In GB terminology, conveyor is a broad category. It covers mechanical equipment that moves materials or items continuously or intermittently along a given route. The term transfer machine, as used in workshops, is usually not a separate category parallel to conveyors. It refers to the part of conveyor equipment used for short-distance, precise transfer between workstations. The practical differences that matter in selection show up in design targets, load-carrying structure, and applications. When conveyor rollers, pulleys, sprockets, or transfer pallets, clamping mechanisms, and locating connections need replacement or machining from drawings, we can machine single parts or small batches to customer drawings. Hansheng Automation confirms material, tolerance, and surface treatment against the drawing.
Design target
Long-distance continuous conveying of bulk or unit loads prioritizes throughput, conveying distance, and load capacity. Fixed belt conveyors can have a conveying length of 2 to 1,000 m, and long-distance systems can exceed 20 km per single run with capacities up to 10,000 t/h. Precise transfer between workstations prioritizes positioning accuracy, cycle time matching, and point-to-point switching. Production line workstation spacing is commonly about 6 m, workstation cycle time can be controlled at 8 to 12 s, and repeat positioning accuracy can reach within ±0.2 mm.
Load-carrying structure
Long-distance conveyors mostly use continuous load-carrying structures such as belt, roller, or chain types. The conveying path is fixed as a straight line or curve, with no precision positioning requirement. Workstation transfer equipment mostly uses discrete load-carrying structures such as overhead, pallet, or clamping types. Some are equipped with servo positioning mechanisms that can switch points and align precisely within a small range.
Applications
Conveyors serve long-distance cross-area transport of bulk materials or batch unit loads in mining, chemical raw material workshops, and port terminals. Workstation transfer equipment is mostly used for workpiece handoff between adjacent workstations on assembly lines, such as the upper and lower station connections on automotive final assembly lines and electronic insertion lines. It must match the workstation cycle time, and the single transfer distance is usually short.
Our precision parts custom machining capability is not limited to parts for conveyors and workstation transfer equipment. We also machine yacht precision parts, RC racing car precision parts, tobacco packaging machinery parts, filling machinery parts, and non-standard parts for printing machinery, food machinery, and medical devices. Hansheng Automation confirms material, tolerance, and surface treatment against customer drawings and supports single part or small batch machining and delivery.
