Conveyor Belt Cover Rubber Selection by Loading Energy Severity

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current methods for determining conveyor belt specifications require extensive man-hours as they need to be tailored to individual use conditions, which vary significantly based on the type of objects conveyed and rubber properties, making it inefficient.

Innovation Solution

A method categorizes use conditions using horizontal and vertical energy indices, sets permissible ranges for wear and cut resistance, and selects rubber types based on representative physical properties to determine optimal specifications for the upper cover rubber, incorporating ambient temperature and wear testing data to enhance durability.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If conveyor belt specifications are determined individually for each use condition, then the durability and performance matching is improved, but the time and labor required for determination increases significantly

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedurability matchingVSAvoidman-hours
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies parameter changes by transforming the complex set of use conditions into simplified energy parameters (horizontal energy Eh and vertical energy Ev). These energy parameters serve as indices to categorize use conditions into severity levels, enabling rapid determination of appropriate rubber specifications without extensive individual analysis for each case.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Solution Approach 2:

The patent applies local quality by differentiating rubber specifications according to localized severity categories. Instead of treating all use conditions uniformly, the method identifies specific regions in the energy parameter space (C1-C5 categories) and assigns appropriate rubber physical property ranges to each region, ensuring optimal durability for each local condition while maintaining efficiency.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

2Measurement precision

If comprehensive testing of rubber properties under various conditions is performed, then the accuracy of specification determination is improved, but the complexity and time of the process increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvespecification accuracyVSAvoidtesting complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts the essential characteristics of use conditions by isolating the two most critical energy components (horizontal energy Eh and vertical energy Ev) from the complex set of operating parameters. This extraction approach maintains measurement precision by focusing on the dominant factors that actually influence rubber performance, while significantly reducing testing complexity by eliminating the need to evaluate all possible condition variations.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Data Source

PatentEP3287397B1Conveyor belt specification determining method
Publication Date: 2024.04.03 THE YOKOHAMA RUBBER CO LTD
  • EP3287397B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP3287397B1 patent drawingFigure 3~4
  • EP3287397B1 patent drawingFigure 5

AI summary

Provided is a conveyor belt specification determination method capable of efficiently determining a specification of an upper cover rubber having durability matching use conditions. Severity of a use condition of a conveyor belt (1) is categorized into categories (C1) to (C5) by using, as indices, horizontal energy (EH) and vertical energy (EV) which are applied onto the conveyor belt (1) when object to be conveyed (S) are fed, loaded, and conveyed. A database in which a permissible range of prescribed characteristics of an upper cover rubber (3), including wear resistance and cut resistance, for each of the categories (C1) to (C5) is set is created; a degree of influence of representative rubber physical properties, which affect the prescribed characteristics, of the upper cover rubber (3) on the prescribed characteristics is ascertained; a category is identified from the use conditions of the conveyor belt (1) on the basis of the database; an appropriate range of the representative rubber physical property is identified for which the prescribed characteristics are in the permissible range in the identified category; and a rubber type for which the rubber physical properties are in this appropriate range is selected as the upper cover rubber.