ITRODUCTION FOR CONVEYOR BELT

A belt conveyor is a system designed to transport or move physical items like materials,
goods, even people from one point to another. Unlike other conveying means that
employ chains, spirals, hydraulics, etc., belt conveyors will move the items using a belt.
It involves a loop of a flexible material stretched between rollers that are actuated by an
electrical motor. Because the items being transported vary in nature, the belt material
also varies by the system it is employed in. It commonly comes as a polymer or a rubber
belt.

Advantages of Belt Conveyors

The advantages of belt conveyors include:

 It is a cheap way of moving materials over long distances

 It doesn’t degrade the product being conveyed
 Loading can be done at any place along the belt.
 With trippers, the belts can offload at any point in the line.
 They do not produce as much noise as their alternatives.
 Products can be weighed at any point in the conveyor
 They can have long operating times can even work for months without
stopping
 Can be designed to be mobile as well as stationary.
 Have less dangerous hazards to human injury
 Low Maintenance costs
FLAT CONVEYOR BELT

The flat belt conveyor is one of the most common conveyor types. It is typically
used to transport items within a facility. Internal conveyance requires a series of
powered rollers/ pulleys to pull the.

The belts employed for the flat belt conveyor vary from fabrics, polymers to
natural rubbers. Because of this, it becomes versatile in terms of materials to be
transported. It is also very easy to align with the tail pulley usually mounted so it
can be adjusted to align the belt. It is generally a low speed conveyor belt.

The flat belt conveyor applications include:

 Slow assembly lines

  Washdown applications
 Light dusty industrial assembly

The Effective Pulling Force

Fu=µR*g*(m+mb+mR)

Where

 Fu = Effective pulling force

 µR = Friction Coefficient when running over roller
 g = Acceleration due to gravity
 m = Mass of goods conveyed on the whole length of the conveyor
 mb = Mass of Belt
 mR = Mass of all rotating rollers minus mass of drive roller

Speed of Conveyor
The speed of the conveyor will be the circumference of the drive pulley
multiplied by the revolutions per unit time.

Vc=D.F

 Vc = Speed of conveyor belt in ms-1

 D = Diameter of drive pulley in meters.
 F = Revolutions of drive pulley per second

Common Belt Conveyor Problems

There are several problems that belt conveyor systems can be prone to and
would need to be mitigated. These include:

Problem 1: The Conveyor Runs to One Side at a Certain Point in the System
The causes of this would include:

 Material building upon the idlers or something causing the idlers to stick
 Idlers no longer run square to the path of the conveyor.
 Conveyor frame tilted, crocked, or no longer level.
 Belt was not spliced squarely.
 Belt is not loaded equally, probably loaded off-center.
Problem 2: The Conveyor Belt Slips
The causes of this would include:

 Traction is poor between belt and pulley

 Idlers stuck or not rotating freely
 Worn out pulley legging (the shell around the pulley that helps increase friction).

Problem 3: Overstretching of the Belt

The causes of this would include:

 Belt tensioner is too tight

 Belt material selection not done properly, probably “under belted”
 Conveyor counterweight is too heavy
 The gap between idler rolls is too long