Material Handling Equipment

Course code: MEng 4102

Aregawi G.(Assistant Professor)

Email: [email protected] Cellphone: +251968925386

March 06, 2025

 CHAPTER 4
Classification of Material Handling
Equipment

4.1 Classification of Material Handling Equipment

4.2 Basic MH Equipment Types & Their Application
Lesson Learning Outcome of chapter 4
On completion of this lesson, the students
will be able to:
 Recognize the different classification of
Materials Handling Equipment (MHE);
 Identify and Select proper Material
Handling Equipment for various Industrial
applications and processes
4.1 Classification of Material Handling Equipment

 Material handling equipment is broadly

classified into four categories.

1) Design features

2) Nature and type of work

3) Working area

4) Movement or motion of materials

 …Classification of Material Handling Equipment
1) Design Features:

• According to design, material handling

equipment classified as:

A. Hoisting equipment

B. Conveying equipment

C. Surface and overhead equipment.

 …Classification of Material Handling Equipment
2) Nature and Type of Work:
• Equipment used for the movement and storage of
materials at site are classified as:
A. Transport Equipment
• Equipment used to move material from one
location to another (e.g., between workplaces,
between a loading dock and a storage area, etc.).
• The major subcategories of transport equipment
are conveyors, cranes, and industrial trucks.
• Material can also be transported manually using
no equipment.
 …Classification of Material Handling Equipment
…….2.Nature and Type of Work:

B. Positioning Equipment
• Equipment used to handle material at a single
location (e.g., to feed and/or manipulate materials
so that are in the correct position for subsequent
handling, machining, transport, or storage).
• Unlike transport equipment, positioning
equipment is usually used for handling at a single
workplace.
• Material can also be positioned manually using no
equipment.
 …Classification of Material Handling Equipment
….. 2.Nature and Type of Work:

C. Unit Load Formation Equipment

• Equipment used to restrict materials so that
they maintain their integrity when handled a
single load during transport and for storage.
• If materials are self-restraining (e.g., a single
part or interlocking parts), then they can be
formed into a unit load with no equipment.
 …Classification of Material Handling Equipment
……2.Nature and Type of Work

D. Storage Equipment
• Equipment used for holding or buffering
materials over a period of time.
• Some storage equipment may include the
transport of materials (e.g., the S/R machines of
an AS/RS, or storage carousels).
• If materials are block stacked directly on the
floor, then no storage equipment is required.
 …Classification of Material Handling Equipment
….. 2.Nature and Type of Work

E. Identification and Control Equipment

• Equipment used to collect and communicate
the information that is used to coordinate the
flow of materials within a facility and between
a facility and its suppliers and customers.
• The identification of materials and associated
control can be performed manually with no
specialized equipment.
 …Classification of Material Handling Equipment
3) Working Area:
In this category, equipment are classified as
A. Unrestricted Area: equipment such as trucks,
tractors, carts etc.., which are restricted to move in
any direction.
B. Restricted Area: Equipment such as gantry cranes,
overhead travelling cranes and stacker cranes,
which are confined to working area.
C. Line Restricted: Equipment such as lifts and
elevators, conveyors, AGV's etc .. Which follows a
continuous specified path for transportation of
materials.
 …Classification of Material Handling Equipment
…….3.Working Area:

D. Position Restricted: Equipment such as job

cranes and other industrial robots which are
fixed units and works in specified areas from its
position.
E. Auxiliary Equipment: Equipment used to
improve the effectiveness of handling such as
unit load carriers, dispatch Equipment,
assembling and securing Equipment.
 …Classification of Material Handling Equipment
4) Movement or Motion of Materials:
According to path of move the equipment are
classified as:
A. Vertical motion (for lifting and lowering)
B. Horizontal motion (for transportation)
C. Combined horizontal and vertical motion
4.2. Basic MH Equipment Types and Their Application

1. Conveyors Material Handling Equipment

Conveyors are used:
 When material is to be moved frequently
between specific points.
 To move materials over a fixed path.
 When there is a sufficient flow volume to
justify the fixed conveyor investment.
1. Conveyors….
Conveyors can be classified in different ways:
 Type of product being handled: unit load or
bulk load.
 Location of the conveyor: in-floor, on-floor, or
overhead.
 Whether loads can accumulate on the conveyor
or no accumulation is possible.
1. Wheel Conveyor
• Uses a series of skatewheels mounted on a shaft
(or axle)
• Spacing of the wheels is dependent on the load
being transported
• Slope for gravity movement depends on load
weight
• More economical than the roller conveyor
• For light-duty applications of Unit load
• Flexible, expandable mobile versions available
1. Wheel Conveyor
2. Roller Conveyor
• Unit + On-Floor + Accumulate
• May be powered (or live) or non-powered (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.
• Parallel roller configuration can be used as a
(roller) pallet conveyor.
2 (a) Gravity Roller Conveyor
• For heavy-duty applications
• Slope (i.e., decline) for gravity movement
depends on load weight
2 (b) 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.
3. Chain Conveyor
• Uses one or more endless chains on which
loads are carried directly.
• Parallel chain configuration used as (chain)
pallet conveyor or as a pop-up device for
sortation.
• Vertical chain conveyor used for continuous
high-frequency vertical transfers, where
material on horizontal platforms attached to
chain link.
Chain Conveyor
4. Flat Belt Conveyor
• 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 load.
• No smooth accumulation, merging, and sorting
on the belt .
Flat belt conveyor
…… Flat Belt Conveyor
• The belt is roller or slider bed supported; the
slider bed is used for small and irregularly
shaped items
• Telescopic boom attachments are available for
trailer loading and unloading, and can include
ventilation to pump conditioned air into the
trailer.
5. Magnetic Belt Conveyor
• 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.
6. Troughed Belt Conveyor
• Used to transport bulk materials.
• When loaded, the belt conforms to the shape of
the troughed rollers and idlers.
7. Bucket Conveyor
• 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.
8. Vibrating Conveyor
• Consists of a trough, bed, or tube.
• 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.
9. Screw Conveyor
• 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, with many applications in
agricultural and chemical processing.
• Straight-tube screw conveyor sometimes referred to as
an “auger feed”
10. Vertical Conveyor
• Used for low-frequency intermittent vertical
transfers a load to different floors and/or
mezzanines.
• Differs from a freight elevator in that it is not
designed or certified to carry people.
• Can be manually or automatically loaded
and/or controlled and can interface with
horizontal conveyors.
….. Vertical Conveyor…
2. Cranes Material Handling Equipment
• General characteristics of cranes:
 Used to move loads over variable (horizontal
and vertical) paths within a restricted area.
 Used when there is insufficient (or
intermittent) flow volume such that the use of a
conveyor cannot be justified.
 Provide more flexibility in movement than
conveyors.
2. Cranes….
 Provide less flexibility in movement than
industrial trucks.
 Loads handled are more varied with respect to
their shape and weight than those handled by a
conveyor.
 Most cranes utilize hoists for vertical
movement, although manipulators can be used
if precise positioning of the load is required.
1. Jib Crane
• Horizontal boom (jib) supported
from a stationary vertical support.
• Hoist can move along the jib and
can be used for lifting.
• Operates like an arm in a work
area, where it can function as a
manipulator for positioning tasks.
• Jib can also be mounted on the
wall.
• Arm can rotate up to 360°.
2. Bridge Crane
• Bridge mounted on tracks
that are located on opposite
walls of the facility.
• Enables three-dimensional
handling.
• Top riding or underhung
versions of the crane.
• Underhung crane can
transfer loads and interface
with other MHS.
3. Gantry Crane
• Single leg, double leg, and mobile types of gantry
cranes.
• 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.
…. Gantry Crane
4. Stacker Crane
• 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.
….. Stacker Crane
3. Industrial Trucks Material Handling Equipment
• Industrial trucks are trucks that are not licensed
to travel on public roads—“commercial trucks”
are licensed to travel on public roads.
• Industrial trucks are:
 Used to move materials over variable paths
with no restrictions on the area covered.
 Provide vertical movement if the truck has
lifting capabilities.
…. Industrial Trucks

 Used when there is insufficient (or intermittent)

flow volume such that the use of a conveyor
cannot be justified.

 Provide more flexibility in movement than

conveyors and cranes.
1. Hand Truck
• Simplest type of industrial truck
1(a). Two-wheeled Hand Truck
• Load tilted during travel.
• Good for moving a load up or
down stairways.
1(b). Dolly
• Three or more wheeled hand
truck with a flat platform in
which, since it has no handles,
the load is used for pushing.
1(c). Floor Hand Truck
• Four or more wheeled hand truck with handles
for pushing or hitches for pulling.
• Sometimes referred to as a “cart” or “(manual)
platform truck”

Tilt floor hand truck Order picking cart

2. Pallet Jack
• Front wheels are mounted inside the end of the
forks and extend to the floor as the pallet is
only lifted enough to clear the floor for
subsequent travel.
• Pallet restrictions: reversible pallets cannot be
used, double-faced nonreversible pallets cannot
have deckboards where the front wheels extend
to the floor, and enables only two-way entry
into a four-way notched-stringer pallet because
the forks cannot be inserted into the notches.
2. (a) Manual Pallet Jack
• Manual lifting and/or travel.

2.(b) Powered Pallet Jack

• Powered lifting and/or travel.
• Powered pallet jack is
sometimes referred to as a
“(walkie) pallet truck”
3. Pallet Truck
• Control handle typically tilts to allow operator
to walk during loading/unloading.
• Powered pallet jack is sometimes referred to as
a “(walkie) pallet truck”
4. Counterbalanced (CB) Lift Truck
• Sometimes referred to as a “fork truck”.
• Weight of vehicle behind the front wheels of truck is
counterbalances weight of the load and front wheels
act as fulcrum or pivot point.
• Rated capacity reduced for load centers greater than
24 in. and lift heights greater than 13 ft.
• Workhorses of material handling because of their
flexibility: indoor/outdoor operation over a variety of
different surfaces; variety of load capacities available;
and variety of attachments available—fork
attachments can replace the forks or enhance the
capabilities of the forks
….. Sit-down Counterbalanced Lift Truck
5. Tractor-Trailer
• Non-load-carrying tractor used to pull a train of
trailers (i.e., dollies or floor hand trucks).
• Advantage: Enables a single operator to
transport multiple floor hand trucks in a single
move.
• Disadvantage: Requires wide aisles or open
spaces to operate.
• Manual version of a tow AGV.
• Typically used at airports for baggage handling
….. Tractor-Trailer
6. Personnel and Burden Carrier
• Non-load-carrying vehicle used to transport
personnel within a facility (e.g., golf cart,
bicycle, etc.)
7. Automatic Guided Vehicle (AGV)
• AGVs do not require an operator.
• Good for high labor cost, hazardous, or
environmentally sensitive conditions (e.g.,
clean-room) .
• AGVs good for low-to-medium volume
medium-to-long distance random material flow
operations (e.g., transport between work cells
in a flexible manufacturing system (FMS)
environment).
…. Automatic Guided Vehicle (AGV)
• Two means of guidance can be used for AGV
systems:
 Fixed path: Physical guide path (e.g., wire,
tape, paint) on the floor used for guidance.
 Free-ranging: No physical guide path, thus
easier to change vehicle path (in software), but
absolute position estimates are needed to
correct dead-reckoning error.
7.(a) Tow AGV
• Used to pull a train of trailers.
• Automated version of a tractor trailer.
• Trailers usually loaded manually.
7.(b) Unit load AGV
• Have decks that can be loaded manually or
automatically.
• Deck can include conveyor or lift/lower mechanism for
automatic loading.
• Typically 4 by 4 feet and can carry 1–2,000 lb. loads.
• Typically less than 10 vehicles in AGV system.
7.(c) Assembly AGV
• Used as assembly platforms (e.g., car chassis,
engines, appliances).
• Typically 50–100 vehicles in AGV system.
4. Hoisting Material Handling Equipment
End of Chapter Four