Bridge crane by ELS assists paving company with transporting stones

ELS recommended a Gorbel bridge crane for a stone- and brick-moving task.

Engineered Lifting Systems & Equipment Inc. (ELS) has a track record of success with customers in various industries. For example, the company recommended a workstation bridge crane to a customer in the asphalt-paving mixture and block sector, a firm that was developing a new process for building-facing products and required a solution for moving heavy stones. The crane was the perfect answer.

A suspended vacuum lifting system

This paving company’s new process involved moving layers of stones and bricks from a pallet onto a conveyor, then transporting it through a specialized coating/sealing process, removing the layer, and placing it on an outgoing pallet. The stone materials were unusually light and porous, with widely varying sizes, shapes, thicknesses, and surface differentials. Each layer weighed about 400 pounds on average.

For efficiency, coating of each layer could take no longer than a minute. Handling stones individually was inadequate for the required cycle time. Movable pads were considered, but the stones’ diverse shapes caused the grippers to fail and the layers to collapse. For something better, the company turned to ELS.

The ELS team suggested using a 1,000-pound-capacity Gorbel workstation bridge crane, which had a vacuum lifting system suspended by an electric chain hoist. The uneven, porous surfaces of the blocks did not affect the vacuum, which could handle height differences between stones of up to 1.5 inches, as well as all configurations of stone profiles. The vacuum system could lift all stones in the layering progressions safely, while enabling the plant manager to schedule any product down the line freely, since the product variations required no re-tooling time.

Another advantage was minimal user training, as the vacuum lifter had four easy-to-use lever controls. Operators could position the trolley-mounted system between pallets and conveyors by pushing or pulling along the crane track; when the vacuum was positioned over a layer and vacuum control activated, a light indicated safe vacuum levels. The user could then use the mounted pendant for vertical hoisting and activate a release vacuum control to detach the load.

The customer bought the crane and vacuum system, and the material handling of stone and brick layers has worked out very well.

To learn more, contact ELS.

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