Union Tool Corporation

Dual Station Stacker

This dual station stacker stacks metal blanks as they come from a coil-fed blanking press, loading an operator-designated number of blanks onto each of two stacking carts. When the first cart is filled, the machine automatically switches over to filling the second cart.

While the machine pictured above was specifically designed to handle metal blanks coming from a coil-fed blanking press, the same concepts can be used to stack flat sheets or plates of various types of material coming from many sources.

Synonyms

Depending on your industry, you may call this a dual station blank stacker, a metal blank stacker, a twin stacker, or a two-cart sheet stacker. By whatever name you call it, what you get is a continuous stream of carts, each filled with a precise number of neatly stacked sheets.

Operational Description

Union Tool's custom-designed Dual Station Stacker is specifically designed to stack metal blanks coming from a coil-fed blanking press. By incorporating this machine our customer was able to increase production and reduce labor by two employees per shift.

The stacker transports the blanks from the press utilizing a roller type conveyor which runs slightly faster then the press to create a gap between blanks. The rolls in the conveyor are mounted at an angle which aligns the blank to a common side edge. The first three-foot section of the conveyor is hinged to allow access to the press and a walk-through for the operators.

The conveyor leads the blank into one of two separate stacking areas. Each stacking area incorporates a hydraulic lift which lowers automatically as the blanks are stacked on the customer's cart. Each stacking area has a counter that allows the operator to preset the number of blanks stacked on each cart. Once that number is reached, the machine will automatically revert to the empty stacking area. The transition between stacking areas is made by a pivoting conveyor located between the two stacking areas. This conveyor will pivot up to allow blanks to be stacked on the first hydraulic lift, or pivot down in position to deliver blanks to the second hydraulic lift.

To ensure a straight, square stack, each stacking area incorporates adjustable backstops and air-operated padders to align the blanks as they are stacked. The blanks range in size from 30" x 16" to 35" x 28". This stacker will run a maximum of 40 blanks per minute. Lift tables have a maximum weight of 5,000 pounds and the machine is equipped with a programmable controller which interfaces with the press for the required operation.

Let the Material Handling experts at Union Tool tackle your de-stacking or stacking problems!

• Request a Quote
• Download a printable Product Bulletin (PDF; 31KB)