As part of the Ceres Academy, we decided to prepare for you an overview of conveyor belts, which have been very popular for many years and are widely used in many stages of production. They are most often used during potting, where they are used to connect individual units into entire production lines, e.g. potter – sprinkler – water station, etc. Increasingly, they can be found on farms where they are actually used to transport plants from the production site to the destination where the plants will grow. It is a system without which it is difficult to imagine modern crop production. We will try to discuss some of the most important threads regarding conveyor belts.
1. CONSTRUCTION
As we mentioned in the previous post, conveyor belts are devices of fairly simple design. Usually their construction is based on an aluminum profile, along the surface of which the conveyor belt travels. You will find many suppliers on the market with many types of structural profiles available. The aspect to pay attention to here is the type of profile and its technical parameters. This is very important because not all types of structural profiles used in the manufacture of conveyor belts will be suitable for every type of farm application. In particular, where you plan to transport large and heavy plants or sets of plants in various types of carriers or other bulk packaging, we recommend making sure that the specific type of conveyor belt will be suitable for this type of application. If the conveyor belts are poorly selected in terms of design for their intended use, they can be damaged or even destroyed, so this thread is worth thinking about.
2. TRANSPORT BELT
The one mentioned in the paragraph above is directly responsible for moving plants along the conveyor belt. It is on this belt (tape) that we set the pots and it is with the help of this belt that they are moved to their destination. Therefore, its technical parameters are of great importance in long and trouble-free operation. There are many types of tapes available on the market, made of different types of materials, with different texture, thickness and quality. We often encounter customers focusing only on conveyor belts as units, without going deeper into the technical details of their construction. In some situations, this type of approach can cause a lot of trouble at the beginning of use or after a short time. Pay particular attention to the thickness of the tape and its type. Slightly different belts should be used in units that are used simply for transport, and others in those that, for example, are used to move pots through, for example, various irrigation units, where the belt but also the belt itself is notoriously exposed to running water. We think it’s worth spending a little more time to consult and choose the best solution for your specific application.
3. PROPULSION
The carrier profile and conveyor belt alone are worth nothing without a proper drive. In terms of the drive system, two main types can be distinguished: belt conveyors with power transmission and self-propelled belt conveyors. Are they different? In the first solution, i.e. the one with the transmission of the drive, we have to deal with the so-called “power transfer”. drive unit. It is usually a launch unit that is equipped with a motor, gears, often speed control or directional change, and sometimes other additional options. This unit is usually located at the beginning of the conveyor belt line and is connected to the power supply. The engine, while working, drives its belt, but thanks to the use of a special transmission system, other units that do not have their own drive can be attached to such a unit. Such a connection is made using a special coupling, is simple and fast, and, most importantly, gives the possibility to build strings of up to 60 mb that can be driven by a single motor. Of course, the length of the line achievable with a single engine is the result of consultation and technical analysis, in which many factors are taken into account, including the type of plants and their weight or the needed working width of the conveyor belts. From experience, we know that with standard 21 cm wide units for transporting small or medium-sized pots often used, for example, in the production of bed flowers, belt lines up to 60 mb long based on 1 drive unit can be successfully used. If you need to prepare a line of greater length then you can simply add another line based on another drive unit and easily gain a transport line of the expected length. At this point it is worth noting that standard conveyor belts are produced in several standard lengths most commonly 2,3,4,5 and 6 mb – both drive units and units connected by a clutch. Therefore, you can easily create a line of almost any length and configuration. The last important aspect is that units hooked up to drive units via a clutch cannot work individually – they must always be hooked up to the transmission system, and this is a huge difference from the other system which is self-propelled units. This second group is virtually no different in design from the first, but here each unit has its own independent motor that drives its belt. These engines are by design much smaller but sufficient to meet even the most exorbitant expectations. Of course, these types of units can also be clipped into longer strings, and here there is basically no limit to their length. They are also usually prepared to take power from the preceding unit which makes assembly and installation easier. What strongly distinguishes this system is the fact that each conveyor belt works individually so you can easily and quickly reorganize the transport strings or take one or several units and use them completely independently. An interesting option, especially for those who like to be able to customize transport strings according to current needs.
4. CAPABILITIES
Conveyor belts are a popular solution for transporting plants due to their small size, speed and ease of installation, and high flexibility to adapt to current needs. Of course, like any machine, they have their limitations and won’t satisfy every whim, but you can solve logistics with them in a very good way. We have already written about the drive now we will focus on the practical capabilities of the conveyor belts. First of all, conveyor belts can usually operate in left/right mode, which means you can easily and quickly change the direction of their operation. Therefore, “in spring” you can use them to transport plants to, for example, container plants, and “in autumn” use them to collect plants from the fields and transport them to the packing area. Changing direction is usually done with a switch so it can happen here and now as needed and with virtually no restrictions. Another important option that good conveyor belts should have is speed control. Here there are several solutions – mechanical regulators mounted in gearboxes or electronic systems to control the speed of the conveyor belt. In the case of a system based on a drive unit and slave units adjust the speed of the drive unit adjusts the speed of the entire line connected to them at once. In the case of self-propelled units, we have a slightly more elaborate situation because each unit can have its own mechanical speed controller which will be super when you use them separately, possibly in groups of several. Then you can individually adjust the speed on each individual, which can be useful. If you want to supervise the speed of the entire line of this type from one place then it is retrofitted with an electronic speed control system, with which you can change its range for the entire line.
Ways of setting up the conveyor belts – here, too, we have several options. The first is to set directly on the “ground” Each conveyor belt has a so-called “ground”. U-post on one side, with the help of which you can put the whole string of tapes tied together on the ground. In this case, the height of the tape on the ground will be about 30-40 cm, depending on the manufacturer. Importantly, when connecting the conveyor belts into lines, special “saddles” and hooks are used for this purpose, which make the process of assembly and disassembly easier and faster. The second method for setting conveyor belts in their final location is through height-adjustable supports. In this case, too, you need one support per conveyor belt except for the first one, which if it is not set on a potter, for example, will require two pedestals. By adjusting the height, you can adjust the height of the belt above the ground to suit your needs. Importantly, in the case of conveyor belts driven by a clutch, the level must be maintained to make the transmission work linearly. With a set of individually driven conveyor belts, you can “play” a bit with the levels and, for example, lower the belt level relative to the starting point or raise it. There is also a third option for mounting conveyor belts – mounting them permanently on poles in production facilities, but for this purpose conveyor belts with a modified design are usually used.
5 .TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM
In the post that started the crop logistics thread, we pointed out that with conveyor belts it is possible to create complex transportation systems that can cover virtually the entire farm. Of course, this is possible because the conveyor belts can be connected together not only linearly, but also put lines together at 90 degrees. This allows us to direct the movement of pots in such a way that you will be able to reach practically any place. Two things are required on angled connections – the first is the drive unit, which is the departure of the new line, and the second is the bend that allows the smooth transition of pots or multiples onto the angled connected line. Several types of turns are available. We have simple mechanical solutions, but we also have powered turns that allow us to change the direction of “difficult pots.” In special cases, small rotary tables or various types of pushing arms are also used. Due to the multitude of options and needs, it is impossible to describe all possible configurations here. If you have an idea for a transportation system and would like to consult it, we are at your disposal and will be happy to suggest how the problem can be solved.
SUMMARY
As you can see, conveyor belts are indispensable equipment for transporting plants on various farms, but not only. Single conveyor belts significantly simplify and streamline the work and are indispensable at the production stage, and combining several or a dozen units into a transport system will give you the possibility of a comprehensive solution for plant logistics. Are they the best solution? They are certainly one of the most versatile and flexible solutions but for some tasks other systems will work better, which we will describe in future posts. Thus, conveyor belts are devices that should be found in every modern farm, where they can be used at many stages of production and perfectly fit into a complex technological and logistic sequence adapted to the specific conditions and peculiarities of a particular farm.
