Conveyor 101: What is a Traffic Cop?

Welcome to the Nercon Conveyor’s Conveyor 101 Series – where we explain the basics of conveyor efficiency.

What is a Traffic Cop?

The Traffic Cop is a mechanical product integration solution. No electrical controls or photo eyes are required for the package merging process. This device has been engineered to handle bags, boxes and cases.

In a busy production facility, conveyors are only as effective as the systems that direct traffic between them. Think of certain conveyor components as the traffic cops of your production line. Just as a traffic cop controls the flow of vehicles through a busy intersection, these components regulate the speed, direction, and distribution of products moving through your facility. Without them, bottlenecks form, products collide, and the entire line slows to a halt. Nercon designs conveyor systems with smart, built-in product-handling components, ensuring your line keeps moving efficiently from start to finish — no gridlock required.

The Traffic Cop directs packages either in slugs or one at a time from two lanes into one lane by using a cam that controls a paddle for each lane. As packages on each of two lanes reach the device, the unlocked paddle allows the first group to travel freely, while the other group is held up by the locked paddle. When the first group is released from the paddle, the cam releases the other paddle, allowing that group of packages to move. The Traffic Cop switches between slugs or individual packages when the gap is created.

Video on Traffic Cops from Nercon Conveyors

This merging conveyor solution is best suited for slow- or moderate-speed conveyor lines. It requires a stopping motion for the package line and also back pressure. 

Integrating a Traffic Cop into a Conveyor System

Building a conveyor system is like designing a road network. Without the right traffic controls, everything comes to a standstill. Integrating diverters, merges, and transfers into your conveyor layout starts with mapping your product flow from start to finish. Where do products need to change direction? Where do multiple lines converge into one? Where does spacing or speed need to be adjusted before the next machine?

Once those decision points are identified, the right components can be placed to keep products moving smoothly and safely. Nercon approaches every system this way: looking at the full picture before specifying a single component. The result is a conveyor system that routs the right product to the right place at the right time, every time.

 

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