Up to four pallets may be stacked simultaneously and automatically using the new Flyer stacking system from Pellizzari. It has been particularly designed for tanners who wish to automate the stacking of graded wet-blue, crust or finished leathers.
The Italian manufacturers, based in Arzignano, introduced the new concept at Tanning Tech. The four pallet storage areas are located left and right of a central conveyor belt on two levels. The operator can then select which pallet to store the hide or side by batch or grade. Each item is then automatically transferred to a pallet.
Pellizzari have designed the Flyer to be used on wet-blue hides, sides or splits after the splitting operation. It can also be used to store limed hides or sides and lime splits following lime splitting. Flyer can also stack crust and finished leathers.
The machine is fully guarded and a single stacking cycle takes 6-7 seconds for wet-blue splits and 8 seconds for a chrome tanned hide. Maximum throughput is approximately 500 hides or 700 splits per hour.
One of the major advantages of the Flyer is that each pallet can be changed when it is fully loaded without stopping the machine.
Only one operator is required for sides or splits and two people are needed to load heavier full hides. The operator is able to unload the pallets from the front, the rear or the sides of the machine. The basic dimensions of the machine are as follows: length 5.6m x width 7.0m x height 4.2m.
All the data is electronically stored and can be fully downloaded. The area, weight and thickness of each piece can be measured prior to stacking and the information saved. It is possible to electronically tag each item using a ‘sim card’, which can follow the batch or grade through other departments within the tannery. The electronic ‘sim card’ is able to hold technical data on each item.