Moving items next to each other on a conveyor

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Kaspar Chabot asked Oct 27, '16 Kaspar Chabot commented Nov 2, '16

Moving items next to each other on a conveyor

Hey,

I am simulating a buffer system, in which flowitems need to stack behind each other (gapped) on a conveyor, then move sideways, next to each other on a very broad chain conveyor and finally move to another conveyor, where the items can peacefully flow behind each other once more.

I quickly drew this in a diagram: sideways-transfer-system.pdf

The stacking behind each other is very well supported in FlexSim, but I've never seen items being transfered next to each other on a conveyor.

What would be the best way of solving this?

I thought about merging the items into one item and moving them as one flowitem over the sideways conveyor, but I don't know how to conserve the gaps that I created between the items while doing this with a combiner.

My second idea was to translate the flowitems simultaneously over the sideways distance from the first conveyor (effectively not using the sideways conveyor) and then moving them in the downstream conveyor object, but yet again I have no idea if this will preserve the exact spacing between the flowitems that I created.

Any help would be appreciated!

Kind regards,

Kaspar

Software Version:

FlexSim 16.2.1

conveyor conveyor transfer move items sideways

sideways-transfer-system.pdf (117.9 KiB)

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Kari Payton commented · Oct 27, 2016 at 06:11 PM

@Kaspar Chabot Have you tried making sure the conveyor is wide enough to take the flowitems simultaneously?

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Kaspar Chabot Kari Payton commented · Oct 28, 2016 at 07:40 AM

Of course the conveyor is wide enough. What I really mean is that several flowitems enter and leave the sideways conveyor at the same time e.g. one on the right side, one in the middle and one on the left side.

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Answer 1 · 2016-10-31T20:25:25Z

Jeff Nordgren answered Oct 31, '16 Kaspar Chabot commented Nov 2, '16

@Kaspar Chabot

Kaspar,

Attached is a sample model that I'm hoping will do what you are asking. I use a Combiner and a Separator (outlined in Red because I hide them) at the beginning and end of the wide conveyor.

Basically, I combine the incoming flowitems into the Combiner. Then I send them to the Wide conveyor doing a Translate on the DP at the beginning of the Wide conveyor to adjust how they look on the Wide conveyor. Then I send the combined flowitem to the Separator and send them to a conveyor with a speed of 100. That is so you don't see, so much, the flowitems entering one at a time but makes them look like they all come out at once.

That's basically it. If you have any questions, please let us know.

conveyorsidetransfer1-jn3.fsm

conveyorsidetransfer.gif (3.9 MiB)

conveyorsidetransfer1-jn3.fsm (29.5 KiB)

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Kaspar Chabot commented · Nov 02, 2016 at 08:10 AM

This is the kind of solution I had in mind. Thank you very much!

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Answer 2 · 2016-10-28T09:59:42Z

Steven Hamoen answered Oct 28, '16 Kaspar Chabot commented Oct 28, '16

@Kaspar Chabot

If the product have roughly the same dimensions you could put 2 or 3 or x conveyors next to each other (looking like 1 big one) and that way you will keep your spacing correct.

Also the option with merging could work. If they have to be unmerged you could move the 2nd item into a queue that moves it onto the conveyor. you can position the transfer point such that it is moved on the conveyor with the correct spacing.

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Kaspar Chabot commented · Oct 28, 2016 at 10:51 AM

The product length is variable (continuous between 0.45m and 3m) so your first suggestion wouldn't work. If the length is shorter, then more products (up to 6) will be transfered onto one conveyor simultaneously. Is there any way to merge/unmerge flowitems instantly using code so that the spacing is preserved?

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