Belt Tracking Systems
The ACE Suresteer idler is ideal for installation as a retro-fit item on conveyors with a history of localised tracking problems – for example due to structural misalignment or variations in loading conditions.
The idler works via the dual V steering profile of the rollers which forces the belt to run centrally. The unit has threaded adjustment on each side so that the whole rig can be angled precisely.
Many conveyor users choose to fit Suresteer as a preventative measure, just before the tail drum or ahead of the drive on centre-driven conveyors.
Intelligent Belt Tracker (AceIBT)
The development of the AceIBT has applied the principle of Knowledge Based Systems, a process designed to capture human skill and embed it into an automated system.
In this case, we have coupled a closely positioned alignment sensor through a control system, to a motorised steering roller set. This orientation is intended to replicate what the belt men did, observe the initial off-centre movement, then go back upstream and adjust close to the source of the off-centre force.
The positioning of the sensors and the powered steering rollers can be set to suit each conveyor, but the most likely effective sites are just after the load point, and at the beginning of the return strand of belt travel.
On long conveyors, or where problems are encountered at different locations, the installation site can be varied to suit the problem.
The control system can be adjusted to set the steering roller deflection angle and the speed of response to suit the particular alignment problem.
Trials have shown that a 900mm wide belt can be maintained within a 30mm band of alignment, through a series of loading conditions, The device responds to minor variations in belt and joint straightness, which can sometimes introduce the initial instability which causes significant miss-alignment when combined with other off-centre forces.
The control system has the potential to become programmable, so that the ‘Intelligent Belt Tracker’ can learn settings which cope with regular variations in operating conditions.
Ace Conveyors Head Office
Plumtree Industrial Estate
Harworth, Doncaster
South Yorkshire
DN11 8EW, UK