ProShell: new, flexible System Solution for Storage and Retrieval Systems

Conductix-Wampfler GmbH, an affiliate of Conductix-Wampfler Group, the world’s leading manufacturer of systems for energy and data transmission to moving machinery, has developed a new system solution for storage and retrieval systems (AS / RS) The support profile made of steel sheet can integrate the proven conductor rails types 0831 and 0812 and ensures a reliable and efficient supply of the AS / RS drives and control system with energy and signals as well as smooth energy recovery. 

ProShell protects the energy supply more efficiently than plastic systems, increasing its availability. In addition, the new solution can be hung at distances of more than three meters, allowing for an assembly with system mounts directly on the shelf system. Not least, the integration of optical positioning systems with clamping units on the support profile is easily possible. "Thanks to these properties, ProShell is a system solution affording the customer the greatest flexibility with unchanged mechanical interfaces. In addition, the compact design takes into account the trend towards four-pole or five-pole systems through new control concepts," explained Dieter Seidel, Head of Product Management at Weil am Rhein-based Conductix-Wampfler GmbH. The company also placed particular attention on simple and rapid assembly: ProShell can be easily adapted to all high-bay storage applications without adjustment of the design. "In the case of AS / RS or transfer cars, assembly cost has a particularly high relevance with respect to overall cost. Therefore, this point in its development was central for us," Seidel stressed.

Greatest Flexibility for more Energy Efficiency

ProShell integrates the proven conductor rails 0831 and 0812 of Conductix-Wampfler. In order to cover as large a spectrum as possible of electrical specifications (32 A to 400 A) with the same system, with simultaneously unchanged installation space and mechanical interfaces for the AS / RS and the shelf system, the use of different conductor rails and conductor materials such as steel, copper or aluminum is necessary. "In order to provide long storage aisles with nominal currents of up to 400 amps with only one power feed, larger cross-sections of the conductor rails with low resistance values and thus lower voltage drops are also important," Seidel emphasized. These gain increasing importance in terms of energy efficiency. Therefore, more and more suppliers offer solutions for the recovery of energy in the AS / RS generator operation, reducing operating cost and anticipating future international guidelines for compliance with efficiency threshold values.