Given the complex conveyor requirement, where an overhead conveyor was needed for the e-coat, and a floor conveyor was needed for the Class A top coat, Engineered Conveyors designed a unique system to combine overhead power and free with an immersion lift and an automatic transfer to a floor conveyor system.
Jeff Erridge Maintenance Mgr Meridian Automotive Systems

Meridian Automotive Systems

This unique manufacturing environment requires that a variety of parts be moved through multiple coating processes - an E-coat primer, curing bake and a separate Class A top coat/clear coat system. The E-coat manufacturing processes would be compromised, opening up a myriad of maintenance problems, if accessed from underneath the product. Conversely, parts must move through the Class A finishing system by floor conveyor to minimize potential problems. ECI's challenge was to build a conveyor system that would accommodate these conflicting requirements.

ECI's design solution begins with an engineered "rack" developed by ECI to be a universal carrier that can accommodate a variety of parts and move them through the entire conveyor system. The system first utilizes an overhead Power and Free conveyor and lowerator to guide parts through the E-coat immersion and cure oven. Innovatively, the rack is then automatically transferred to a floor conveyor system, integrated to fluently move it through the Class A top coat/clear system.

After the final inspection on the floor conveyor, the rack is automatically picked up by the Power and Free overhead conveyor and taken to the unload area to repeat the process.