Glossary of Conveyor Belting Terms | Wire Belt UK

Name: Wire Belt Company Ltd
Address: Eurolink Industrial Centre, Castle Rd, Sittingbourne ME10 3RF, Sittingbourne, ME10 3RF, GB
Telephone: +441795421771

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Aligned belt	A Flat-Flex belt, which has had shapes, formed in each strand of the belt forming distinct rows in which a product can rest.
Architectural mesh	This is a wire conveyor belt, or mesh panel, used architecturally. This may be as external cladding to provide a decorative finish, screening or protection. It can be used internally to divide a space or provide an aesthetic feature.
Balanced spiral	(or balance weave) A woven metal belt made up by joining left hand and right hand wound spirals, retained in place by crimped cross rods.
Belt supports	(or carry ways) These may also be referred to as wear strips and provide belt support on either product carrying side or return side or both. Depending on the material used, they can greatly influence the tension in the belt.
Blank	A support disk, similar to a sprocket with no teeth.
Bottom belt	The product-carrying belt in a dual belt system, such as in a fryer. See “hold down” to describe top belt.
Carry way	See “Belt support”
Catenary sag	A belt hanging under its own weight between two (2) supports in the curved shape. This is our preferred gravity take up.
Chain edge belts	Typically used with balanced spiral belts with rods slipped through spirals across the belt width and connected to a roller chain. Handles heavy loads. Used on long conveyors.
Clean sweep	A sprocket form exclusively supplied by Wire Belt, which prevents accumulation of debris between sprocket teeth.
Cleat	See flight
Clinched edge	A type of edge featured on spiral woven and Honeycomb belts
Compound belt	A Flat-Flex belt made with one or more special strands with “flights” formed into a repeating pattern.
Counter weight	(or gravity weight) take up. A weighted roll within the belt circuit, which is used to tension the belt at a constant, level.
Cross flights	Cross flights refer to a “flight/Bar” that can support and guide the product in various ways. Such as up an incline/decline.
Crown	Flat-Flex belt, pre-stressed in a positive camber across the belt width, so when heat is applied, the belt will remain flat.
Curved conveyor	A conveyor, whose belt has the ability to turn mild corners.
Decline conveyor	A conveyor whose product exits at a lower elevation than the loading level. See also incline conveyors.
Discharge end	Unloading end of the conveyor.
DLE	Abbreviation for double loop edge. Reinforces the outside edge of the belt. Available with finer wires only. For single loop end, see SLE.
Duplex chain	This refers to a double chain edge running in unison to drive the belt.
End roll	The shaft at either end of a conveyor, but not a drive roll.
Endless	A belt supplied pre-joined to a set circuit length.
Enrober	A machine used to coat products, most commonly referring to a chocolate enrober.
Enrober belting	Flat-Flex Type belting, as used on enrobers.
Flattened wire	Flattened wire can be used in spiral woven meshes to create a stable platform with greater contact between the product and the belt, without reducing the overall open area of the belt.
Flat-Aligned	A Flat-Flex belt with a horizontal formation, in every space, to create a ‘Meat Roller’ belt.
Flex-Turn®	A conveyor, manufactured by Wire Belt, which transfers product gently and in line around corners.
Flight	A shape pre-formed into the Flat-Flex strand that typically sticks out above the mesh. Usually used to help push a product up an incline. See compound belt.
Friction drive	Friction drive describes a belt driven by a large diameter drum, utilising friction between the belt and drum surface rather than sprocket teeth
Gear	See sprocket.
Gravity weight	See counter weight.
Hertz	Is a unit of frequency, It is defined as one cycle per second (E.g 60 Hz = 60 Cycles per second).
Hold down belt	Also called “submerger belt” or “top belt”. Used in a dual belt system, this belt is used as means to hold product under a liquid such as in a fryer.
Honeycomb belt	Also called “Flat wire belt”. A conveyor belt made of flat steel strip, formed into an open mesh with heavy-duty connecting rods linking the belt together.
Idle roll	A non-driven shaft in the conveyor circuit. Often referred to as the infeed roll or discharge end roll, end roll, or a support roll.
Idler rollers	Steel or plastic pipes which spin freely on an end roll. Prevents damage to the “joints”. Commonly used as supports for belt return.
Incline conveyor	See also decline conveyors. A conveyor with discharge higher than the infeed.
Infeed drive	Belt is being driven or pushed from the loading end of the conveyor.
Infeed end	The loading end of the conveyor.
Inverter	An electronic device that converts DC (Direct Current) To AC (Alternating Current)
Joint	The bend in the wire, which in relation with another, defines a “space”. Looks like a “Z” on Flat-Flex. Point where the belt hinges. Same as Z bend.
Knuckled	A knuckle joint is used to connect the two rods which are under the tensile load, when there is requirement of small amount of flexibility or angular moment is necessary.
Machine tooth roll	(see also Pin Roll). The roll is a solid steel drive shaft having teeth cut into it to match the belt. Used with balanced spiral belts for direct drive.
Mat belt	Another name for Honeycomb belt.
Mesh	Sizing designation for Flat-Flex belts, i.e. pitch and the wire diameter.
Metal fatigue	How metals fail (and “snap”) after a period of cyclic flexing.
Micron	The term micron and the symbol µ were officially accepted for use in isolation to denote the micrometre.
Nominal	(…of a quantity or dimension) stated or expressed but not necessarily corresponding to the exact value.
Nose bar	A type of non-rotating end roll, usually UHMW, used for minimum diameter transfer where shaft deflection would be a problem.
Peek	Poly Ether Ether Ketone.
Pin joint	Joining method for Self-Tracking Belt.
Pin roll	A drive method for balanced spiral belts.
Pitch	The dimension from the centre of one wire to the centre of the next along the length of the conveyor (measured in mm.).
Polyacetal	Ac, otherwise referred to as Acetal or POM (or acetal) Strong, thermoplastic with low coefficient of friction. Temperature range -40°C to 65°C. Good balance of mechanical and chemical properties.
Positive drive	Positive drive describes a belt driven by sprockets, either through the belt mesh or through attached side chains.
Reinforcing plate	Reinforcing plates provide most of the pull strength of an Eye-Flex belt. They also provide a bearing surface to run on the belt supports.
Retracting conveyor	Commonly referred to as a shuttle conveyor.
Reverse bend	Same as reverse roll, or reverse shaft. The path Flat-Flex belt takes when it is flexed in the opposite direction from a normal transfer. Typically, this is a shaft used to increase the wrap around a drive or to assist the belt’s change of direction.
Reverse crown	A Flat-Flex, pre-stressed with a negative camber across the width of the belt, usually done on a “hold down” belt.
Ring spacer	This versatile variation of Eye-Flex uses rings between the wires to increase the belt gap. By increasing the belt gap, more air will circulate around the bottom of the product. Increasing the product exposure to this additional air flow improves the efficiency of your process.
SLE	Single loop edge. This is the standard Flat-Flex edge configuration.
Shuttle conveyor	These conveyors constantly push the belt and then retract to discharge/drop product in lanes. Used to spread product across wide belts from a single lane product supply.
Space	The distance between the centre of two adjacent belt joints or Z-bends in Flat-Flex belts.
Spring spacer	Springs are used in Eye-Flex belts to allow flexibility in link spacing. Springs also expose a large proportion of the connecting rod for improved cleaning and sanitizing.
Sprocket	A machined part with any number of teeth, as on the rim of a wheel, arranged to fit and engage Flat-Flex belts. They are specifically made to fit on a shaft that together with the sprocket positively drives the belt.
Submerger belt	See “hold down belt”
Supports	See “belt supports”.
Tensile	A measurement of the “pull” strength (to failure) of a material.
Tension	A measure of “pull” in a system.
Top assembly	Conveyor supplied without a leg frame.
Transfer rollers	Spool shaped rollers that turn freely on a shaft where Flat-Flex joints run in the groove.
UHMW	Ultra high molecular weight. This is a high-density polyethylene resin used in the manufacture of wear strips with excellent wear characteristics.
Under welded wire	Eye-Flex belting with under-welded wire spacing should be considered on applications where hygiene and sanitation are critical.
USDA	United States Department of Agriculture. Federal agency that regulates equipment that may be employed in meat, dairy and poultry processing.
Wear strips	Plastic or metal strips that the belt rides on to increase the useful life of the frame and prevent wear to the conveyor belting.
Welded	This refers to where two or more pieces of metal are joined together.
Welded button	A welded button that forms part of the belt edge.
Wire	Metal drawn into a very long thread or rod, usually circular in cross section.
Wrap	The amount of belt in contact with the drive sprocket; normally 180°, but could range between 120 to 220°.
Z bend	The bend in the wire, which in relation with another, defines a “space”. Looks like a “Z”. Point where the belt hinges. (Same as joint)