The Satellite Review Magazine The Satellite Review Magazine Vol 3 | Page 18

INTEGRATED CONDUCTOR RAIL
SYSTEMS FOR AS/RS

By Rod Griffith, Director of Marketing, Conductix- Wampfler
Whether for pallets, small parts or
special applications with high or low
inventory turnover, it is hard to imagine
a dynamic, highly available “low cost
per pick” fully automated warehouse
without automated storage and retrieval
units (AS/RS units). The best way to
power and control AS/RS equipment
is to use reliable and efficient conductor rails to supply electric energy as
well as to pass control signals. These
systems can also be set up for efficient
and ecological energy recovery. Most
recently, the best conductor bar systems
are packaged in an integrated housing.
One type of integrated package is called
“ProShell” made by Conductix-Wampfler. This type of support profile can
integrate several conductor rails into a
consolidated package while taking into
account other needs of planners and
installers.
Despite extensive advance planning,
structural modifications always crop
up during an AS/RS installation. These
present the installer with unexpected
challenges that require quick solutions
while at the same time maintaining
the existing schedule and budget. For
example, a typical installation situation would be an unexpected offset in
the specified positions of the stands or
uprights. “In this case, the installer has
an advantage if the connection of conductor rail to AS/RS system is not fixed,
but could occur at any point along the
profile, even near connectors,” explains
Dieter Seidel, Conductix-Wampfler
Global Product Manager for conductor
rails.
It is real-life problems such as these that
encouraged the move to place separate
conductor rails into a rigid shell

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The Satellite Review

package. Packaged systems like “ProShell” make the mechanical integration
of conductor-rail systems, whether into
a new or existing installation, much less
complex while at the same time ensuring the correct electrical design. Having
this flexibility makes the work of both
installers and planners considerably easier. The system allows for connections
at virtually any point along the profile
so offsetting the connection to the shelf
or floor upright presents no problems.
“The maximum nominal suspension
interval of 3.2 meters also reduces
the number of mounting brackets or
floor-mounted uprights needed,” emphasized Seidel. Floor-mounted system
brackets that permit fast height adjustments with their economical single-hole
grid or elongated hole profiles are also a
useful addition.
At the heart of the concept is a sheetsteel support profile into which
field-proven conductor rails are installed. This not only protects the power
rails but also permits wider suspension
intervals and installation directly on the
rack uprights using universal system
brackets. Optical positioning bar code
holders can also be fitted to the support
profile with clamping units. “Systems
like ‘ProShell’ provide a complete system that gives the customer the highest
degree of flexibility with unchanged mechanical interfaces. It does so in a very
compact design that takes into account
the trend for four- or five-pole systems
with new control concepts,” says Seidel.
By using different conductor rails and
different conductor materials, such as
steel, copper or aluminum, it is possible to cover a wide range of electrical
specifications (10 A to 400 A) with the

same system while maintaining the
same installation space and mechanical
interfaces. System engineers can select
the number of poles and cross sections
required. Larger conductor-rail cross
sections with low resistance values and
thus low volt