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Mohammed_adnane T avatar image
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Mohammed_adnane T asked Mohammed_adnane T commented

Transfer two items coming from the same source in parallel on a conveyor?

What I am trying to do is to to have two items coming from one source disposed and transferred in parallel. Also if it is possible to have them change their movement axis on a second convoyer later without changing their position (the model is for drywall transfer system)

FlexSim 21.1.4
conveyingparallel items
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Eric M avatar image Eric M commented ·

What do you mean by having them transferred in parallel? Do you have 2 different conveyors that you are wanting to send 2 items to at the same time? Or do you want the items stacked on each other?

For your second question, are you wanting to do something like this where the box is still in the same position but is now traveling in a different direction (in this example travelling to the right and then traveling up)?

1624036918217.png

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Joerg Vogel avatar image Joerg Vogel Eric M commented ·
It is quite easy, what he wants. Two items in a row are moved to be side by side. Then in on an side exit transfer they are leaving in a row again. Because the conveyor keeps track of how items entering you can transfer them to be moving next to each other, but they are still single items in order how they got into the system. It is getting a bit complicate, if a second item is on the right side of the first item and the side transfer is on the right side, too. Then on an exit event must move the second item to move first out of the conveyor. But the logic still move the left item first from the leading conveyor and a logic must fix this error to get it right.
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Mohammed_adnane T avatar image Mohammed_adnane T Eric M commented ·

For the first question I meant to have two items coming on the convoyer side by side rather than stacked or one behind the other. For the second question, yes it's what I meant exactly, adding the fact that their will be both of the items that are side by side (not just one) traveling in a different direction in the same position. (check the attached visualization) 1624051244449.png

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Jeanette F avatar image Jeanette F ♦♦ commented ·

Hi @Mohammed_adnane T, was Joerg Vogel's answer helpful? If so, please click the red "Accept" button at the bottom of their answer. Or if you still have questions, add a comment and we'll continue the conversation.

If we haven't heard back from you within 3 business days we'll auto-accept an answer, but you can always unaccept and comment back to reopen your question.

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Mohammed_adnane T avatar image Mohammed_adnane T Jeanette F ♦♦ commented ·
Hi ! thank you all. I have accepted the answer, am sorry I didn't do it earlier, I am new to this !
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1 Answer

Joerg Vogel avatar image
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Joerg Vogel answered Mohammed_adnane T commented

A possible solution is to combine them together. A second entering item is move as a subnode into the leading item. You will have to remove the second item instantly from the conveyor system because it is not inside a conveyor anymore. It is more a like child of the first leading item. You can set a Location in relation to the first and you can move the first item to get an offset in y-direction. But you must be aware of the fact that the FlexSim engine only recognize the first item until you separate the second one again.

The combining is a result of the command or activity called moveobject. As I said you have to set a well looking location of the second item on your own.

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Mohammed_adnane T avatar image Mohammed_adnane T commented ·

Thank you for your answer, I will try to do that (although I am only a beginner). So, I believe that I need to use a decision point with an onarrival event where i could code that logic, is that right?

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Eric M avatar image Eric M Mohammed_adnane T commented ·

Hi @Mohammed_adnane T, here's an example of what Joerg was saying with combining them. I combine two flow items together in 0 time and use a trigger to set the location of the 2nd item. I then use a decision point to translate the item to the left to center it on the conveyor.

The example on top shows the combiner and the example on bottom shows what it looks like to hide the combiner (unchecking Show 3d Shape in visual window).

conveyor transfer in parallel.fsm

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Mohammed_adnane T avatar image Mohammed_adnane T Eric M commented ·

@Eric M @Joerg Vogel Thank for your answers, I finally opted for dividing the line into two synchronized conveyors using the same source (in process flow). It helped solving other complications in the rest of the simulation.

For my second question I changed the entry orientation of the conveyor (in the entry transfer) to "Item Y+" which suited perfectly my need.

1624444760033.png

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