Apart from determining the details of the material to be moved, the way it will be transported, and the environment the conveyor will be used in, there are more detailed aspects that you have to be aware of for the safe use of this material handling system. The most common issues in the use of a conveying system is product slippage. It can be prevented with the incorporation of cleats, buckets, high friction belting, and any other safety features that avoid such slip.
In particular, a heavily-loaded belt conveyor may slip backward if its drive turns off. This is why a backstopping brake is usually employed in this conveyor system that automatically works whenever the motor stops due to malfunction or power failure. Most of the time, this brake can be released so that the conveyor can be reversed for the unloading purposes. While in some kind of belt conveyor, specifically those used in glass bottle making, some amount of slippage is necessary. This happens usually in the form of back-pressure relief that’s designed to prevent breakage to the bottles as they start accumulating in a filler feed.
When it comes to static electricity, the belt conveyor is the most vulnerable to this issue since the belt is being pulled continuously against the end pulleys. So, when the products being moved involve electrical components, it can be very dangerous. This is why anti-static belt conveyor measures should be in place, such as static control brushes or the use of conductive belts, to protect the products being conveyed.
Other safety consideration is the incorporation of soft starter or clutch mechanism to prevent overloading the motor when powering fully loaded belts or chains. In fact, there are some belt conveyors which are equipped with geared motor drives. These units have internal motors and gear drives within the head rollers, eliminating the need for power transmission components as well as externally mounted motors.
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