What moves parts through a coating line, and which design fits your production pattern
An overhead conveyor system carries parts above the shop floor instead of across it, freeing up ground space and keeping a coating or finishing line moving in a controlled sequence. The design that suits a job depends mostly on one question: does every part need to travel at the same speed on the same route, or do some need to stop, wait, or branch off independently?
Chain-driven overhead conveyors
A chain-driven conveyor pulls trolleys along a fixed track at one continuous speed, which suits pretreatment, coating, and curing stages where parts move through in a steady sequence. Statfield’s own chain conveyor range covers this from both ends: Free-Rail is the light-duty, manually routed option for basic material movement, while Aerorail steps up to a fully enclosed chain for continuous, dust-protected transport through process stations, the setup most painting and powder coating lines actually run on.
Power-and-free overhead conveyors
A power-and-free conveyor adds a second track: an upper chain that runs continuously, and a lower track of trolleys that can disengage, stop, and accumulate without holding up the rest of the line. That flexibility matters when different parts need different dwell times, or when a line has multiple stations that do not all run at the same pace. Statfield builds this directly as its Power and Free Conveyor line, with Transrail and Megarail extending the same twin-track principle to medium-heavy and heavy-duty loads that need selective station access.
What to check before choosing a manufacturer
Does the vendor manufacture both chain-driven and power-and-free designs, or only one?
Can the track be engineered to your actual duty class and load, not a generic standard size?
Is fabrication, installation, and after-sales service handled locally, or routed through a distributor?
Match the conveyor type to how parts actually need to move through your line first; the manufacturer decision gets much easier once that is settled.
