01The Carryline spiral range
The range splits by material. Aluminium execution is the S830, S140 and S220; stainless steel V2A execution is the S530, S540 and S560. Chain widths are 83 mm, 140 mm and 220 mm across the two, so the choice is really width first and material second. Minimum radius is 400 mm, or 800 mm diameter, on the S830 and S530 and on the S140 and S540, rising to 600 mm, or 1,200 mm diameter, on the S220 and S560. Wider chain, bigger footprint: the 220 mm chain needs half again as much space around the column.
02Radius is set by your product, not the machine
Carryline publish a sizing rule worth knowing before you plan a layout: radius equals product length multiplied by 1.5. A 400 mm product therefore needs a 600 mm radius, not the 400 mm minimum the chain will physically turn. This catches people out, because the minimum radius in the datasheet is a property of the chain and the working radius is a property of your product. Bring the longest thing you convey to the first conversation and the footprint you are quoted will be the one you actually need.
03Speed, incline and what depends on the product
Maximum speed is approximately 50 m/min, and the wider Carryline system runs between 5 and 50 m/min with higher or lower on request. The chain twists up to 14 degrees in helical curves, which sets the incline. Carryline are explicit that maximum radius, number of turns, speed and in-decline all depend on the product specification rather than being fixed catalogue limits, so those four are settled by what you are lifting and how it behaves, not by a table. Noise stays under 70 dB(A) below 50 m/min.
04Aluminium or stainless
Choose stainless for hygienic and washdown environments and anodised aluminium for general manufacturing where wipe-down cleaning is enough. It is a build decision rather than a finish, so make it at specification stage. The system runs from -20 C to +60 C as standard with higher or lower on request, which covers chilled areas as well as normal ambient. Food-approved plastic chain is available where product contact matters.
05Products, stability and spacing
Typical products are bottles, cans, jars, cartons, pouches and small packs, the kind of items that benefit from guided transport and stable elevation. Stability on the spiral comes from continuous slat support, side guides and matched speeds, so product neither tips nor scuffs on the way round. Spacing is managed with guides and upstream control rather than on the spiral itself, which is the right place for it: a spiral is an elevator, not a buffer, and asking it to accumulate is how you get pressure marks on the outside of the curve.
06Where the wider Carryline system fits
The spiral is one element of a modular system that also covers straight runs, bends and twists in the same chain, so a spiral usually arrives as part of a layout rather than on its own. Related products are aluminium slat conveyors, stainless steel slat conveyors and vertical slat conveyors, with compact corner conveyors for tight direction changes. Where the product is better carried on a flat surface than on slats, modular belt is the alternative.
Cleaning, maintenance and integration
Open access and smooth surfaces make cleaning straightforward, and the stainless versions support stricter hygiene routines. Maintenance is routine inspection of chain tension, wear strips and guides plus periodic cleaning, and there is not much more to it because there are few moving parts and the components are standardised across the range. The spiral interfaces cleanly with the rest of the line, including case packers, palletisers, vision, labelling and checkweighers, with PLC and HMI handshakes. One honest caveat: for very steep point-to-point lifts that also need buffering, a lift-style vertical conveyor may suit better than a spiral. LVP Automation specifies, installs and supports Carryline spiral conveyors from Finglas, Dublin 11 as part of our wider automation services.
