We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
  • TOPICS
    • Design
    • Manufacturing
    • Applications
    • Components
    • Industry
    • MRO
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Departments
    • Archives
    • Subscribe
    • Advertise
  • NEWSLETTER
  • VIDEO
    • Power Transmission Engineering TV
  • BLOGS
    • Revolutions
    • Editors Choice
    • Motor Matters with George Holling
    • Bearings with Norm
  • BUYER'S GUIDE
  • NEWS and EVENTS
    • Product News
    • Industry News
    • Events
  • Advertising
    • Brand Awareness
      • Print: Display Advertising
      • Print: Engineering Showcase
      • Online: Web Banners & Keyword Banners
      • Online: Sponsored Content (Native Advertising)
      • E-mail: Custom, White Papers & Webinars
      • Email: Sponsored Content (Native Advertising)
    • Response & Lead Generation
      • E-Mail: Sponsored Content (Native Advertising)
      • E-mail: Newsletters
      • E-mail: Custom, White Papers & Webinars
      • Online: Buyers Guide
      • Online: Sponsored Content (Native Advertising)
    • Print
      • Print: Display Advertising
      • Print: Engineering Showcase
      • Print: IMTS/Hannover Messe USA Showstoppers (September 2022)
      • Print: Buyers Guide
      • Print: Engineering sMart
      • Print: Specifications
    • Online
      • Online: Web Banners and Keyword Banners
      • Online: Buyers Guide
      • Online: Sponsored Content (Native Advertising)
      • Online: Specifications
    • E-Mail
      • E-mail: Newsletters
      • E-mail: Custom, White Papers & Webinars
      • E-mail: Sponsored Content (Native Advertising)
      • E-mail: Specifications
    • Special Promotions
      • Print: Engineering Showcase
      • Print: Showstoppers(IMTS/Hannover Messe USA)
      • Print: Buyers Guide
      • Print: Engineering sMart
  • Contact Us
  • AGMA
    • Membership
    • Events
    • Education
    • Emerging Technology
    • AGMA Media
      • Gear Technology
      • Gear Technology India
    • Standards
Subscribe
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Home » Blogs » Editors Choice » Nord Drivesystems Optimizes Baggage Handling System

Editors Choice
Editors Choice RSS FeedRSS

Design / Components / MRO / Gear Design / Geometry / Life / Power / Specification / Actuators / Drive Systems / Drives / Gear Drives / Gearboxes / Sensors / Maintenance

Nord Drivesystems Optimizes Baggage Handling System

February 1, 2018
No Comments
||
One baggage handling system OEM came to greatly appreciate certain features of the Nord Drivesystems products they had chosen to include: encoder connectivity, positioning capability, and plug-in connectors that ensure fast and safe installation and commissioning. In addition, versatile interfaces enable efficient networking and remote monitoring of the devices in the field as well as the use of drives as distributed I/O nodes. On top of that, they were able to benefit from a variant reduction that greatly simplified spare parts management.

Though passenger numbers and luggage volume at Victoria Airport in British Columbia, Canada, are nowhere near the numbers at large international hubs, it was exactly for this reason that the baggage handling system (BHS) posed major challenges to the handling system OEM. This airport did not have a lot of room to accommodate all the usual modules – from check-in through security screening to sorting. The airport company commissioned Glidepath, a manufacturer specializing in baggage conveying, parcel sorting, and freight logistics technology.



(Luggage is screened before it can be admitted onto a plane. Photos courtesy of Nord.) 

The new handling system has a capacity of 750 pieces of luggage per hour. "The baggage handling system is made up of 85 conveyors with a total length of some 250 m," says Jason Williams, project engineer at Glidepath. "It comprises two in-line screening CT machines. It has two decision points for sortation, and it has two separate infeed lines. It has four-way sorters, spiral power curves, bag alignment devices, a luffing conveyor, and Glidepath’s proprietary ploughs and power curves."

All drive tasks are carried out by IE4 AC vector drives from Nord. Each drive unit consists of an IE4 permanent-magnet synchronous motor, a motor-mounted Nordac Flex frequency inverter, and a two-stage gearbox. The hollow shaft gearboxes are secured on the drive axis with a Gripmaxx bushing. This attachment ensures safe, easy-maintenance fitting without keys. The drive systems achieve excellent efficiencies even in the partial load range and at low speeds. They therefore pay for their initial cost within a few years or even only months, and total expenses over the product lifespan are significantly reduced. The frequency inverters are configured exactly to Glidepath’s specifications – with plug-in connectors for power, communications, encoders, and sensors. They feature an internal EtherNet/IP interface and are designed for easy feed-through installation.



(Nord AC vector drives consisting of an energy-efficient geared motor and a distributed frequency inverter power the conveyor modules.) 

The pluggable drives saved Glidepath a lot of time during installation and commissioning. The coded connectors enable speedy, error-free networking. Williams appreciates the versatile interfaces: "Thanks to the field I/O capability of the Nord drives, we were able to connect the majority of our field devices directly to the frequency inverters." Featuring Industrial Ethernet communications, the drives enable not only remote monitoring and control of all drive axes, but also seamless monitoring of connected sensors and actuators. For Williams, this was a crucial factor: "The real advantage here is the drives support high-speed Ethernet, which allows for reliable bag tracking on our system."

The drive systems take on various tasks at the conveyor modules. They move luggage at different speeds from one belt to the next. They ensure accurate height adjustment when conveying diagonally. Glidepath only came to realize the full potential of the integrated positioning function of Nordac Flex inverters once the drives were commissioned. As they gathered parameters for various applications, Nord engineers soon found that the positioning function was the optimal solution for the luggage sorters. "On our four-way sorters, we took advantage of the Nord positioning system. We are very happy with the result."

For more information:

Nord Drivesystems

Phone: (608) 849-7300

www.nord.com

 

Post a comment to this article

Report Abusive Comment

Free Power Transmission Engineering Subscriptions
Subscribe
Free Power Transmission Engineering Subscriptions
Subscribe
FEATURED VIDEO
  • Mayr Intelligent Brake Monitoring
May 6, 2022
RECOMMENDED
  • The Flexibility Factor

    April 12, 2022
    Huco2.jpg
  • Rapid Advancement at Automate 2022

    April 12, 2022
    Depositphotos_204041702_XL.jpg
  • Breaking the 4th Industrial Wall

    April 12, 2022
    Depositphotos_56883369_XL.jpg
  • The Extreme Ends of Turbine Condition Monitoring

    May 6, 2022
    wind farm1.jpg
  • LogiMat 2022 Offers Motion Control and Robotic Technologies

    April 18, 2022
    Logi1.jpg
  • The Extreme Ends of Turbine Condition Monitoring

    May 6, 2022
    wind farm1.jpg
  • LogiMat 2022 Offers Motion Control and Robotic Technologies

    April 18, 2022
    Logi1.jpg
  • The Flexibility Factor

    April 12, 2022
    Huco2.jpg
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • Contribute
  • Gear Technology
Powered byAGMA
Copyright © 2022 Power Transmission Engineering
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact