Slider beds are like roller beds; they help you transport and accumulate products.
They come in handy for assembly, sorting, inspection, and packing products. But there are some key differences between them and that also means their application differs.
To choose between a roller bed or slider bed, you'll have to consider:
- The type of product you're working with: Roller beds are ideal for regularly shaped and weighted boxes, slider beds are ideal for the opposite
- The angle of the bed: For incline, use a roller bed, for decline, use slider beds; the lower the friction between the belt and rollers, the more energy efficient
- Presence of a scan tunnel: If you have a scan tunnel and want high scan rates, use slider beds
In this post, we'll be diving deeper into slider beds.
Why Slider Beds Are Better Than Roller Beds in Specific Applications
Slider beds are guides used to improve the life and performance of the diverse types of timing belts. Timing belts are normally used in conveying applications that require accurate placement and/or positioning.
With large sheets of metal that provide support under the belt slides, slider beds are more stable and give smooth transport of items in a slider belt conveyor. The downside is that this causes more friction with the belt and thus requires more energy to run.
Roller beds, on the other hand, have bed rollers under the belt (hence the name) that reduce friction, so it requires fewer horsepower and fewer drives to do the same amount of work.
Whatever your choice for your unique application may be, at Slideways, we provide much more efficient, low-friction UHMW-PE guides that are specifically designed for covered and profiled timing belt conveying applications.
These low-friction slider beds produce much less wear and tear on conveyor belts, allowing for more efficient conveying operations for increased throughput and decreased costs.
Our high-performance UHMW-PE slider beds, which are the backbone of your slider bed conveyor system, offer:
- Reliable and low-cost operation
- Longer functional life
- Low maintenance
- Available for K, KC, G, GC, F, and FC style belts in most standard widths
To learn more about our low-friction slider beds, download our catalog, or contact our slide bed experts here at Slideways.
