Air conveyors use air pressure to move objects. Pneumatic tubing with positive or negative air pressure is common, while air tables create a thin layer of pressurized air to move objects. Pneumatic tube systems can move large objects, small parts, and loose powders.
Air conveyors are a class of material handling devices that use positive or negative air pressure to move objects from one place to another. The most common type of air conveyor is pneumatic tubing containing high positive air pressure or a vacuum. When solid objects are placed inside these tubes, they are propelled forward by positive pressure or sucked in by a vacuum. Another type of air conveyor uses positive air pressure to reduce the friction of a surface, making it much easier to move objects across it. This is somewhat similar to an unpowered roller conveyor in that some other force, such as gravity or manual labor, must provide the energy needed to move an object along this type of conveyor.
One type of air conveyor is usually referred to as a pneumatic tube system. These conveying systems consist of tubes that can be used to move large objects, small parts such as nuts and bolts, and even loose powders. Some of these systems use positive pressure, which involves pushing objects through pipes with air pressure generated by some type of compressor or blower. The pressure inside these pipes is often six or more times normal atmospheric pressure, depending on the materials the system is designed to move.
The other type of pneumatic tube conveying systems use vacuum instead of air pressure. In some cases the vacuum is generated at the end of the tubing system, although another design involves injecting air into special collars that join lengths of tubing together. These collars contain ring-shaped plenum chambers that force compressed air into the system. Introducing compressed air through this type of chamber creates a vacuum behind the collar, which can suck in objects and push them through the system.
Another category of air conveyors does not use any type of closed tube. These devices are sometimes referred to as air tables and can do many of the same jobs that belts and roller conveyors are often used for. There are two different ways these conveyors work, both involve creating a thin layer of pressurized air between the table surface and an object that needs to be moved. One method uses ball valves that release pressurized air when they contact heavy objects, while the other uses a porous surface covering a plenum chamber. Both of these methods result in an air conveyor that can allow a worker to move heavy objects with relatively little effort.
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