Front-of-line Systems

Whether it's the front, middle or end of the line, HPT has the right system to ensure that you make the most of your capital equipment. HPT's front-of-line automated systems are some of the most advanced, reliable and cost-effective solutions in the world. We have extensive experience in destacking ferrous and non-ferrous metals of varied geometries for a range of press applications. We manufacture new and rebuild existing systems of all types and sizes.

Some of the styles of destacker that HPT specializes in:

Pogo Style: Programmable, overhead array of vacuum cups mounted on independently or gang fired pogo arms lift single sheets off of a stack until the blank is stripped off onto an overhead magnetic or vacuum transfer belt. The belt then feeds the blank into a blankwasher or directly onto a gauging table.

Shuttle Style: Shuttle style destackers consist of a programmable, overhead transfer being either inline or perpendicular (T-configuration) to line flow where the shuttle retrieves a blank from a fanning station and deposits it onto a transfer conveyor to feed it forward to washing and gauging stations. HPT's fastest shuttle destacker employs a linear induction motor (LIM) that drives the shuttle carriage and lifter head using magnetic field technology that was originally developed in Europe to drive high-speed magnetically levitated passenger trains.

HPT is well versed in the design and manufacture of all of the critical modules of a sound destacking system, including:

Crane Saver: Heavy-duty conveyors designed to precisely index large, full pallets of blanks.

Lift Tables: Heavy-duty hydraulic lifts designed to incrementally index pallets as blanks are depleted from a stack.

Sheet Fanners: Flexible arrays of fanners that employ magnetics, forced air or other means of separating and isolating a single blank from a stack for easy, repeatable retrieval by a lifting head or robot.

Suction Lift or Lift Head: An integral part of any destacker, which engages a blank staged at a sheet fanning station and removed it for transport to the next operation. Typically these heads are made up from a series of vacuum cups.

Continuous Run Forks: A series of tines, much like those on an eating utensil that it's named after, the fork. These tines are spaced to fit into the lifting holes (slots) on a pallet, normally reserved for the forks on a lift-truck. The tines hold the stack of steel so that the pallet can be lowered and removed and a new, full pallet put in place underneath, allowing a continuous run of blanks.

Gauge Station: Just prior to the blank being loaded into the press, a gauge station positions the blank to ensure that it's properly loaded into the forming die. HPT makes use of traditional gauging methods as well as advanced magnetic positioning that is free of contact from end-stops and side crowders. The gauge station also, sometimes incorporates a transfer conveyor prior to the positioning station that allows for the queuing of blanks.

Reject Station: An infrequently used station to capture blanks determined to be 'rejects' through a manual intervention or in the rare event of a double-blank pick-up.