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Glossary of Conveyor Terms

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ACCUMULATING CONVEYOR:  Any conveyor designed to allow collection (accumulation) of material.  May be roller, live roller, belt or gravity conveyors.

ALLIGATOR LACING:  Lacing attached to the belt with a hammer.

AXLE:  A non-rotating shaft on which wheels or rollers are mounted.

BACK PRESSURE:  The amount of force applied to a package to stop the package or collection of package.

BAG FLATTENER:  A mounting assembly used to hold one conveyor upside down over another conveyor in order to squeeze or flatten the product.

BALL TABLE:  A group of ball transfers over which flat surface objects may be moved in any direction.

BALL TRANSFER:  A device in which a larger ball is mounted and retained on a hemispherical face of small balls.

BARE PULLEY:  A pulley that does not have the surface of its face covered (or lagged).

BEARING:  A machine part in or on which a shaft, axle, pin or other parts rotate.

BED:  The part of a conveyor upon which the load rests or slides while being conveyed.

BED LENGTH:  Length of bed sections only required to make up conveyor excluding pulleys, etc., that may be assembled at ends.

BED WIDTH:  Refers to the overall width of a bed section.

BELT:  A flexible band placed around two or more pulleys for the purpose of transmitting motion, power or materials from one point to another.

BELT SCRAPER:  A blade or brush caused to bear against the moving conveyor belt for the purpose of removing material sticking to the conveyor belt.

BELT SPEED:  The length of belt, which passes a fixed point within a given time.  It is usually expressed in terms of "feet per minute".

BETWEEN RAIL WIDTH:  (BR) referred to as the distance between the conveyor frame rails on a roller bed, live roller or gravity type conveyor.  Also referred to as (BF) Between Frame.

BOOSTER CONVEYOR:  Any type of powered conveyor used to regain elevation lost in gravity roller or wheel conveyor lines.

BRAKE MOTOR:   A device usually mounted on a motor shaft between motor and reducer with means to engage automatically when the electric current is cut off or fails.

BRAKE ROLLERS:  Air or mechanically operated brakes used underneath roller conveyor to slow down or stop packages being conveyed.

BUTT COUPLING:  Angles or plates designed to join conveyor sections together.

"C" FACE DRIVE:  A motor and reducer combination where the two units are flanged and are coupled for connection to each other and have one out-put shaft.

CAPACITY:  The number of pieces, volume, or weight of material that can be handled by a conveyor in a unit of time when operating at a given speed.

CASTERS:  Wheels mounted in a fork (either rigid or swivel) used to support and make conveyors portable.

CEILING HANGERS:  Lengths of steel rod, attached to the ceiling, from which conveyors may be supported to provide maximum utilization of floor space or when required height exceeds floor support capability.

CENTER DRIVE:  A drive assembly mounted underneath normally near the center of the conveyor, but may be placed anywhere in the conveyor length.  Normally used in reversing or incline applications.

CHAIN:  A series of links pivotally joined together to form a medium for conveying or transmitting motions of power.

CHAIN CONVEYOR:  Any type of conveyor in which one or more chains act as the conveying element.

CHAIN DRIVE:  A power transmission device employing a drive chain and sprockets.

CHAIN GUARD:  A covering or protection for drive or conveyor chains for safety purposes.

CHAIN ROLLER CONVEYOR:  A conveyor in which the tread rollers have attached sprockets which are driven by chain.

CHUTE:  A trough through which objects are lowered by gravity.  Can either be a slider bed or roller/wheel bed.

CLEAT:  An attachment fastened to the conveying surface to act as a pusher, support check or trip, etc. to help propel material, parts or packages along the normal path of conveyor travel.

CLEATED BELT:  A belt having raised sections spaced uniformly to stabilize flow of material on belts operating on inclines.  Cleats may be a part of the belt or fastened on.

CLIPPER LACING:  Lacing attached to the belt with a clipper-lacing machine.

CLUTCH DRIVE:  Drive used to disengage motor from reducer without stopping the motor or cutting the power.

CLUTCHBRAKE DRIVE:  Drive used to disengage motor from reducer and stop conveyor immediately without stopping the motor or cutting the power.

CONSTANT SPEED DRIVE:  A drive with no provisions for variable speed or a drive with the characteristics necessary to maintain a constant speed.

CONVERGING:  A section of roller or wheel conveyor where two conveyors meet and merge into one conveyor.

CONVEYING SURFACE:  Normal working surface of the conveyor.

CROSS BRACING:  Rods and turnbuckles placed diagonally across roller bed or live roller type conveyors to aid in squaring frames, necessary for tracking purposes.

CROSSOVER:  A short section of conveyor placed in a conveyor when drive is switched to opposite side of conveyor.

CROWNED PULLEY:  A pulley that tapers equally from both ends toward the center, the diameter being the greatest at the center.

CURVE CONVEYOR:  Any skate wheel, roller or belt conveyor that is produced with a degree of bend so as to convey products away from the straight flow.

DECLINE CONVEYOR:  A conveyor transporting down a slope.

DEGREE OF INCLINE:  Angle of slope (in degrees) that a conveyor is installed.

DIFFERENTIAL CURVE:  A curved section of roller conveyor having a conveying surface of two or more concentric rows of rollers. Also referred to as a Split Roller design.

DISCHARGE END:  Location at which objects are removed from the conveyor.

DIVERGING:  A section of roller or wheel conveying which makes a connection for diverting articles from a main line to a branch.

DRIVE:  An assembly of the necessary structural, mechanical and electrical parts that provide the motive power for a conveyor, usually consisting of motor/reducer, chain, sprockets, guards, mounting base and hardware.

DRIVE PULLEY:  A pulley mounted on the drive shaft that transmits power to the belt with which it is in contact. Pulley is normally positive crowned and lagged.

DUTCHMAN:  A short section of belt provided with lacing, in a conveyor belt that can be removed when take-up provision has been exceeded.

EMERGENCY PULL CORD:  Vinyl coated cord that runs along the side of the conveyor that can be pulled at any time to stop the conveyor. Used with an Emergency Stop Switch.

EMERGENCY STOP SWITCH:  Electrical device used to stop the conveyor in an emergency. Used with an emergency pull cord.

EXTENDIBLE CONVEYOR:  Roller or wheel conveyor that may be lengthened or shortened within limits to suit operating needs. Standard extended lengths are 20 ft., 30 ft., and 40 ft.

EZLogic:  Electronic Zero Pressure Logic-See Hytrol EZLogic Components Manual.

FEEDER:  A conveyor adapted to control the rate of delivery of packages or objects.

FLAPPER GATE:  A hinged or pivoted plate used for selectively directing material handled.

FLAT FACE PULLEY:  A pulley on which the face is a straight cylindrical drum, i.e. uncrowned.

FLOOR SUPPORTS:  Supporting members with vertical adjustments for leveling the conveyor.

FLOW:  The direction of travel of the product on the conveyor.

FPM:  Feet per minute.

FRAME:  The structure that supports the machinery components of a conveyor.

FRAME SPACER:  Cross members to maintain frame rail spacing. Also referred to as Bed Spacer.