Mini-Unscrambler

The Mini-Unscrambler conveyor is designed to receive a single layer stream of cartons that may contain side by side or jumbled slugs. By traveling over a combination of skewed rollers and speed differential zones, it descrambles the arrangement into a single file of cartons, edge-aligned and normally oriented with a narrow dimension leading at discharge. Product feeds onto the Mini-Unscrambler at a low speed and discharges onto a downstream conveyor at a higher speed. The downstream conveyor is used to decelerate the single file cartons, reducing gaps and allowing resumed transportation at a speed lower than the Mini-Unscrambler discharge zone speed.

The infeed conveyor runs at a speed equal or slightly slower than the first low speed zone of the Mini-Unscrambler. Three additional speed-up zones are nested together with the inner side (right or left hand operation is available) rollers running at a slower speed than the outer passing side. Powered vertical belt side guides on the inner side compliment the slower rollers by further retarding the speed of the inside carton, enhancing carton rotation to the lengthwise direction, allowing outside cartons to pass and minimizing scuffing.

Standard high speed 50 mm (1.9 in) diameter rollers with precision bearings on 50 mm (2 in) centers are driven from below by a flat belt arrangement with snubbing rollers on 100 mm (4 in) centers. Two gearmotors with through shafts and pulleys drive the four individual roller speed zones at fixed speeds, an additional gearmotor drives the two individual vertical belts. No variable frequency drive controllers are required.