Innovative Lift Drive for the Rack Feeders of the Future

ContiTech has developed a new technology for the lift drive of rack feeders, which it says offers “minimized wear and tear, lower maintenance requirements, and optimized positioning times”. Developed with LTW Intralogistics, a supplier of intralogistics systems, and with sales partner SynchrotechIn high-bay warehouses, this patented system positions goods quickly and precisely as part of the smart factory. At the heart of the development is a Synchrodrive timing belt from ContiTech.

Timing belts won the approval of LTW Intralogistics as an alternative drive concept in rack feeders because cables have a relatively short replacement interval, even with optimally designed lift drives and regular servicing. Even toothed racks and direct drives did not provide the required results in tests. The new technology is based on the principle of the block and pulley – the “block and belt drive” is currently a unique combination of two well-known applications. It has already proven itself in series production, including in deep freeze areas in temperatures as low as 30? below zero.

With a more highly-developed variant of the belt, the Synchrodrive HTD 20M, even higher pallet weights, greater accelerations, and lifting heights of 30m and more are now possible. This is achieved with a distance of 20mm between the teeth, as opposed to 14mm in the past. In the case of very high lifting heights, the high-performance belt features proportionally lower stretching – an advantage for the systems’ key performance indicator. Up to five metric tons can be lifted with the Synchrodrive HTD 20M. The belt is particularly long-lasting, low-maintenance, and does not require lubrication. “It thus meets the requirements of the intralogistics industry, particularly with regard to the payload in combination with the high breakage resistance that is required,” declares Rolf Marwede, head of the Polyurethane-Belt segment in the ContiTech Power Transmission Group.

The Synchrodrive timing belts also make possible cost-effective drive solutions in other applications in linear and transport technology, even under difficult conditions. The belts are made of heavy-duty polyurethane elastomer with steel cord tensile members. ContiTech specifically developed the highly precise production process. The products can be used both in a finite type and in an endlessly welded form.