subject: Conveyor Language 101 [print this page] When you travel abroad, you sometimes find yourself in a situation where you have difficulties communicating with others using their language. You know how frustrating this can get when you are not able to express yourself more fully and connect with the person you are having a conversation with.
The work place can become a similar experience as we encounter industry specific jargons in our daily interactions with co-workers. Being knowledgeable with the basic definitions of the terms that are used in your workplace can spell success to anybody. The industry of conveyors is no different. People who work in this industry have used and maintained a sizeable set of industry specific vocabulary words and phrases. Learning the words that are used daily around these machines will make your working experience with them a lot more manageable and enjoyable.
We shall have to take a look at the rather easy words that are used around conveyors and move on to more complicated terms later. A belt scraper is a device that is used to take away unwanted fragments that are stuck to the conveyor's moving parts. The plow is another familiar term used in this industry. It refers to the part that redirect, reroutes or releases materials as it move along the system.
Not an ode to cowboys if you hear the word spur analyzed in your next conveyor meeting your mind will not wander to the ranch but sectional units that switch packages from mainlines to side channels. Other simpler conveyor verbiage includes take-ups, tread plates, undertrussings, axles, brake motors, chain drives, emergency pull cords, frame spacers, guard rails, limit switches and pivot plates. If you really want to impress or show off your conveyor lexicon then adding additional more complex terms will be necessary.
The next time you want to increase your conveyor terminology prowess a quick search and study of this article just might be a starting remedy. As an avid sports fan the word cleat always grabs my attention. Moving away from the astro turf and pitch of the field, the word cleat in conveyor discussions means a part of the system that executes as a shover, supporter, feeler or signaler. Another one of the more fascinating conveyor phrases is the nip point guard. Not a new NBA position, a nip point guard is a conveyor feature that protects jagged edges and angled merges from being exposed or hazardous towards workers.
Dutchmen, return idlers, chutes, slug modes, cross bracings, V-belts and tread plates are some of the more complicated and highfaluting terms that are unique to conveyors. As you may have already realized, conveyor jargon is a very rich and complex system of words and phrases that could easily confuse the uninitiated.
Differences in culture are a very wonderful and amazing characteristic of the world that we live in. Cultural beauty is expressed in many forms and places but not as much as in language and words. Conveyors are not very much different than the outside world. The industry has a rich vocabulary that is unique in and of itself. If we study and appreciate this wonderful language we will begin to more fully understand the people that work with these massive machines.
