Wedge Conveyors 101

What Is a Wedge Conveyor?

A wedge conveyor, also known as an elevator conveyor, is a specialized material handling system designed to move products between the production floor and other levels of your facility. They are most often found in distribution centers and warehouses and can be easily integrated with existing material handling systems because of their flexibility and ability to handle high-capacity projects. Wedge conveyors provide smooth, continuous transport of packages and products throughout your facility, making them an essential component in many material handling operations.

Benefits of Wedge Conveyors

Manufacturers can face many challenges, including the logistics of moving products around their facility. Vertical conveyors, including wedge conveyors, are a valuable tool in facilities where multiple elevations are used in production processes.

How Does a Wedge Conveyor Work?

Span Tech’s Wedge Conveyors are designed to provide vertical movement in a durable, compact and all-mechanical design. Products are fed from a horizontal conveyor belt onto the wedge conveyor with about one product length between them, allowing enough space for products to negotiate the curves. As an item reaches the wedge conveyor, two parallel conveyors use urethane gripper chains to wedge the sides of the product from either side. This action lifts or lowers it from the horizontal conveyor onto a receiving conveyor.

Our wedge conveyors with pressure relief can be operated at variable speed ranges and are available in a variety of chain types and widths to accommodate different sizes and shapes of products. There are no computers or logic/software components needed because the almost-silent vertical conveyor system is designed with all-mechanical movement, gripping products on their sides and sending them on their way. Depending on your facility’s needs, you can choose from the standard “positionable” or fully-adjustable wedge conveyor.