Keep fixed conveyors from stopping/starting as flowitems leave/enter the sides?

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Mike Mayer asked Aug 03 2021 at 3:22 PM Felix Möhlmann answered Aug 09 2021 at 5:19 PM

Keep fixed conveyors from stopping/starting as flowitems leave/enter the sides?

Accumulating conveyors (like free gravity rollers) are nice because if a flowitem departs from, or arrives onto, the conveyor (like left or right either to/from another conveyor at a Tee junction, or to/from an Exit/Entry Transfer to/from a sink or processor or something), the accumulating conveyor will continue moving. Regardless of flowitems coming on/off of it.

A fixed (non-accumulating, like a rubber belt) conveyor however, pauses briefly as each flow item transitions on/off from the side. For a long fixed conveyor with lots of side entries/exits, and lots of things coming on/off from the sides, the conveyor tends to stutter from it stopping and starting so much. I suspect the reason is that it keeps items from "skidding" onto or off of the fixed belt, thus it must pause to allow the entry/departure to happen correctly (which does not happen with accumulating conveyors).

So, is there a way I can tell a fixed conveyor to keep moving regardless of what's coming on/off from the sides? Of course, all conveyors must stop if it cannot push a tire off the end - so that's not the issue.

I guess what I'm looking for is a hybrid conveyor that keeps moving, but does not accumulate.

Thanks!

Software Version:

FlexSim 21.1.4

flexsim 21.1.4 stop start non accumulating conveyor

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Answer 1 · 2021-08-09T08:45:35Z

Felix Möhlmann answered Aug 09 2021 at 8:45 AM

You could use an accumulating conveyor and manually stop it, if an item arrives at the end and the exit is not free by using a Photo Eye or Decision Point.

Depending on how complex your conveyor system is, this might be quite a bit of work though.

Stop_Accumulating_Conveyor.fsm

Note: The "On Message" trigger of the Photo Eye doesn't normally support the "Set Conveyor Speed" option as it does not contain a reference to the conveyor. I simply copied the code from the "On Cover" trigger and get the reference to the conveyor with

Conveyor conveyor = ownerobject(current.find(">variables/conveyorPoint/1+"));

stop-accumulating-conveyor.fsm (42.6 KiB)

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