Conveyor belts are used in practically every manufacturing facility because of how indispensable they are. They can safely transport products, items and ingredients from one area to another and one machine to another seamlessly without human involvement. This is a win-win situation for companies who are required to follow strict sanitary practices and also require an automated movement belt to save time and streamline the entire production process.
Now conveyor belts come in many types: we have rubberized conveyor belts, metal conveyor belts, plastic conveyor belts, chain-based conveyor belts, and so on. Each of these materials serves a specific purpose in a specific industry, so different industries use different kinds of manufacturing belts. This is just the classification based on the type of material used to make conveyor belts; there are other classifications too based on their actual applications, such as high-temperature conveyor belts and wire-mesh conveyor belts.
Food industries typically use highly sterilized conveyor belts, and also those that can support food products without them topping over. This is where rubberized conveyor belts or solid metal conveyor belts are used. These belts have practically no gaps between them and are highly stable, so they are the preferred variants for the food production industry. The belts also need to be cleaned regularly, so easy cleaning is a major feature that metallic and rubberized conveyor belts can easily handle. Durability is not a major factor, as the items moved on those conveyor belts are not very heavy.
Mineral production industries typically use heavy-duty conveyor belts such as high-temperature conveyor belts that are also strong enough to bear heavy loads. While metallic conveyor belts are used in many production facilities, wire-mesh conveyor belts are the top choice for such needs. Wire mesh can easily support very heavy loads by flexing downward to ease the load applied on them with the least resistance, and they can disperse off the load more easily than a solid surface. Many conveyor belt manufacturers make custom wire-mesh belts that are resistant to high temperatures, this is a major requirement for mines and mineral production as the metals are often heated during belt transportation.
Other industries use steel and plastic conveyor belts. For plastic conveyor belts, the entire belt may be of hard plastic or the base may be steel with a plastic coating. Both steel and plastic are good options for industries that deal with chemicals during the production process. Steel and hard plastics such as HDPE offer good resistance against heat and strong chemicals such as acids and bases, which is a must for any industry that deals with chemicals during production.
The type of conveyor belt is not the only defining factor; the arrangement of the belt matters too. Many industries have their entire assembly line attached to a series of conveyor belts so that everything from start to finish is done automatically, whereas many others have breaks between belts for manual transfer. In all, the type of material being transported and the design of the production line plays an important role in the selection of conveyor belt material.
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