Conveyor belt selection tips

Conveyor belt selection tips

Conveyor belt selection tips

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 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.

In part 3 we can look at the characteristics of the conveyor accessories and how they impact on your belt choice.

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