Belt Alignment Systems
A conveyor that does not run in alignment can cause
material spillage, component failure,and suffer costly damage to its belt and structures.
Allowing a belt to run to one side can greatly reduce its service life, as it becomes stretched or folds over on itself. Expensive belts run against steel chutes and structural members to the point where the belts (and even the steel structures) are damaged, often beyond repair.
Belts that are hundreds of metres long and that cost several hundred dollars per meter can easily represent a total replacement cost of one million dollars. To protect against damage and provide a proper, long-term return on this investment, it is essential to maintain proper belt tracking.
In many ways, proper belt tracking is a precursor and fundamental requirement to resolving many of the fugitive material problems.
Belt tracking must be controlled before spillage can be eliminated; if the belt wanders back and forth through the loading zone, material is more readily released under the skirtboard seal on either side (or both). Just as the belt path must be stabilized horizontally through proper belt support and the elimination of wing pulleys, the path must be controlled in the horizontal direction through the elimination of belt wander.
Enter the ESS Belt Tracker. This unique belt tracking system that uses the force of the wandering belt to position a steering idler and so correct the path. This device uses a multiple-pivot, torque-multiplying system to supply a mechanical advantage to improve tracking correction.
This style of belt tracker transfers the motion of mistracking to the steering idler through its unique parallel linkage. This requires less force to initiate the work and, as it steers, needs less force to turn the belt. Belt tracking becomes a continuous, active, precise, micro-turning of the belt path.
This training device uses guide rollers that are set very close (6mm) to the belt. Because the rollers are set at the edge of the belt, it can sense smaller movements of the belt and make corrections after very slight misalignments. Rather than waiting for a powerful mistracking force, the multi-pivot belt training device adjusts constantly, reacting to small mistracking forces, providing continuous, precise corrections of the steering roller.
It has been demonstrated that the steering force of training idlers is most effective at small angles. If the angle is too great – over roughly 5ƒ of misalignment – the belt slides across the idler like a car hydroplaning across a patch of ice. Consequently, it is more effective to stimulate quick, low-angle corrections of belt mistracking than to wait for one larger correction angle.
The side sensing rollers use longer arms to increase the distance from the guide rolls to the steering idler. This allows the unit’s torque arm to act as a force multiplier, increasing the mechanical advantage of the steering action. As a result, the belt tracking system can correct the belt line with one-half the force required with conventional training idlers.
Unlike the other belt trainers, the multi-pivot tracking device is installed so that the belt crosses the steering roller before it reaches the guide rollers. This means the guide rolls adjust the "corrected" belt path rather than the mistracking belt path. The result is a roller that is continuously working to prevent the belt from moving very far from the proper path.
The multi-pivot design allows the rollers to move perpendicular to the structure’s centre line, while directing the steering idler to the proper angle instead of pivoting and pinching the belt edge.
The continuous movement of the multi-pivot belt training device prevents it from building up with material and seizing into a misalignment position. Consequently, it proves a consistent and reliable belt training system.
