Unloading station oriented to dryer

[BRGtshirts]

Hi, writing to get some feedback from those in the know regarding best orientation/position for an unloader as situated next to the dryer.

Quick background: our shop is going from a single 10-color auto and some manuals, to maybe two autos: a 12 color and 8 color. The 8 color is definite, and the 12 is a big want. But, if it works, we'll probably upgrade. Side note: we print in a shoebox, so any space considerations have already been factored it unless you're extremely creative.

Basically, I'm thinking the unloader should be at an angle to the dryer vs. unloading at a perpendicular angle. That way they won't have to spin all the way around. Does this sound right, or are there reasons for orienting them in some other fashion?

I've attached a drawing showing the potential layout. Thanks!

[LuckyFlyinROUSH]

I would rotate them both counter clockwise. So the pullers back is directly to the machine, and the press operator has more room to maneuver his carts however he wants them. Make your press operator comfortable, not the puller.

Pullers can stand 90 degrees to the press most of the time so there is less movement. Pull turn drop. No moving the feet. Obviously the first round is a struggle no matter what on freshly glued boards.

[blue moon]

I would move the loaders down to the bottom (bellow the pullers) so you have more room for the loading carts (this would change your press rotation direction). Pullers should go down just a bit from their location. You want to minimize the amount they have to turn and the number of steps they have to take.

pierre

[BRGtshirts]

LuckyFlyinROUSH, yup, that makes sense and I agree about making the loader happy and comfortable, so I'm definitely going to factor that in. Hadn't really given their placement a huge amount of thought. Fitting the cart is also a big one.

Pierre, unfortunately we don't have access for the carts on the bottom of the drawing (i.e. switching the two positions). The warehouse space is located off page toward the top, meaning there's no access for the cart on the other side. But I do agree, that's always been my wish to have the cart on the other side.

Thank you both for the input, I really appreciate it.

[Zelko-4-EVA]

we have always had the load station on the top and the unload to the end of the feed.   clean shirts on the clean side of the dryer away from the screen scraping/parts cleaning.

the person that catches at the end of the dryer sends the shirts to the loader without pushing the cart all the way around the press.  much easier for the shirts that are multi-sided.

[BRGtshirts]

Yup, that's our current setups (loader on top). The way our building is setup it's the only way that fits for us.

Yeah, pushing from catcher to loader is super easy. The catcher has a long table (long enough for three full stacks of tees). That way they can be catching a stack while two other completed stacks sit on the table. Then we pull off the last stack onto the cart and move to the second side's print. Makes for very few touches from one side to the other.