Palletization

Factory Mutual Corner Test. This is a large-scale comer test used to test building products (18—20). The test rig consists of three sides of a cube. The two walls are 15.24 and 11.58 m by 7.62 m tall. The ceiling is 9.14 x 15.24 m. The product to be tested is mounted on the walls and ceilings ia a manner consistent with the iatended use. The fire source is a 340 kg stack of wood pallets located ia the corner. In order to pass the test, no flame can propagate to any extremity of the walls or ceiling. The Factory Mutual flammabiHty apparatus is proposed to replace this test for certain appHcations (21). 

Rotary Kiln Incinerators. The rotary kiln has been used to incinerate a large variety of Hquid and soHd industrial wastes. Any Hquid capable of being atomized by steam or air can be incinerated, as well as heavy tars, sludges, pallets, and filter cakes. This abiUty to accept diverse feeds is the outstanding feature of the rotary kiln and, therefore, this type of incinerator is often selected by the chemical and waste treatment industries. 

A typical up-draft sinter machine (Fig. 2) has an endless belt of malleable iron pallets with grate bottoms upon which the charge is evenly spread. Beneath the pallets, wind boxes produce an up-draft of air through the charge. At the feed end, an ignition box starts the roasting. The combustion products, mostly SO2 and SO, are collected, usually for sulfuric acid production (see Sulfuric acid and sulfur trioxide). 

Mercury spills should be cleaned up immediately by use of a special vacuum cleaner. The area should then be washed with a dilute calcium sulfide solution. Small quantities of mercury can be picked up by mixing with copper metal granules or powder, or with zinc granules or powder. To avoid or minimize spills, some plants use steel trays as pallets so that a spih, whether of mercury or a mercury compound, is contained on the steel tray. 

Mica is shipped by tmck (20.4 t max) or railroad (27.2 t max). Bulk tmckloads and rail shipments, such as palletizing, bagging, and shrink- or stretch-wrappiag, are made to avoid extra costs. Mica is usually palletized and shrink- or stretch-wrapped for shipment. 

As with SMC, appHcations are limited to high volume because of the capital investment in equipment and tooling. Thermoset compression molders require additional heating and material Handling equipment to adapt their process to thermoplastic sheet fabrication. AppHcations include automotive bumper beams, load floors, radiator supports, battery trays, and package shelves. Chair sheUs, military containers, material Handling pallets, trays, and concrete foaming pans are also produced. 

Economic Aspects. Table 13 summarizes prices and shipping methods for the principal borate products as of January 1991. Within the United States most shipments are by rail, and additional charges are made for spHt cars, tmck shipments, palletized shipments, etc. Prices are fob Southern California. In general, the borates are stable soHds and require no special handling techniques with the possible exception of dust collection. 

Shelves, bins, pallets, hand trucks Construction tools and equipment... 

Empty bags are ordinarily shipped compressed (to obtain high load density) and on pallets, the most common of which measure 1220 by 1065 mm (48 by 42 in), 1220 by 1015 mm (48 by 40 in), and 1270 by 1115 mm (50 by 44 in). The number of empty bags per pallet varies with size, 1500 to 2000 being common. A typical tilled pallet weighs about 907 kg (2000 lb). Pallet loads are often triple-tiered in warehouses. 

Pallet size FiUed-bag face width FiUed-hag face length Bags per tier (pattern)... 

Wire-bound wood boxes (typical loads, 1 to 2 tons) have limited use for chemical produc ts. The box body, consisting of thin wooden slats held in place by steel wire twisted around each at, is fastened to a solid-deck wood pallet. The top also consists of wire-bound wooden pieces. A PE liner protects the product and prevents it from falling through the slats. Disadvantages of the container are the labor needed for setup and the space required for knocked-down boxes. Since manufacturers are usually near sources of hardwood, shipping costs to users may be high lead times of 3 to 4 weeks are common. 

It kg Avg Instant oz gr Package setup, supply FiUing- machine operators Package closers PaUetizers, loaders, attendants Package conveyorized Automatic palletizing Filling machine System ... 

A robot often can be economically justified when the task of doing a certain packaging operation is an yzed in detail. For example, the palletizing of the fiber drums can be accomplished by human labor but work aids would be necessaiy in order to have acceptable production rates, reasonable operator fatigue, and a safe working environment. When the work aids are considered and their cost determined, the additional cost for providing robot capability is often of a small magnitude, which justifies its use to replace human labor. 

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