The Eov High Speed Impact Cradle, designed for the most harsh operating conditions, uses an elastomer bar suspension system to absorb and distribute the material load being transferred, greatly reducing the stress on the idlers’ rolling components and support structure.

Another patent-pending design facet are connecting brackets near the top of the idler frame that hold the three rollers together.

These brackets are designed to allow multiple modular cradles to be tied together so that the idlers throughout the entire load zone work together as a system.

Additionally, the cradle uses the company’s Trac-mount technology to slide in and out easily for maintenance.

The modular components are light enough to be removed by hand.

“Under high-volume conditions, standard OEM impact idlers in the load zone simply can’t withstand heavy loads and lengthy drops, costing downtime for repairs as well as the expense of replacement components,” service technician Doug Brown said.

Martin also noted that one of its customers recently said their cradles paid for themselves in the first week of service, thanks to savings of maintenance and downtime.

“The new cradle design only requires one person to change the rollers when the time comes,” Brown said, adding that downtime was the biggest problem.

“In the past, when customers have needed to change rollers or frames, they had to shut down the conveyor for an extended amount of time. Old style frames can be difficult to remove, requiring maintenance personnel to pull the arms down, then jack up the assembly to pull it out.”

Global product manager Chris Schmelzer said Martin Engineering wanted to design a solution that was slide-in, slide-out.

“These new cradles were designed using Finite Element Analysis, so we could confirm that they’d be strong enough, without having to overbuild them,” he said.

“We can make it as strong as it needs to be, without adding excess weight, so workers can remove and replace components without using heavy lifting equipment.”