For operation, the belts rely on friction to effectively transmit power between wheels, cogs, sprockets, pulleys and more through the drive of a motor.
The function in an industrial setting such as textiles, food processing, packaging, chemical plants and so on, is to be able to maintain even power distribution throughout live roller conveyors.
What are the 4 Different Types of Industrial Machine Belts?
Before heading to the round belt supplier without knowing which belt is optimal for your live roller conveyors, it’s important to understand the four different types of industrial machine belts.
The specification of each of these four belt types relies on the cross-section of the belt, itself. Looking at this cross-section helps to understand how transmission occurs along with which industrial live roller conveyors will need the round belt supplier or a different category.
1. Round Belt
The round belt features a circular cross-section made for light-loading machines and smaller tasks requiring continued movement. They are designed to be used with pulleys that have a V-shaped groove. A benefit is that they can easily bought from any round belt supplier to be DIY cut-to-length and merged to suit the pulley system.
2. Flat Belt
A flat belt has a long and thin rectangular cross-section in order to join heavy-load-bearing wheels. As the main choice within the 19th and early 20th century, the leather flat belt was a common sight within crowned pulleys on farms, in factories, in mills and in water pumps.
As one of the most widely adopted belt throughout many industrial placements on a live roller conveyor, the allrounder V-shaped belt has a trapezoid cross-section. Due to this thicker cross-section, they require large pulleys. However, they take the popular vote over flat belts as they carry secure and increased pulley due to the body-to-surface ratio.
We've written a few V-Belt related articles, we encourage you to check them out below to understand more about V-Belts:
Read more: 3 Warning Signs of V-Belt Premature Failure
Read more: How to Read V-Belt Numbers
4. Toothed Belt (aka Timing Belt)
Also called timing belts, notched belts and synchronous belts, the toothed belt has a lengthways cross-section resembling a series of V-shaped belts lying atop a flat belt, hence ‘toothed’. These specific belts are good for time-sensitive live roller conveyors as they remain stable and keep a constant transmission of power. One of the best examples of the toothed belt commonly seen throughout the everyday is on modern bicycles.
Within these specific four types of industrial machine belts for live roller conveyors, there are various subcategories. From belts that specialize in their abilities to remove static electricity build-up to others with the flexibility for crossed transmission of power.
Here are the other types of machine belt you’ll find with your round belt supplier:
You can also learn the various length measuring techniques in the article here the next time you are looking for a belt replacement.
What are Round Belts Used for in Industry?
Round belts are commonly used throughout domestic and industrial mechanisms such as light loading conveyor systems. They are also suitable for implementing twists and crosses between perpendicular pulleys as they create a seamless and flexible transition to each pulley without creating heat friction or falling off. Therefore, they have fewer maintenance and wear issues and can operate at a far quieter volume than other belt categories.
With this, round belts are often also referred to as endless round belts.
Often, round belts will accompany round pulley systems with a 95% effectiveness rate, while using friction from a stretched elastic fitting. They also feature varying thicknesses, textures, sizes, colors and root durability (I.e., speed, UV protection, heat, etc.) that can be bought from a round belt supplier.
Typically, round belts are manufactured using naturally elastic compounds such as rubber but may also consist of synthetic rubber materials like Neoprene and Buna-N or they could feature flexible polyurethane plastics.
Given this rooted elastic requirement, it makes round belts highly durable and forgiving. Therefore, tensile strength of the belt must be measured prior to stretching onto the pulley system.
Today, round belts on live roller conveyors are used in anything from elevators and cable cars to sewing machines, hoovers, printing processors and more.
Tips to Maintain Round Belts in Machines and How to Replace them When Worn
In maintaining the effectiveness of live roller conveyors and other transmissible power operations, it’s important to implement predictive and preventive maintenance checks on the round belt.
To find out more about the different methods of maintenance, you can check out the suggested articles below:
Read more: Reactive Maintenance May Not Be The Best Idea
Read more: Breaking It Down: Predictive and Preventive Maintenance
Read more: Proactive Maintenance: Your Comprehensive Maintenance System
Read more: Predictive Maintenance Program to Prolong Electric Motor Lifespan and Prevent Failure
When machines are powered down and all components are situated in a safe position, you can begin to carry out inspections on the round belt.
Finding the Right Belt Supplier
When it comes to finding the right round belt supplier, look no further than Singapore’s dedicated industrial solutions provider. As the authorized distributor for the Optibelt range, SLS Bearings provide all belt types from V-shaped belts to toothed belts as well as the corresponding pulleys.
If you would like to find out more about sourcing your next belt, contact us below: