About this cart: when material has to shuttle between two fixed workstations, pushing a cart by hand ties up people, and a powered cart is more than the job needs. The gravity shuttle cart is a common LCIA (low cost intelligent automation) design. Material placed on the load frame pushes the frame down; a rack under the frame turns a gear, which drives the wheels through a chain, and the cart moves forward. When the material is unloaded, a tension spring pulls the frame back up, the rack reverses and the wheels turn back to the start. No electricity and no controller.
Specifications
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Drive | Unpowered (weight of the load + tension spring return) |
| Standard cart size | 462 × 416 × 910 mm |
| Transmission | Straight rack (500 mm), spur gear (module 2), 08B chain and sprockets, 12 mm axle, pillow block bearings |
| Return spring | Tension spring, wire 2.5 mm, OD 30 mm, 330 mm overall with hooks |
| Wheels | 140 mm flanged wheels × 4 (fixed direction) |
| Structure | 28 mm aluminium pipe and joints |
| Load and travel distance | Made to your load weight and line distance |
How it works
- Material is placed on the load frame, and the frame moves down under the weight.
- The rack under the frame turns the gear, which drives the wheels through the chain; the cart moves forward.
- When the material is unloaded, the tension spring pulls the frame back, the wheels reverse and the cart returns.
Where it is used
- Back-and-forth feeding between two fixed workstations
- Areas where running power cables is awkward and you want less manual pushing
- LCIA improvement projects and training demonstrations
Common questions
What is LCIA? Low Cost Intelligent Automation: using simple mechanisms such as gravity, levers, springs and pulleys instead of motors and controllers to make handling and feeding easier.
What do you need to quote a gravity shuttle cart? The feeding distance, the weight and size of each load, the heights at the start and end points, and the floor condition.
Request a quote
Send the distance, load weight and size, start and end heights and floor condition. Request a quote →