Pass-Throughs

Pass-Throughs are conveyor sections that can retract, pivot vertically or horizontally, or roll out of the way to gain access for personnel, carts, and fork trucks on a production line. They can make a line more productive by creating short-cuts for operators to “pass-through” the line instead of otherwise having to walk a longer route around equipment to access different points of the line. Pass-Throughs are ergonomic and eliminate the need for walk-overs and duck-unders which can be considered safety hazards. Pack Air’s offerings range from simple manually operated pass-throughs to our innovative and effective powered retractable conveyor sections.

Our Lift Gates are simple and cost-effective designs that have a short (24”-48”) section that pivots up and out of the way with a manual lift handle on both sides of the conveyor. The driven conveyor in the Lift Gate is typically a modular plastic belt, but it can be used in conjunction with most types of conveyors such as modular belt, plastic chain, fabric belt, and rollers. They can be standalone-self driven or slave-driven from an adjacent conveyor section. Roller lift gates can be driven or gravity roller.  All these Lift Gates include locking mechanisms to keep the gate closed with options to lock in the open position as well. Lift Gates are further subcategorized by Gas Strut style and Counterweight style. This refers to the means of assistance for easy lifting and lowering of the gate. Both styles have their advantages depending on the intended use that our Sales team will be happy to discuss with you in more detail.

Our Retractables are powered conveyor sections that retract into themselves to allow a clear opening to pass-through. The conveyor supports and the main part of the frame remain fixed and only the retractable bed portion of the conveyor moves. These units are pneumatically operated with a manual hand valve on both sides of the conveyor and are more ergonomically friendly when compared to Lift Gates. Our Single Retractables have standard 30”, 36”, 42” access openings for personnel access, but when two Single units are installed nose-to-nose in a Double Retractable configuration that can extend access openings up to 84” which makes a passage for fork trucks, large carts, or other equipment possible.  Another variation of this design is a Sliding Conveyor where the entire conveyor slides under another conveyor or piece of equipment.

Pivot and Rollaway style Pass-Throughs are additional options that can be used where Lift Gates and Retractables may not fit, or where access is limited to non-production use such as access for maintenance.  Typically, these conveyors are mounted to supports with additional bracing and locking swivel casters.  Other options are also available for locking or pinning the rollaway section to the main line or the floor.