Setting up a warehouse and purchasing the tools you’ll need to produce and manufacture both cost time and money. All businesses aim to achieve this ideal production rate.
Installing conveyor belts in your company and automating the carrying process will significantly improve productivity. This short article will look at installing a conveyor in your warehouse, walking you through the process from beginning to end.
What is a Conveyor System?
A conveyor system transport items throughout the facility and, if necessary, to another warehouse nearby. These devices can be operated manually, by gravity, or by the motor. Conveyors may also aid in the improvement of warehouse operations by organizing transportation processes and reducing human error.
There are various types of warehouse conveyor systems for different stock items. The type of conveyor required by a warehouse manager is determined by the nature of the products stored in their facility.
Step-by-Step Installation Process
- Positioning the Roll
When positioning the roll for threading, consider the relative positions of the belt’s top and bottom covers or surfaces. After being transported to the installation location, the roll of belting should be mounted on a suitable shaft so that it can be unrolled and threaded onto the conveyor.
Therefore, when mounting the roll, the belt must lead off the top if it is pulled onto the carrying or troughing idlers and off the bottom if it is pulled onto the return idlers. The role will rotate opposite to the arrows on the crate when you pull the belt onto the conveyor.
Sometimes the belt must be pulled off the roll and reefed, such as in mines where there isn’t enough headroom for roll manoeuvring. The belt’s loops should have sharp bends, and no weight should ever be applied to it while it is in this position to prevent kinking or undue strain. Ideally, it should be positioned where the bends are at each end.
When headroom for mounting on a horizontal shaft is insufficient, mounting on a turntable with a vertical spindle is an option. As it exits the turntable, the belt must twist 90 degrees. A turntable mounted on wheels or skids is sometimes used underground to transport belt rolls while lying on their sides and then unroll them where needed.
- New roll Installation
Notably, the new roll can be installed if the belt is changed. The old belt is clamped and cut, and half the usual quantity of plate-type fasteners are used to splice the new belt to the leading end of the old belt. A truck, tractor, mine locomotive, or other traction device is attached to the old belt’s trailing end. The towing device drags the belt away while the conveyor drive motor pulls on the new belt, giving the conveyor drive pulley enough slack side tension.
A rope or cable must be attached to a clamp at the end of the belt in a new conveyor installation with little to no slope. Cutting a hole through it or inserting ears into its corners is insufficient for tying on a rope when clamping to the end of the belt to pull it on the conveyor. The width of the clamp should receive an equal amount of pull from the end.
Due to its need to fit through narrow openings, the clamp is typically made of two pieces of 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch plate 4 inches long and roughly equal in width to the belt. The final step is to position one piece against each surface of the belt and secure it with bolts inserted through both plates at 6-inch intervals and 2 inches from the end of the belt. The rope is then shackled to the clamp, or an eye is welded to one of the plates. To pull the belt onto the conveyor, the rope or cable is threaded over it and fastened to a towing mechanism.
- The Handling Procedure
The handling procedure differs slightly (12 degrees or more) for installations with a relatively high degree of slope. The belt roll is placed in the manner previously mentioned. Since the head pulley is the most accessible, it is frequently discovered that this is the most convenient location. The conveyor and return sides are threaded separately, assuming the conveyor is long enough to require more than one splice. The conveyor side or heavier cover must be up on the carrying side during the return run.
Because of the weight of the belt on the slope, tension at the roll tends to build up as the belt is fed on. As a result, some form of braking is required. Traditionally, a belt clamp mounted on the conveyor structure is used to thread the belt through. Placing additional clamps approximately 1000 feet apart on long slopes would be best. Workers are stationed at each clamp when more than one clamp is used and are responsible for adjusting the clamps. It would be best to take precautions to stop the belt from escaping. One roll is spliced onto another and fed onto the conveyor when worn out.
If the conveyor and return sides have been fed separately, the final splice should be made where the ends of the belt meet at the bottom of the slope. Here, a much lower splicing tension is required. You can make the last splice at the top of the slope, but it needs to have the right tension.
Station personnel at designated points along the conveyor system helps prevent the belt from becoming entangled in the structure and causing belt damage. Pull the belt ends together until they overlap the splicing length.
Benefits of Conveyor Systems
- Speedy Delivery
Conveyors are beneficial in large storage facilities because they expedite the delivery of items throughout the facility. Gravity-powered or motor-powered conveyors are faster than human resources at transporting items throughout a facility.
- Increased Productivity
Because conveyor systems do all of the heavy lifting, worker productivity improves. Human workers will have more energy to handle other tasks if strenuous tasks are removed from them.
- Minimized Risks
Conveyor systems are also advantageous because they reduce the risk of accidents. Workers carrying heavy items are at risk of injury due to the strain of heavy lifting. Conveyors reduce risks by transporting these items on stable platforms without the machines becoming fatigued.
Bottomline
Now that you’ve completed the entire installation process, it’s time for the most exciting part: turning on your new conveyor belt. As soon as the conveyor is configured to your specifications, you can train your employees on conveyor safety precautions and adjust your production system to accommodate this new time-saving piece of equipment. Congratulations: your conveyor is now operational and saving you money daily.
This easy step-by-step guide will show how simple it’s to install a conveyor belt in your facility this year.
