The items that were modeled using SolidWorks are listed as follows (in order of appearance in manufacturing line): dual timing belt conveyor with mounted plates, inspection system that also aides in cone counting including mounting brackets, pneumatic air system to aid in the cone rejection system, a cone rotation system to prepare the cones for stacking, individual gate systems for controlled stacking and releasing of the cones which is linked to the inspection system, a cleated conveyor to merge both oven manufacturing lines, a downtime storage system for accumulation of cones during packing line malfunctions, and also a series conveyors with which the downtime storage system will be connected to.  An overall layout of the final design incorporated into the existing manufacturing lines can be seen in Figure 1 below.

Figure 1.  SolidWorks Photo of the New Joy Cone Co.  Layout

Each individual component is broken up and shown in Figures 2-6 below.  In Figure 2, the oven and trimmer are shown.  These two components will remain as they are in the current manufacturing line.  Just after the trimmer, an inclined dual timing belt indexing conveyor was incorporated and can be seen in both Figures 2 and 3 below.  In order for cones to be transferred to the rest of the manufacturing line, plates are mounted to this conveyor which carries the individual cones to a mechanism that will rotate the cones.  This mechanism is shown in Figure 3 as well.

Figure 2.  Oven #1 and Trimmer

As the cones travel up the inclined conveyor, they pass through an inspection system which examines each cone for flaws.  Flawed cones consist of those with inappropriate cracks and holes, broken cones or the absence of a cone.  Cones that do not contain flaws will continue through the rest of the manufacturing line.  The system accomplishes this by shooting a burst of air as the conveyor reaches a horizontal position using a pneumatic manifold with three individual ports.  This allows for the lines to be independent of each other. 

The cones are shot out of the conveyor plates, with the top of the cone leading, onto a rotation mechanism which can be seen in greater detail in Figure 3 below.  This rotation mechanism is also a pneumatic manifold in an octagon shape with various hollow rods sticking out of each side of the octagon.  Once the cones reach the desired position, the pneumatic manifold also shoots a burst of air so that the cones are shot onto a flat platform.  The cones will be shot past the flat platform which is attached to a declined chute as well as another flat platform.  The cones are then held for counting by means of two cylindrical actuators.  Each row of actuators operates independently based on stacking conditions.  Once the cones stack appropriately, they are transferred onto an existing manufacturing line conveyor.  Figure 3 displays all the above discussed components.

Figure 3.  Oven #1 Beginning Line

The cones from the first oven travel down the existing manufacturing line conveyor and merge with the cones from the second oven.  The manufacturing lines of the two ovens remain the same up to the manufacturing line conveyor.  At this point the cones are all transferred onto a unidirectional cleated conveyor.  An additional system was added to the second oven line prior to the cleated conveyor in order to transfer cones to this conveyor.  This conveyor acts as a traffic control mechanism managing an input of six stacks of cones and output of one stack of cones.  The cleated conveyor transfers the stacks of cones individually onto a series of conveyors and onto the packaging machine also known as the bagger.  The cleated conveyor and merging area is shown in Figure 4 below.

Figure 4.  Merging Section of Both Oven Lines

The series of conveyors are oriented and designed as follows (after the cleated conveyor): small straight conveyor connected to a 90º turn conveyor, onto another straight conveyor, around a 90º turn conveyor, onto another straight conveyor, around another 90º turn conveyor, on a straight conveyor, up an inclined conveyor and on to the packaging machine.  This portion of the system can be seen in Figure 5 below.

Figure 5.  Conveyor Lines and Storage Buffer

In the event of a packaging line malfunction, the cones will be diverted onto a series of spiral conveyors, shown above in Figure 5, which will store un-sleeved stacks of cones until the malfunction has been resolved.  Diversion occurs by the use of a diverter arm connected to the first spiral conveyor.  The diverter forces cones to merge onto the first spiral conveyor.  The cones travel up the spiral conveyor, across a bridge that is connected to another spiral conveyor, and down the second spiral conveyor.  The cones are then reintroduced and merged onto the series of conveyors with an additional diverter arm.  A close-up photo of a diverter arm is shown in Figure 6 below.

Figure 6.  Diverter Arm