An ice cream manufacturer required a timing screw lane combiner capable of accepting four lanes of full, capped 1-pint ice cream containers and discharging them as two lanes in a consistent alternating upright/inverted pattern. The application, referred to as a 4:2 dual combiner, received two lanes of right-side-up containers and two lanes of upside-down containers from two conveyors operating at a combined throughput of 200 containers per minute.
To meet these requirements, Morrison Container Handling Solutions engineered a custom timing screw lane combiner that accepted four infeed lanes and combined them into two discharge lanes with a repeatable alternating up/down pattern.
Each timing screw accepted one lane of upright containers and one lane of inverted containers before merging them into the required sequence. By positively controlling each container throughout the combining process, the system consistently discharged the alternating pattern required by the downstream equipment.
The design also incorporated guide rails throughout the timing screw and lane-combining areas to support smooth product transfer. Product backlog within each infeed lane provided the continuous supply of containers needed to maintain the alternating discharge pattern.
Because the system operated in a dairy processing environment, Morrison constructed the timing screw lane combiner using stainless steel components suitable IP66-rated high-pressure caustic washdown.
The system utilized two 36-inch-long, 5-inch outside diameter UHMW timing screws with cantilevered discharge sections to maintain positive container control through the combining process. An overhead mounting frame was designed to integrate with the customer’s existing conveyor system while minimizing the machine footprint.
Power was provided by stainless steel 56C washdown inverter-duty motor reducers rated at ½ HP, 1,800 RPM, 480 VAC, delivering reliable performance in demanding washdown environments.
The completed timing screw lane combiner accepted four lanes of product from two conveyors operating at a combined throughput of 200 containers per minute. By maintaining positive container control throughout the combining process, the system consistently discharged two lanes with the required alternating upright/inverted container pattern for downstream packaging operations.
Learn more about Morrison’s custom timing screw lane combiners and how they can simplify complex container handling applications.
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