Conveyer Build

[Rvjimd]

Not much to show yet but thought I better start taking some pictures, otherwise I get nearly finished and don't have any pictures at all.





Tube from trash can at local truck and tractor place. Somebody know what this would have been used on? Tractor tire I'm guessing, seems too big for a truck tire.


Need to figure out how to make the belt tensioner/tracking adjuster. And, I tried a simple test of the slot car motor and crown gear, but it is geared way to high for the application. Too bad, it would have fit real nice on the side or even inside the belts. Guess I will need to find a larger gear and or slower torquey motor. May end up trying a servo motor.

Oh, a bit more on the "design". Length determined at this point by the size of the inner tube that I got out of the trash can at my nearest truck and tractor tire place. Aluminum sides are 1/8 x 1/2". I will add support structure once the final length is determined. I may try something shorter either with a smaller tube or splicing what I have.

Jim

[Seilbagger]

Hi Jim,

very good idea, i need also someone like this. I can't see it, but i think it will be better to position the motor on the top.

Can't wait to see it in action, hurryup, lol

[Rvjimd]

Here is a quick video of the initial belt tracking and tension testing. Probably going to cut a second belt, a bit wider and leave the frame width where it is. Also planning to add side boards with rubber skirts along the entire run, and a feed hopper.

Here is a picture showing how I cut the inner tube rubber band. This turned out pretty well, straight side and even. A square tube clamped down on the rubber. The inner tube is stretched around the 1/2" board that is clamped to the bench. This way I'm cutting only one thickness of belt.



http://youtu.be/BUrBJLY904o

Jim

[tracksntreadslou]

good start on the conveyor build .Like the idea of an inner tube with the endless belt .I made a few conveyors for my trommel last fall and used Heim joints for tension and tracking .works great ..You always push out the roller oposite side of tracking . RC4WD has some smaller sizes https://store.rc4wd.com/Steely-M4-Ro...int_p_649.html

A few pics on my thread but can get a better shot if you would like http://www.rctruckandconstruction.co...p?t=79&page=12

[Lil Giants]

Well you're further along than I am, I'm stilling cutting drive rollers... making 6 conveyers of various lengths simultaneously.

That size of tube looks about the size of tire on the back of my combine.

I used 15" car tires, rubber isn't too thick & the tube had mold? lines, so I got the cuts fairly straight with scissors. And the belts are 60 - 75mm wide.

I was just going to stretch the rubber belts a couple inches further than its actual length for a firm fit. No spring loaded belt tensioner. The drive & rear idler (as well as rollers thru the middle) will be running on flanged bearings I got from Boca Bearing (com). Also, I didn't cross cut the belt, there's no splice, it's an endless loop.

[Rvjimd]

Joe,

Ya, right now I just drilled a few sets of holes for the shaft on one end and the belt seems to track pretty good. I may try it without a tensioner first and see how it goes.

Lou,

Thanks for the link, don't know how I missed your build thread, thought I would have found it in my pre construction search.

Jim

[modelman]

Rvjimd-I know nothing about conveyers but looks like your off to a good start. I would agree that you need something to help keep the material on the belt. Keep at it!

[Seilbagger]

Hey Jim,

i get appetite for this. I think this here is a good rubber (1/2 meter) for my scale:

http://www.google.de/imgres?hl=de&bi...,r:7,s:0,i:104

[Rvjimd]

Here is another picture and video. I think I have the speed about right. Was able to use a crown, pinion, spur gear setup. Tracking on the out feed end is great, might need to adjust the in feed end. Using a 6 cell nimh, 1500 seems to work good. Temporary legs just to make testing easier. Now I need to cut a new belt to the width of the frAme and make the side skirts.

Slot car motor mounted to side frame drives crown gear, pinion on the other end of the first shaft drives the big spur gear on the drum shaft, turning the belt.



Video of conveyer using an old 6 cell nimh.

http://youtu.be/lzkYKqQ5_mo

Back to work,

Jim

[Rvjimd]

Design adjustment...

I glued on some side boards and glued rubber skirting to those. The test was not favorable, too much spillage and hard to place the skirts without creating too much friction and influence on the belt.

So, I have decided to try shaping side roller like the single set in the photo.



I have already cut a THIRD belt to be full width of the end rollers. I'm going to need a pretty wide belt in order for it to curve up into a concave shape to hold material. I am probably going to have to find a thinner belt material that will curve easier.

Jim

[Seilbagger]

Hey Jim,

thats correct, like the originals. Looks very good, but you can try to build it faster, i want to watch the function

[Lil Giants]

I machined tracking guides (exact width of the belt) right into my drive & idler rollers to hold the belt centered. The drive & idler will be 1/4" or more wider than the conveyer main frame. The plan to make my belt curve on the sides was just to use vertical rollers bolted to the outside framework, and the weight of the dirt will push the middle of the belt down on the horizontal rollers...

[Rvjimd]

Joe, how wide is you belt? I think part of my problem stems from a relatively narrow belt. That is where thinner belt may help me out.

Just thinking I may need to go a bit wider and or use thinner belt material.
Jim

[Rvjimd]

Joe,

Another question for you-

How tight will your belt be? As is mess with mine, I'm thinking a bit more tension is going to help it take the curve shape I need in order for it to hold material.

I started out pretty slack, and keep working toward more tension.

Jim

[Lil Giants]

Well, no two tubes the same with the mold lines to use as a cutting guide... one belt is 69mm, another is 72mm... that I recall off the top of my head. I measure throughout the entire length to find the widest area, the cut varies 1 - 2mm in width... not perfectly true, but that shouldn't pose any problems.

Tight enough that I could probably play a tune from it. If the bearings I got fail, then I'll install bigger bearings.

[Rvjimd]

Sounds like you are a bit tighter than I am at this point. I plan on trying a bit tighter as I add the support rollers.

Thanks for the info.

Jim

[Jared]

One trick to improve tracking is to make the end rollers slightly crowned or fatter in the middle. That's how the old belt-driven farm equipment and line shaft equipment in old machine shops were made, if you've ever wondered how the belts don't fall off. A friend of mine was building some conveyors that had about rollers about 10" by 2" and the belts wouldn't track. I put them in the lathe and tapered the outer third of either end by about .050" or so and solved the problem.

[Rvjimd]

Jared,

I want to make sure I understand correctly.

The center of the roller diameter is larger than the ends?

I tried the other way making one a bit concave in the center but it made it worse.


(I guess fatter in the middle makes sense. Not what I tried first.)
Jim

[Dieselchopper]

If you look at the drive system on a 1" wide belt sander you will see it real obvious as the wheels are real rounded. Exact same concept.

[tracksntreadslou]

Hey jim you may have to make ajustable slotted brackets to hold your end rollers .My belt is pretty tight and slips on occasion ..still trying to work the bugs out ..My drive rollers are rubber so i may insert small sharp pins around the diameter and trim them off with 1/16 sticking out with the dremel ..thinking that should help with slipping ..take your time with little adjustments at a time..I also glued rubber horseshoe strips to keep the material from falling off the belt as you can see ..a few closeup
Too Bad that treadmills are so long .would have to make a seam .thin belts and very durable ..saw two at our recycle center