group has presented its latest sorter development: The BG Sorter is optimally prepared to meet the challenges of high-performance sorting. The new sorter family offers the appropriate version for each type of item. Tilt tray and cross-belt sorters can be used in customer systems. Thanks to permanent communication with the carriers, the system features exact and controlled sortation with maximum flexibility. Contactless energy and data transmission reduces maintenance costs as well as wear and tear. The BG Sorter CB (cross belt) offers a reliable solution for sorting any kind of items, such as parcels or bagged goods. The so-called "full cross belt design" means that the maximum belt width is ensured. The customers' benefit: More usable belt surface is available with the same sorter size. This permits handling a wide mix of goods easily and safely. The risk of products lying between the belts is reduced. The E-Tray version (tilt tray) also offers many advantages. An improved tilt tray design prevents items from getting stuck between the trays, which helps to avoid collisions and downtimes. Wireless real-time communication "Our new construction series is based on proven technologies with key components like the sorter frame made of steel or the contactless energy supply system instead of the usual contact lines," explains Stephan Heessels, global Director of BEUMER Group's Logistic Systems division. This enables users to reduce machine maintenance costs as well as wear and tear. In addition, the dust generated when using contact lines is avoided. Permanent wireless communication on W-Lan basis enables real-time data transmission – compared with infrared communication where data are transmitted only when an infrared sensor is passed. The BG Sorter features communication times reduced to milliseconds so that discharge profiles can be adapted in real time. W-Lan communication permits careful handling of a wide variety of products: Users can add, select and change discharge profiles at any time without the need to adapt the hardware. Moreover, discharge is very precise with different discharge speeds. BEUMER Group attached great value to low maintenance and repair costs when developing the BG Sorter. Status monitoring and extended diagnostics tools enable employees to detect possible errors at an early stage. This has a positive effect on product life-cycle costs. The sorter can be easily accessed for maintenance and repair. Its design is compact and permits efficient use of the space above and below the system. Innovative kinematics of carriages A completely innovative carriage featuring two points of articulation and carrying and guide wheels which are tightly fastened to the axles has been developed for the carriage assembly of the BG Sorter. This patented solution offers two advantages: On the one hand, it enables clearly reduced curve radii compared with conventional carriage geometries. On the other hand, the polygon effect in curves is minimised, which results in less oscillations in the system. The BG Sorter is equipped with carrying wheels that have been specially developed for it and are larger than those used in comparable systems. They minimise rolling resistance, which directly results in lower energy consumption and also ensures reduced noise emission as well as increased running smoothness. Energy-efficient drive The construction series is available either with the proven OptiDrive, which is based on servo drives, or the contactless linear synchronous motor (LSM). Both drive systems reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions. OptiDrive is a patented highly efficient frictional drive solution, which offers an economical alternative to the asynchronous linear motor drives often used in high-performance sorters. A special feature is that the contact pressure of the drive wheel is automatically set depending on the required driving power – even for braking. This boosts efficiency to up to 85 percent and enhances the service life of the drive wheels. The advantage of the LSM, which is energy-efficient as well, is that it eliminates contact between moving parts, providing minimal levels of wear and tear without compromising speed, capacity and reliability. BG Sorter CB: cross belt design increases capacity and safety The cross-belt sorter BG Sorter CB achieves a high throughput at a speed of up to three metres per second. The carrying capacity is 50 kilograms per cross belt. "Depending on the throughput and product mix, we can configure the system with one cross belt per carriage or with two or three cross belts," explains Stephan Heessels. "This enables us to sort a wide variety of products with sizes of up to 1,500 x 1,000 mm." The configuration with several cross belts, especially with varying product sizes, clearly increases the system capacity if compared with conventional sorters with only one cross belt per carriage. The full cross belt design provides an appropriate response to the increasing share of items that lack dimensional stability. Thanks to the maximum belt width, these are safely positioned, transported and accurately discharged. The new induction unit places items on the cross belts with maximum accuracy. The position of the items on the system is checked after induction and corrected, if necessary, ensuring that the products are always perfectly positioned. BG Sorter ET: Intermediate cover prevents failures The BG Sorter ET is a tilt tray sorter, which can transport items with a weight of up to 60 kilograms. "Jamming of items between the trays is among the most frequent reasons for unplanned downtimes of this sorter type," says Stephan Heessels. "We have introduced a new tray design to avoid this." The so-called "closed deck" closes the gap between individual trays, preventing items from getting stuck between the trays. This function reduces downtimes and avoids possible damage to the sorter or the goods. Users can handle items of different sizes with more flexibility. Users can handle items of different sizes with more flexibility. "Our BG Sorter combines future-oriented features, which set new standards in precise and cost-effective handling of as large a product range as possible," says Stephan Heessels. "Providing our customers with this scalable system, we facilitate their future growth and help them achieve long-term returns on investment."