Achieving stable and dynamic pallet movement with Hytrol's pallet conveyor equipment.
Pallets form the backbone of product distribution, but efficiently receiving, storing, building, breaking, and loading units can be a challenging hurdle for many warehouses and distribution centers.
When demand grows and managing pallets becomes a complex process, many operators find that their fleet of lift trucks can’t keep up. This results in slower movement across the facility and inconsistent gaps at each stage of pallet processing. At this point, automation should be the conversation that is being brought to the table.
Hytrol’s pallet handling equipment are designed around that reality: moving pallets and other heavy-duty loads on chains and rollers in a way that protects product, maintains throughput, and scales proportionally with demand.
Drag Chain Pallet Conveyor
Designed to handle large and heavy pallet loads
Heavy-duty drag chain conveyors are a recommended option when pallets are overweight, have uneven bottoms, or aren’t ideal for typical roller conveyor solutions. Instead of relying on rollers to support the load, chains directly support and pull the pallet along, making this pallet conveyor style suited for difficult load characteristics and facility conditions.
Ideal Use Cases
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- Heavy Pallets and High-Load Transport
Drag chain is commonly used when pallet weights push the limits of roller-based systems or a more direct drive method is needed. Because the chains carry the load directly, movement remains stable and predictable throughout transport.
- Uneven Pallet Bottoms
Pallets with uneven bottoms can hang up on rollers or create inconsistent starts and stops that slow throughput. Drag chain reduces that risk by maintaining continuous chain engagement under the load so the pallet moves as intended.
- Harsh Environments and Facility Conditions
In areas where moisture, residue, or oil is part of the daily operation, drag chain is often chosen because it’s designed to handle harsher conditions. That makes it a practical option for zones where traction and cleanliness challenges can cause problems for other conveyor types. Drag chain is also ideal in industrial zones where temperatures can run high or fluctuate more than typical warehouses. If an area is hard on equipment, a drag chain solution can help maintain consistent and mechanically reliable pallet movement while enduring environmental factors.
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- Transport in Manufacturing
In manufacturing, drag chain can move heavy loads between workstations and process steps where stable flow is critical on assembly or production lines. Drag chain equipment reduces lift-truck dependency in often custom manufacturing steps and helps keep material movement repeatable to maintain optimal output.
- Staging, Prepping, Shipping, and Receiving Transitions
Drag chain lanes are a strong fit at prepping, staging, and shipping/receiving transitions where pallets need to move safely and consistently to the next step. When downstream equipment like stretch wrappers, palletizers, or outbound staging can’t always accept pallets immediately, buffering zones help keep clean queues that keep pallets ready without constant operator intervention.
Hytrol Features
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Heavy-Duty Load Handling
Drag chain conveyors are built for tough pallet applications where weight is the main constraint. Hytrol's configurations can handle loads up to 6,000 lbs., a clear choice when large and heavy loads exceed the limits of typical gravity conveyor equipment
- Bi-Directional Movement
Hytrol's drag chain solutions offer reversible operation. This allows pallets to travel in either direction, which can simplify a conveyor layout and reduce the need for additional transfer or staging points. This flexibility is especially helpful in tighter facility footprints where routing options are limited.
- Accumulation Logic
Drag chain solutions can integrate with Hytrol's EZLogic system for accumulation, adding sensing and discrete logic control for pallet flow. This offers a practical way to build controlled queues and releases, avoiding bottlenecks and timing errors.
Chain Driven Live Roller (CLDR) Pallet Conveyor
Controlled and powered pallet movement for slotting and staging
Chain driven live roller (CDLR) conveyors transport or accumulate pallets and other unit loads using powered rollers driven by a chain. That chain/roller design delivers strong traction for heavy loads, ideal when consistent speed, positioning, and controlled flow are imperative in a pallet line.
Ideal Use Cases
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Powered Pallet Transport
CDLR is commonly used as a powered connection in-between inbound staging, storage, and outbound processing. It’s a strong choice when steady, repeatable movement is required without relying on lift trucks for every transfer.
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Controlled Accumulation
In many facilities, pallets need to queue before downstream steps like wrapping or dock loading. CDLR provides controlled accumulation to help maintain consistent gaps between pallets and reduces the stop-and-go movement that can happen in manual staging.
- Pallet Building and Breaking
CDLR lines are often used to bring pallets into build/break areas where operators or automation need predictable positioning. The powered rollers help keep pallets moving at a consistent pace, which supports safer and more organized pallet handling.
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Transfers, Merges, and Line Diverts
CDLR is frequently paired with transfers and other accessories to connect conveyor paths and align pallets into the correct lane. This is especially useful when a pallet line needs to merge flows from multiple areas or route pallets to different destinations.
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Stable Movement
CDLR can move heavy loads along assembly or packaging lines where consistent flow is important. It supports paced movement through work zones, helping reduce product handling variability and limiting pallet drift. The chain-driven roller design provides strong traction that helps keep heavy loads stable during transport. This can reduce shifting and improve load control, which is valuable for protecting product and maintaining consistent pallet flow.
Hytrol Features
- Traction and Load Stability
The chain-driven roller design provides excellent traction, helping pallets stay stable during both transport and accumulation. This reduces load shifting and keeps pallet flow consistent through high-traffic zones.
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Additional Accessories
Hytrol offers optional accessories like guard rails, transfers, push button stations, and low-setting rollers to better match the application. These add-ons help fine-tune safety, routing, and ergonomics for any operation.
- Accumulation Logic
With Hytrol's EZLogic capability, CDLR can extend sensing and control across accumulated zones for more predictable release and spacing. This adds smart zoned operation without relying on additional equipment or manual processing.
EZLogic and Pallet Movement
Enable smart pallet transportation control with Hytrol's EZLogic system
When pallet flow needs to stop, queue, and release without stopgaps or excessive manual touchpoints, Hytrol's EZLogic acts as the traffic officer that ensures zones move smoothly.
EZLogic is a zero-pressure accumulation control device that uses photo eye sensing and real-time placement logic to meter pallet movement.
Ideal Use Cases
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Pallet Buffering
EZLogic is a strong fit when pallets are stacking up for building/breaking, stretch wrapping, labeling, or shipping. EZLogic accumulation has pallets line up without pushing into each other, then releases it in a controlled way when capacity opens up. This creates a pipeline of pallets to be processed, avoiding a situation in which orders are backed up because downstream operations can't keep up.
- Predictable Spacing
EZLogic supports operational modes (including singulation and slug concepts) to manage how product moves and releases through zones. This flexibility can match pallet flow to what’s actually happening downstream, so the pallet line can adjust on the fly to demand or operational fluctuations.
- Line Visibility
Real-time monitoring and reporting are a standout capability of the EZLogic system, with it's ability to be integrated cleanly with WMS and ERP platforms. Valuable data, such as identifying where pallet traffic slows, where queues build, and what zones might be facing the most significant constraints, can be captured. By extension, this can give forecasting a sharper edge as movement data can assist in predicting busy seasons or high demand orders.
Hytrol Features
- Field Device Compatibility
EZLogic 4.0 supports built-in I/O ports intended to control field devices like pushbuttons, selector switches, solenoids, pilot lights, and relays. This helps ease-of-installation during integration projects or retrofits by weaving EZLogic modules into the current (and future) field device ecosystem setup.
- Configuration Options
EZLogic 4.0 is built around distributed dual-zone controllers and a SmartWire-DT communications approach, with options like PLC interfacing and module diagnostics. Bluetooth configuration is also available, which can make setup and ongoing adjustments easier for the operator.
- No Pneumatics Required
EZLogic trades complex pneumatic logic components for a mix of real-world sensing data and accumulation logic. This results in accurate positioning, pallet flow, and visibility, based on EZLogic intelligence rather than utilizing a more intricate pneumatic setup.
Watch a CHC system project in which EZLogic was integrated
Planning on implementing pallet conveyor in your warehouse?
CHC has significant experience in engineering successful automation systems with Hytrol conveyor equipment. If you are considering any of the pallet conveyor options explained above, send CHC a message and our team will start the process on transforming your system idea into reality.
Or visit Hytrol's website and view the full lineup of conveyor solutions.