Many conveyors used in filling and packaging lines enable the adaption of product control devices, such
as product stops, pushers and clamps that can be used to modify the flow of conveyed products. Most
conveyors bring these devices in from the side or even over the top, such as would be found on belt
conveyors, plastic link conveyors or table-top chain conveyors. Side-mounted devices are limited in
their flexibility to control product flow because of their side-only mounting locations, and top-mounted
devices are considered even less desirable by manufacturers because of safety and product
contamination concerns.
Conveyors equipped with Slip-Torque function differently. They utilize the space between rollers to
allow these devices to be mounted below the surface, reaching up between the rollers to effect more
precise and flexible product motion control, without interfering with the line flow.
Product control devices can be more specifically located on conveyors equipped with Slip-Torque
compared to conventional systems, and bring a much higher level of positioning accuracy with more
positive product handling. Devices like: a) Blade stops and brakes that enable on-demand stops and
starts of production flow; b) Lift-and-transfer, lift-and-rotate, side transfer and turntable devices are
used to provide a smooth and accurate product transfer at a 90-degree angle to the original transport
direction, or to change the orientation of products on the conveyor; c) Product positioners accurately
position products for a particular process; d) Pushers to push products perpendicularly from one
conveyor traffic lane to another traveling in the same or the opposite direction, into or out of operator
workstations or off of the conveyor system completely; and e) Single-row combiners efficiently combine
food products in multiple lanes into one single row.