BTM/250/1000/B/G Parcel Tipper
This Parcel tipper was designed to lift and tip the Royal Mail York Container at a discharge height of 1000mm. The Parcel Tipper is a fully welded steel construction and is designed to be bolted to the floor. This Parcel Tipper was powered via a Helical Bevel gearbox and tipped the York Containers to a maximum angle of 180 degrees. The York Container was wheeled into lift frame and was raised by rotation of the lifting carriage by the motor gearbox. As the York Container is tipped over, the discharge of mail and parcels was in a controlled manner to a full tip angle of 180 degrees. The York Container was securely retained in the lift carriage in the fully tipped position.
Safety Guard to BS EN 14120:2015 Safety of Machinery Guards
The Parcel 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 enclosed the Parcel 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 Parcel 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. Also included was an additional electrically interlocked safety guard door at the far side of the conveyor that allowed access to retrieve any parcels that may fall out at this position and also to allow access for cleaning and maintenance to take place.
Parcel Tipper Electrical Control
The Parcel Tipper was fitted with an IP65 Stainless Steel Control Panel which is mounted on the safety guard at a convenient position to give good maintenance access under the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulation 1998 (PUWER). The Parcel Tipper Control will include an Inverter to allow for speed control and it uses a Rotary Position Sensor to stop at the full up and full down positions. It also uses Over Travel Proximity Sensors which are 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 Parcel Tipper control sequence is as follows:-
The York Container is loaded into the Parcel Tipper System and the Guard Door closed There is a photo sensor inside the safety enclosure that senses that the York 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 Parcel 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 Parcel Tipper will return to the full down position to allow the empty York 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 York Container can then be removed and replaced with a full one and the whole cycle repeated Safe Approved Method of retrieving Mail
There is a safe method of entering the safety enclosure to retrieve any mail that may have dropped to the floor within the enclosure. The procedure is as follows:-
- An authorised person selects the ‘Mail Retrieval’ option via the HMI and drives the lift carriage to the full up position
- Once the tipper activates the Rotary Sensor and Up Over Travel Proximity Switch, the Mail Tipper System will stop and the motor gearbox brake will automatically engage preventing the Mail Tipper System from moving
- With the safety circuited disabled the authorised person can now enter the safety enclosure and retrieve any mail
- Once the mail is retrieved, the authorised person drives the Mail Tipper System to the full down or home position
- Once at this position, normal operation can be resumed
Performance Notes
The time to tip a Mail 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.
Mail Container Availability
The theoretical availability of the tipper is in excess 99% based on the tipper design, the duty cycle required, the component parts used in its manufacture and the general performance of similar lifting, tipping and handling systems of our manufacture.