What Are Wheel Sorter Systems?

Wheel Sorter systems are dynamic sorting solutions made up of a series of active, motorized wheels placed at specific points on the conveyor line, used to route products to the right or left of the main flow. As the product passes over the line, these wheels, which rise or begin to turn at the command of sensors, give the package a lateral impulse, causing the product to "divert" in the desired direction. It is a compact and fast technology used especially for sorting medium and small cartons.

What Are the Key Advantages?

The most notable advantage of this system is its very compact and flexible structure. It can be easily integrated onto a conveyor line; this makes it possible to turn an existing line into a "sorting line" with minimal change. Compared with Shoe Sorters or Tilt-Tray Sorters, it takes up much less space and offers lower installation costs. While providing gentle routing for sensitive products, it can easily adapt to high throughput speeds. In addition, thanks to the independent controllability of the wheel groups, it can react very quickly according to the direction the product needs to go.

In Which Sectors and Applications Is It Used?

It is quite common in logistics processes where cartons, parcels and packaged products must be quickly routed to different lines. It is frequently used in e-commerce order-fulfillment facilities, parcel sorting centers, packing lines, and at the end of production lines to sort products into different palletizing or dispatch zones. It is ideal especially for operations that have low or medium capacity but require fast and agile routing.

What Should You Consider When Investing?

The most important technical issue in a Wheel Sorter investment is the product's "base surface structure." For the wheels to grip and route the product, the bottom of the package must be flat and shaped to support friction with the wheels. The weight of the product to be carried must be determined in direct proportion to the number of wheels in the system and the motor power. In addition, to prevent the system from dropping the product off the line during fast routing, flawless adjustment of the chute designs or routing guides at the exit points determines operational success.

Why ACS Intralogistics Solutions?

As ACS Intralogistics Solutions, we engineer high-performance Wheel Sorter architectures that speed up the material flow in your facility without taking up space.

For us, a Wheel Sorter is not just a diverting mechanism but a smart routing station that works integrated with your entire intralogistics line. By synchronizing your system with barcode reading sensors, weighing units and our WCS software, we manage the in-plant traffic of packages over the most efficient route. No matter how limited your space, with our compact and reliable Wheel Sorter solutions that increase your operational speed, we let you bring the logistics flow in your facility under millimetric control.