Roller Conveyors

Manufacturing plants, shipping and distribution centers, and other industrial facilities often require roller conveyors to transport, divert, or pause products in production. MC3 Manufacturing specializes in customizing material handling conveyors such as roller conveyors according to our clients’ exact specifications. Our extensive in-house fabrication capabilities provide our customers reliable solutions on best lead times and at competitive prices.

We offer a wide range of roller conveyors, including gravity, line shaft, CDLR (chain-driven live roller), BDLR (belt-driven live roller), and MDR (motor-driven roller) styles, all of which fulfill numerous functions in manufacturing, food handling, warehousing, distribution, shipping, and other applications.

Introduction to Roller Conveyors

A roller conveyor is made up of a series of evenly spaced rollers within a frame. Automated conveyors move, stop, and divert materials in production as needed. Roller conveyors are ideal for transporting large, heavy, flat-bottom items and it can handle uneven surface items with considerations. Compared to belt conveyors, roller conveyors offer a larger selection of features, such as lift and locate, pop-up stops, and zoning, and have higher weight and size capacities.

MC3 specializes in belt-, chain-, and motor-driven live roller conveyors; gravity conveyors; and line shaft conveyors, with accumulating or constant-driven options.

Roller Conveyor Applications

Roller conveyors are the most suitable option for moving heavy, large, and/or high-temperature flat-bottom items in industries like warehousing, logistics, food handling, and manufacturing. Here is an overview of how roller conveyors serve specific applications:

EV Battery Pack-In/Pack-Out

The electric vehicle industry depends on roller conveyors to safely handle EV batteries, which are often too large and heavy for manual lifting. EV batteries also pose explosion hazards, so they need to be handled by robotic pick-and-place equipment for safer and more accurate processing. Pack-In-Pack-Out roller conveyors support these unique handling needs through efficient stacking and accurate pick and placement. The U-shaped layout of the conveyor includes an incoming and outgoing section with a transfer section in between. This design saves plant floor space.

Final Article Inspection

Rollers facilitate smooth conveyance to quality control stations, inspection points, and reject systems, then on to packaging and transport of finished products. Some roller conveyors apply integrated sensors or data collection into the conveyor line and facilitate staged/gated processes.

Warehousing

Roller conveyors are used in warehousing applications to move objects between various stages of production or from storage to shipping docks. When integrated with sorting systems, roller conveyors can automatically divert products to the proper destination based on preset criteria, such as weight, size, destination, or SKU. Roller conveyors can also transport racks and dunnage throughout a facility. Conveyors can be adjusted and configured accordingly to accommodate different pallet weights and sizes.

Incoming/Outgoing Line for Manufacturing

Roller conveyors help move parts, products, and materials throughout production. MC3 can customize roller conveyors that can withstand manufacturing environments where the conveyor will be exposed to dust, chips, coolant, extreme temperatures, sharp components, and other harsh conditions, as specified by the customer. Incoming lines include those that load, unload, sort, and inspect products, and they can be designed with accumulation zones. Outgoing lines transport items between different stages of production or assembly. When finished, products are sent out for sorting, quality control, packaging, and shipping via outgoing conveyor lines.

Types of Roller Conveyors We Offer

CDLR Conveyor

CDLR Conveyor (Chain Driven Live Roller)

Heavy-Duty Roller Conveyors

Chain-driven live roller (CDLR) conveyors are best for moving large, heavy, flat-bottom items, including dunnage containers, racks, drums, and pallets. It’s possible to control roller speeds and configure CDLR systems for constant-driven or accumulating functionality using slip sleeves. These conveyors can be configured into U-shape for Pack-in/Pack-out and can be outfitted with a variety of options. Visit our CDLR roller conveyor page to learn more.

MDR Conveyor

MDR Conveyor (Motor Driven Roller)

Light- to Medium-Duty Tight Positioning Control Conveyor

A motor-driven roller conveyor is especially useful for keeping items separated via zero-pressure accumulation, making them frequently used in final article inspection. Based on layout and design requirements, MDR conveyors can separate items into multiple zones, and tight positioning controls eliminate the need for pneumatic stops. However, motor-driven rollers are a lighter-duty alternative to chain-driven live roller conveyors.

Line Shaft Conveyor

Line Shaft Conveyor (LS)

Lower-Cost Light-Duty Conveyor

Line shaft roller conveyors are ideal for moving light items (up to 15 lbs./roller) with even load distribution, at speeds from 25 to 120 feet per minute. Because a single motor can drive 100 feet of conveyor length, line shaft conveyors are more energy-efficient and simplify installation and maintenance needs.

It’s possible to customize line shaft conveyors with a variety of features, including accumulation or skewed rollers for shifting items along the lengths of the rollers. They are ideal for food packaging, shipping, distribution, and warehouse applications.

Gravity Conveyor

Simple, Low-Cost Conveyor

Gravity roller conveyors harness gravity to move items along. Using proper decline angles and conveyor lengths, gravity conveyors maintain continual motion with minimal manual labor needs.

Due to its simpler design, gravity roller conveyors are one of the most affordable conveyor types and are suitable for a wide variety of warehousing, distribution, and production facilities.

BDLR Conveyor

BDLR Conveyor (Belt Driven Live Roller)

Long Distance Conveyor

BDLR conveyors feature a belt that drives the rotating rollers from beneath. A lifting roller pushes the drive belt up against the carrying rollers, which carry products in the opposite direction of the belt. Many facilities rely on belt-driven live roller conveyors for many of the same functions as chain-driven types but at a lower cost. BDLR conveyors are better for longer distances and can have zones, but they are not accumulating.

Customization Options

MC3 offers a multitude of customization options for MDR conveyors, line shaft conveyors, and CDLR conveyors:

Accumulating or constant-driven
Roller width diameter: 1.9″, 2.5″, 3.5″, 4.0″, or 5″
Effective width from 3″ to 120″
Additional roller conveyor features: zones, pneumatic pop-up stops, lift and locates, and transfer stations

Unlike the above conveyors, BDLR conveyors are not accumulating. However, we can add zones to custom BDLR conveyors.

Considerations When Choosing Roller Conveyors

Size & Weight of Parts:

The primary consideration is product specs for the type of products you wish to convey. These specifications will determine the dimensions of the rollers, frames, and other conveyor components.

Layout:

Space efficiency and how materials route through a facility are also very important when adapting roller conveyor systems to your space.

Loading/Unloading Process:

Product shape, quantity, size, and weight all affect loading and unloading functions and thus the design of your custom roller conveyors. For example, forklifts require guiding guards, and robots need markers for their vision systems.

Desired Throughput:

Throughput, or total conveyance cycle time, is another important consideration. The conveyor you choose should be able to accommodate this throughput.

Shifting, Traversing, or Diverting:

Consider whether the product needs to shift, traverse, or divert on the conveyor. For example, pneumatically actuated transfer mechanisms can be built into the conveyor to shift or traverse.

Number of Stops:

Pneumatic stops are built to divide conveyor lines by stopping products at specific points along the conveyor.

Conveying System Safety:

MC3’s conveyor systems meet all applicable technical and safety standards, including:

CSA Standards:

CSA-Z432:23 ‘Safeguarding of Machinery’
CSA 22.2 No. 301-16 ‘Industrial Electrical Machinery’

ISO Standards:

ISO 13849-1 ‘Safety of machinery – Safety-related parts of control systems – Part 1: General principles for design’
ISO 13854 ‘Safety of machinery — Minimum gaps to avoid crushing of parts of the human body’
ISO 13855 ‘Safety of machinery – Positioning of Safeguards with respect to the approach speeds of parts of the human body’
ISO 13857 ‘Safety distances to prevent hazard zones being reached by upper and lower limbs’

Configure Your Roller Conveyors with MC3

MC3 Manufacturing is an industry leader in robust CDLR, MDR, BDLR, gravity, and line shaft conveyor systems. We provide total conveyance solutions for material handling, chip and scrap systems, filtration conveyors, and custom fabrication services. Our experienced engineers can create roller conveyors for an extensive range of layouts, material handling functions, and other design considerations.

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