Major subcategories of transport equipment:
Wheel Conveyor
Roller Conveyor
- May be powered (or live) or nonpowered (or gravity
- Materials must have a rigid riding surface
- Minimum of three rollers must support smallest loads at all times
- Tapered rollers on curves used to maintain load orientation
i) Gravity Roller Conveyor
- Alternative to wheel conveyor
- For heavy-duty applications
- Slope for gravity movement depends on load weight
- For accumulating loads
ii) Live (Powered) Roller Conveyor
- Belt or chain driven
- Force-sensitive transmission can be used to disengage rollers for accumulation
- For accumulating loads and merging/sorting operations
- Provides limited incline movement capabilities
Chain Conveyor
- Uses one or more endless chains on which loads are carried directly
- Parallel chain configuration used to transport pallets
- Vertical chain conveyor used for continuous high-frequency vertical transfers
- Uses discretely spaced slats connected to a chain
- Unit being transported retains its position (like a belt conveyor)
- Orientation and placement of the load is controlled
- Used for heavy loads or loads that might damage a belt
- Bottling and canning plants use flat chain or slat conveyors because of wet conditions, temperature, and cleanliness requirements
There is also this tilt slat conveyor that is used for sortation
- For transporting light- and medium-weight loads between operations, departments, levels, and buildings - When an incline or decline is required
- Provides considerable control over the orientation and placement of the load.
- No smooth accumulation, merging, and sorting on the belt
-The belt is roller or slider bed supported; the slider bed is used for small and irregularly shaped items
- A steel belt and either a magnetic slider bed or a magnetic pulley is used
- To transport ferrous materials vertically, upside down, and around corners
- Used to move bulk materials in a vertical or inclined path - Buckets are attached to a cable, chain, or belt
- Buckets are automatically unloaded at the end of the conveyor run
- Vibrates at a relatively high frequency and small amplitude in order to convey individual units of products or bulk material
- Can be used to convey almost all granular, free-flowing materials
- Consists of a tube or U-shaped stationary trough through which a shaft-mounted helix revolves to push loose material forward in a horizontal or inclined direction
- One of the most widely used conveyors in the processing industry
- Many applications in agricultural and chemical processing
- Uses towline to provide power to wheeled carriers such as trucks, dollies, or carts that move along the floor - Used for fixed-path travel of carriers (each of which has variable path capabilities when disengaged from the towline)
- Towline can be located either overhead, flush with the floor, or in the floor
- Selector-pin or pusher-dog arrangements can be used to allow automatic switching (power or spur lines)
- Generally used when long distance and high frequency moves are required
Trolley/Overhead chain Conveyor
- Uses a series of trolleys supported from or within an overhead track - Trolleys are equally spaced in a closed loop path and are suspended from a chain
- Carriers are used to carry multiple units of product
- Does not provide for accumulation
- Commonly used in processing, assembly, packaging, and storage operations
- Similar to trolley conveyor due to use of discretely spaced carriers transported by an overhead chain; however, the power-and-free conveyor uses two tracks: one powered and the other nonpowered (or free) - Carriers can be disengaged from the power chain and accumulated or switched onto spurs
2) Subcategories of Cranes:
- Operates like an arm in a work area, where it can function as a manipulator for positioning tasks
- A hoist is attached to the arm for lifting
- Arm mounted on the wall or attached to a floor mounted support
- Arm can rotate 360°
- The hoist can move along the arm
- Bridge mounted on tracks that are located on opposite walls of the facility
- Enables three-dimensional handling
- Top riding (heavier loads) or underhung (more versatile) versions of the crane
- Underhung crane can transfer loads and interface with other Material Handling System
- Similar to a bridge crane except that it is floor supported at one or both ends instead of overhead (wall) supported - Used to span a smaller portion of the work area as compared to a bridge crane
- The supports can be fixed in position or they can travel on runways
- Can be used outdoors when "floor" supported at both ends
- Similar to a bridge crane except that, instead of a hoist, it uses a mast with forks or a platform to handle unit loads
- Considered "fork trucks on a rail"
- Used for storing and retrieving unit loads in storage racks, especially in high-rise applications in which the racks are more than 50 feet high
- Can be controlled remotely or by an operator in a cab on the mast
- Can be rack supported
Hand Truck
- Load tilted during travel
ii) Dolly
- 3 or more wheeled hand truck with a flat platform
- Since it has no handles, the load is used for pushing
- 4 wheels or more hand truck with handles for pushing or hitches for pulling
- Manual lifting and/or travel 
- Powered lifting and/or travel
- Operator walks next to truck
- Operator can ride on truckCounter-balanced forklift truck (CBFLT)
- 8-10 ft. minimum aisle width requirement - Load rests on the outrigger arms during transport, but a pantograph (scissors) mechanism is used for reaching, thereby eliminating the need to straddle the load during stacking
- Reaching capability enables the use of shorter outrigger arms (arms > 1/2 load depth)
- Counterbalance of the truck used to support the load when it extends beyond the outrigger arms
- Typically has forks to allow the truck to be used for pallet stacking and to support a pallet during less-than-pallet-load picking
- "Belly switch" used for operator safety during picking
- Free path truck
- Forks mounted perpendicular to direction of travel to allow for side loading and straddle load support
- 5-6 ft. minimum aisle width requirement
- Can be used to handle greater-than-pallet-size loads (e.g., bar stock)
Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV)
- Powered driverless trolleys
- guided by following an under-floor wire which carries an electric signal or optically following a painted or plastic tap track laid on the floor
- Suitable for frequent movement on set routes
