Gravity pallet loading reduces changeover times

Gravity powered, the Lang EcoTower brings automatic pallet loading and unloading within the grasp of every machinist. The system stores pallets in a helical slide arrangement that is compact in size, low maintenance and inexpensive to install. Automatic loading of pallets can more than double productive hours on the machine tool by reducing changeover times between jobs, enabling unmanned operation, and allowing the continuation of machining outside normal factory hours, producing significant cost reductions for each part manufactured. The Eco Tower allows engineers to load a series of pallets onto the helical slide using its powered elevator. Reliable, hardened guide rails in the slide direct the pallets down, ready for picking and loading into the machine. This can either be done manually for small batch runs, or automatically with the Lang handling system. This unit can pick and place pallets in the machine tool, and optionally swivel them through 90º. Repeatability is ensured by the unit’s pneumatic linear axle, while changing the set up to suit different machine tools is accomplished with the simple mechanical controls.