TTX’s Automated Conveyor Carrier

TTX’s mission is to be a family that demonstrates extraordinary passion, hard work, and integrity with steadfast loyalty and support for those we serve: our employees, our communities, and our customers. This mission is what drove TEAM TTX to embark on a journey to revolutionize material handling. Their goal? To craft a solution that not only met the customer's needs but also redefined the way parts navigated through production lines. Thus, the Automated Conveyor Carrier (ACC^®) was conceived.

The ACC^® isn't your run-of-the-mill conveyor system. It's an overhead marvel, orchestrated by a wireless network that guides individual battery-powered carriers seamlessly through assembly lines, paint stations, or any corner of a facility. A monument that once tied fabrication, paint, and final assembly together through miles of copper, steel, rollers, and cast iron has been reimagined to encompass today's and tomorrow’s technologies.

Flexibility? Check. Energy efficiency? You bet. Safety standards? Absolutely. And complexity? Not a chance. According to Chad Andreae, the VP of sales at TTX, "The system is 100% wireless, ensuring reliable and consistent movement of everything from petite parts to hefty components. The ACC^® system is what our customers demand of an industry leader, innovation!”

These multidirectional vehicles boast individual acceleration and deceleration controls, coupled with torque management for smooth, pinpoint precision. And scalability? It's the name of the game. "Adaptability is key," Andreae notes. "You can scale up your system as your company flourishes, tailoring the fleet to suit each task."

But efficiency doesn't stop there. The ACC^® system's slot-top oven design minimizes mass flow through ovens, removing chains, trolleys, and carriers while providing an oven volume that is greatly reduced. It is an eco-friendly game changer for a process that has historically had the potential to be environmentally unneighborly. “The most practical method for producing an efficient “green” system is to minimize waste. Waste is the unnecessary input, both initially and throughout the life of the process, required to heat/cool and maintain anything other than the process objective. The finished good is the goal!”

Unquestionably efficient, the ACC^® electrically controlled vehicles are extremely clean, sparing the need for messy chain lubrication and ensuring debris-free journeys. Cleanliness is not only freedom from dirt but from noise contamination as well. The ACC^® system provides the operators with an environment that is truly a joy to work in.

Safety is paramount. Audible alerts, signal lights, and collision-avoidance systems keep operations smooth and secure while the carriers glide along overhead, powered by an adjustable spring-loaded traction wheel. Each carrier is designed with a single goal in mind, safety developed by the conveyance of a single load. This premise removes the need and potential danger of large drives sized to move multiple loads all at one time, replacing it with a drive properly sized for the load and process required. “Having the ability to increase drive force in a captive process like automated blast and then lower the drive force where there is potential for human interface is a wonderful safety feature of the ACC^® technology,” Andreae states.

In an environment where it is difficult to hire and retain a strong maintenance presence in our manufacturing facilities, ACC^® maintenance is a breeze. Individual vehicles not only allow for a single training platform but also allow for maintenance to happen offline while production is still occurring. Preventative maintenance can also be implemented in a location that is well-lit and ergonomically friendly, not over a process tank or dark hot oven. In addition, TEAM TTX plans to release ACC^® Instruct, that will provide customers with an opportunity to share the initial and refresher training with ease, assuring successful preventative maintenance and highest uptimes.

So how do I get started? Each system requires an understanding of the process and physical factory space requiring the ACC^® system. While these design parameters are specific for each project, the ACC^® vehicles themselves are supplied in a few different models based on your specific load requirements. After understanding what model is required, a TTX sales engineer will work side-by-side with our customers to configure the vehicles for optimal performance. Initial and future production volumes will be considered to ensure the most effective capital investment strategy.

Andreae concludes, “Our goal for the ACC^® technology is to provide a world-class solution for revolutionizing material handling for the customers we serve. By continuing to innovate and provide products the industry desires, we are able to share our mission; our passion, our work ethic, and our integrity, with a hope of making a positive and lasting impact!”

• Battery Powered
• Individually Programmed
• Wireless, Chainless, Multidirectional
• I-Beam Track
• Spring-loaded Traction Wheel
• Capacities: 10-12,000 lbs

The TTX TEAM is ready to determine which ACC system is right for your operation.
Contact TTX today!