The number of conveyor "rollers per (linear) foot" – or the "roller centers" (that is, the distance from the center of one roller to the center of the next roller) is determined by the size of the SMALLEST  item being conveyed. If, for example, you have several different size boxes, you would choose the smallest box to be conveyed and make certain that 3 rollers are under the box for stability as they move along the conveyor. The larger boxes would, of course, have more than 3 rollers under them and move very smoothly. But the item placed upon the roller conveyor needs a minimum of 3 rollers under it.

Why is this important? Because the more rollers you have per linear foot, the more expensive the conveyor becomes: why pay for more rollers than you need? The price of the roller conveyor drops dramatically with  increased roller centers on gravity, or roller conveyors.

The capacity rating of any section of roller conveyor is based upon its being supported at EACH END. If you add a support to the middle of a 10' long conveyor, you now have 5' support centers, and much greater capacity Nevertheless, no matter how many supports you place under the roller conveyor, you will limited bythe "capacity per roller". No matter how strong the frame, the rollers have a specific capacity.

How can you tell if you're exceeding the individual roller capacity? Easy: divide the weight of the item being conveyed by the number of rollers beneath it (3 is the minimum!). This will tell you how much weight is being placed upon each roller.

Roller conveyors come only in 5' and 10' long sections as standard. Special lengths can be easily made. Call us.

Gravity conveyors, or roller conveyors, can be pitched to facilitate the movement of the items being conveyed. Make gravity work for you!

There are even flexible conveyors (call us!) that use skatewheels (wheels, steel or polypropylene, instead of rollers)  and extendible conveyors. Give us a call.