Side-Flexing Modular Conveyor Belt Tapered Hinge Pin for Bend Loads
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing side flexing modular conveyor belts face limitations in tensile load capacity due to the distribution of load on the radial outer edge of the belt, which restricts modularity and increases costs when negotiating bends, especially in spiral conveyors.
Innovation Solution
A side flexing modular conveyor belt design featuring a main hinge pin and an auxiliary hinge pin with a tapered section that transfers tensile load, allowing the auxiliary pin to engage multiple protrusions during bends, facilitating modularity and reducing manufacturing costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If tensile load is distributed only on the radial outer edge of the belt during bends, then the belt can negotiate bends, but the tensile load capacity is limited and costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The hinge pin is divided into two functional segments: a main body portion that provides structural support and a tapered load transfer portion that distributes tensile load across multiple protrusions. This segmentation allows the belt to handle higher tensile loads during bends without requiring expensive specialized modules, as the load distribution mechanism is achieved through the geometric shape of the hinge pin itself.
Solution Approach 2:
The hinge pin features a tapered section with varying cross-sectional dimensions along its length, creating local quality variations. The larger cross-section at the load transfer end allows engagement with multiple protrusions to distribute tensile load, while the smaller cross-section at the main body provides adequate structural support. This local quality optimization enables high load capacity without uniformly increasing the entire pin's dimensions, thus controlling manufacturing costs.
2Adaptability or versatility
If standard plastic modules are used, then modularity is maintained and costs are reduced, but the ability to reliably transfer tensile load during bends is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The hinge pin's cross-sectional dimensions are varied along its length, with the load transfer portion having larger dimensions than the main body portion. This parameter change enables the standard plastic modules to reliably transfer tensile loads during bends, as the tapered geometry provides sufficient contact area with multiple protrusions without requiring specialized module designs. The dimensional variation is optimized to balance load capacity with the constraints of standard injection molding processes.
3Ease of manufacture
If the hinge pin has uniform cross section, then manufacturing is simplified, but the tensile load distribution across multiple protrusions is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
Rather than using a uniform cross-section, the hinge pin incorporates a tapered portion with locally varied cross-sectional dimensions. The larger cross-section at the load transfer end provides sufficient material volume and contact area to engage multiple protrusions effectively, while the smaller main body portion maintains manufacturing simplicity. This localized dimensional variation optimizes tensile load distribution without significantly complicating the manufacturing process.
Data Source
AI summary
Side flexing modular conveyor belt, comprising a plurality of rows of conveyor modules, the rows being arranged successively in a conveying direction, and each row comprising one or more conveyor modules arranged side by side transversely to the conveying direction, so that top faces of the conveyor modules together form a conveying plane. The modules are provided with forward link elements at a front side of the module that extend in conveying direction and with rearward link elements at a rear side of the module that extend opposite to the conveying direction, forward and rearward link elements of modules of successive rows being hingedly coupled with hinge elements that extend transversely to the conveying direction through hinge openings in the hinge elements so that the modules can rotate relative to each about a first axis in or parallel to the conveying plane as well as about a second axis perpendicular to the conveying plane. The hinge elements between successive rows of conveyor modules comprise a main hinge pin that extends along the first axis across at least a center of the conveyor belt, and an auxiliary hinge pin that extends along the first axis from a lateral edge of the conveyor belt towards the center of the conveyor belt. The main hinge pin has a substantially constant cross section, preferably a cylindrical cross section, with a first dimension in conveying direction, and the auxiliary hinge pin includes a tapered section that tapers off towards said opposite lateral edge of the conveyor belt to a second, smaller dimension in conveying direction.