BTM/400/1000/B/G Mail Box Tipper
This Mail Box Tipper was designed to lift and tip a Mail Pallet Container at a discharge height of 1000mm. The Mail Box Tipper is a fully welded steel construction and is designed to be bolted to the floor. This Mail Box Tipper is powered via a Helical Bevel gearbox and would tip the Mail Pallet Container to a maximum angle of 180 degrees. NOTE from experience, the optimum tip angle for tipping is 170 degrees. The Mail Pallet Container would be loaded into lift frame and would be raised by rotation of the lifting carriage by the motor gearbox. As the Mail Pallet Container is tipped over to the full tip angle the mail and parcels are discharged into the conveyor hopper. The Mail Pallet Container would be securely retained in the lift carriage in the fully tipped position.
Safety Guard to BS EN 14120:2015 Safety of Machinery
This Tipper was supplied complete with a safety guard to meet the guidelines of BS EN 14120:2015 Safety of Machinery Guards. The safety guard is constructed from 40 x 40 x 3mm stainless steel box section and 3mm wire, 40mm aperture weld mesh. It encloses the Mail Box Tipper to a height of 2200mm on two sides, 1000mm at the tipping side with a pair of interlocked hinged guard doors on the fourth side. The guard doors are electrically and mechanically interlocked to prevent the Mail Box Tipper from operating if either door is open. Additionally, the guard doors can only be opened when the lift carriage is at the full down position to prevent access whilst a load is raised.
Mail Box Tipper Electrical Control
The Mail Box Tipper is fitted with an IP65 Control Panel which is mounted on the safety guard and incorporates all of the controls for the Tipper and the Conveyor. The Tipper Control included an Inverter to allow for speed control and it used a Rotary Position Sensor to stop at the full up and full down positions. It also used Over Travel Proximity Sensors which were independent of the Rotary Sensor.
The Control Panel is fitted with a PLC and HMI that allows features including:-
- Adjustment of the Full Up position
- Adjustment of the Full Down position
- A Tipper Counter
- Selection of the Mail Sweep Mode
- Interfacing with other equipment
The Tipper control sequence is as follows:-
- The Mail Pallet Container is loaded into the Mail Box Tipper and the Guard Door closed
- There is a photo sensor inside the safety enclosure that senses that the Mail Pallet Container is loaded correctly before the container can be tipped
- The Control On button is pressed followed by the System Start button which would cause the Mail Box Tipper to lift and tip
- The tipping cycle is automated so that once the full up position is reached and all of the mail is tipped out, the machine will return to the full down position to allow the empty Mail Pallet Container to be replaced
- The guard gate interlock switch is released via a ‘Guard Release’ push button which allows the safety guard door to be opened
- The empty Mail Pallet Container can then be removed and replaced with a full one and the whole cycle repeated
Performance Notes
The time to tip a Mail Pallet Container after it is loaded and the guard doors are closed, is approximately 60 seconds, from full down, to full up and back. This includes tipping the Mail Container to a maximum angle of 170° and a 5 second dwell time at full up.