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40 The PCB Magazine • May 2016 Connecting Conveyors with Accumulators There are some conveyorized processes that can be connected together because their process times are in sync or the latter runs faster than the former. But other times, the proper conveyor settings are just not compatible. In that case, an accumulator (either elevator or rotary) may be the mechaniza- tion solution. Figure 5 shows the typical units. Transport Systems Of course, the conveyor is a transport sys- tem (Class F), but then, so is a hand-pushed cart (Class A). Process hoist and vertical conveyor- ized plating or etching are other Class E mecha- nizations. In reviewing the higher productivity material HandlinG innovations: sHould you automate? Figure 4: Typical loaders and unloaders for PCB panels sold by various vendors all over the world. Figure 5: Two typical accumulators for conveyor processes.