Conveyor belts have been utilised in a multitude of industries for many years. Mainly they are used for horizontal transport of products, but now advancements in the machine and belts allow them to be used also for ascending and descending product applications. Conveyor belts are used in industrial applications but also on large farms, in warehousing, from freight-handling, down to your local supermarket and in movement of bulk raw materials.
If you read part 1 of this article, we have mainly focussed on the belt material itself. However you also have to look at the actual conveyor machine itself if you are going to get this right.
What are the diameters of all the rollers involved (And I mean all the rollers involved) on the machine? Not all rollers are visible; some can be hidden from view inside a centre drive module for example. If you know all of the diameters, then you need to refer back to the belt manufacturer's brochure again because there will be a minimum roller diameter given for each belt material. The reason for this dimension and the reason why it's so important is that the more rigid the belt is, the less flexible it is and the less likely it is to wrap around a small roller. If this happens you will lose traction at the drive end and the belt will rise up at each end of the conveyor, not good. On a centre drive conveyor the belt will not want to grip the powered roller and your belt could well remain stationary.
Is the conveyor an end drive or a centre drive? Centre drives usually have pinch rollers and therefore the top and bottom surfaces of the belt will make contact with the rollers, unlike with an end drive. What if you want a flighted belt? Not possible with a centre drive for this very reason.
Will the belt get wet or be cleaned frequently? If you are changing the function of the conveyor to say a food environment, then the likeliness is that the conveyor will be frequently washed. If so, then the bearings may well need to be upgraded and some if not all parts be replaced with stainless steel or plastic components.
What kind of belt tracking does the conveyor have? Some bet conveyors have "Crowned rollers" that are a slightly larger diameter in the middle of the roller. This is used to align the belt. Some other conveyors use welded on flights or cleats on the underside of the belt that uses grooves in the bed and the rollers to align the belt. Both methods use different belt designs, so be aware.
Positives And Negatives Of buying a roller conveyor for your factory
A controversial subject like buying a roller conveyor system for your factory inspires strong feelings in many people, on both sides, for and against. Putting emotional feelings aside, it is best to examine both sides as logically and cool-headedly as you can. Better to examine the position calmly and reasonably as an alternative to venting spleens in emotional interchanges over positions.
Top 5 Tips For specifying your new gravity roller conveyor system
Challenges of all kinds abound in the world today and engineers must face them daily. The human spirit is tested daily as we must contend with these various challenges . specifying your new gravity conveyor system for your new process is a challenge faced by plenty of people.
Lineshaft conveyor system or belt conveyor system - let's work it out
Knowing how to proceed and the way to get things done is extremely important. Understanding the details of the best way to go about doing it is important too. But that's not enough in itself; it does not stop there.
