Metal-Wire Conveyor Belt With Removable Hinge Rods
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional metal-wire conveyor belts have difficulty in being easily opened for servicing due to welded hinge rods, and service points are often spaced far apart, making length adjustments cumbersome.
Innovation Solution
The conveyor belt design includes hinge rods with removable rod caps that allow easy opening and closing of the belt at regular intervals, using aligned rod holes and hinge joints with blocking structures to maintain belt integrity during servicing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If hinge rods are welded to tension links to maintain belt integrity, then belt strength and stability are improved, but ease of servicing and opening the belt deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The hinge rods are divided into two distinct segments: a first portion that is welded to the tension link to maintain strength, and a second portion that is removable and capped to enable easy opening for servicing. This segmentation allows the belt to maintain integrity during operation while enabling easy opening when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The removable cappable portion of the hinge rod is extracted as a separate serviceable element. By removing the rod cap and extracting the second portion of the hinge rod, the belt can be opened for servicing without affecting the welded first portion that maintains belt integrity during normal operation.
2Device complexity
If service points are spaced far apart to reduce complexity, then device complexity is reduced, but ease of servicing and frequency of maintenance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The hinge rod design with removable cappable portions serves multiple functions: it maintains belt integrity during operation through the welded first portion, enables easy opening for servicing through the removable second portion, and can be configured at regular intervals to provide frequent access points without increasing overall system complexity.
3Ease of repair
If hinge rods are made removable to enable easy opening, then ease of servicing is improved, but belt stability and structural integrity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The hinge rod is segmented into a welded first portion that provides stable, permanent attachment to maintain belt integrity, and a removable second portion with rod cap that enables easy opening. The blocking structure on the first portion prevents accidental disengagement, ensuring stability during operation while allowing controlled access when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the hinge rod have different properties: the first portion is welded and blocked to provide maximum stability and integrity, while the second portion is designed to be removable and cappable to provide ease of opening. This local differentiation of properties allows both stability and serviceability to coexist.
Data Source
AI summary
A modular metal-wire conveyor belt constructed of belt rows having an interior article-supporting wire-mesh section flanked by tension links at opposite side edges. Hinge rods through the article-supporting sections and the tension links in adjacent belt rows join adjacent modules at hinge joints into an endless belt loop. Some of the hinge rods have blocking structure at the inner sides of the tension links to maintain the belt's width constant. Other hinge rods are devoid of blocking structure and have rod caps on one end that can be removed to allow the rod to be pulled out of the hinge joint to open the belt for servicing. The article-supporting wire- mesh section can define a flat or a curved top.