Case Conveyor Design: Practical Guidelines to Maintain Stability

From Experience Newsletter: June 2026

Whether in existing or greenfield manufacturing facilities, care should be taken regarding the angle of incline or decline for finished case conveyors when designing/laying out secondary packaging areas. Too steep of an incline may cause cases to tumble.

An effective way to determine how steep a case conveyor can be without having cases tumble is to follow the steps below:

1. Start with the size of case (s) to be conveyed and the angle of incline of the conveyor.
2. To determine the approximate center of gravity, draw diagonals from corner to corner of the case.
3. Divide the case length into thirds.
4. Draw a vertical line down from the center of gravity.

>If the vertical line falls within the lower third (Case 1):

The carton may tumble and  the conveyor angle will need to be decreased.

>If the vertical line falls within the upper two thirds (Case 2):

The carton should remain stable.

Note: In either case, weight distribution may affect the center of gravity. 

In addition to this evaluation method, a few practical rules of thumb can help guide conveyor design and operation:

• As a rule of thumb, the recommended maximum angle for conveying corrugated cases is 25°.
• Incline conveyors should only be used for transferring cases, not accumulation.
• On transitions from horizontal to incline, it is common practice to keep the horizontal discharge shaft centerline the same or slightly higher than the incline conveyor shaft centerline.
• Belt speeds typically remain constant between conveyors.

Finally, keep in mind that conveyor speeds also play a role in case stability, but center of gravity typically is the primary factor.