Synopsis Conveyor Belt System with Accident Preventer - Free Essay Example

CONVEYOR BELT SYSTEM WITH ACCIDENT PREVENTER Introduction A conveyor system is a common piece of mechanical handling equipment that moves materials from one location to another. Conveyors are especially useful in applications involving the transportation of heavy or bulky materials. Conveyor systems allow quick and efficient transportation for a wide variety of materials, which make them very popular in the material handling and packaging industries. Many kinds of conveying systems are available, and are used according to the various needs of different industries. Conveyor systems are used widespread across a range of industries due to the numerous benefits they provide. †¢ Conveyors are able to safely transport materials from one level to another, which when done by human labour would be strenuous and expensive. †¢ They can be installed almost anywhere, and are much safer than using a forklift or other machine to move materials. †¢ They can move loads of all shapes , sizes and weights. Also, many have advanced safety features that help prevent accidents. There are a variety of options available for running conveying systems, including the hydraulic, mechanical and fully automated systems, which are equipped to fit individual needs. Conveyor systems are commonly used in many industries, including the automotive, agricultural, computer, electronic, food processing, aerospace, pharmaceutical, chemical, bottling and canning, print finishing and packaging. Although a wide variety of materials can be conveyed, some of the most common include food items such as beans and nuts, bottles and cans, automotive components, scrap metal, pills and powders, wood and furniture and grain and animal feed. Many factors are important in the accurate selection of a conveyor system. It is important to know how the conveyor system will be used beforehand. Some individual areas that are helpful to consider are the required conveyor operations, such as transportatio n, accumulation and sorting, the material sizes, weights and shapes and where the loading and pickup points need to be. Types of Conveyor System †¢ Gravity Roller Conveyor †¢ Gravity Skatewheel Conveyor †¢ Belt conveyor †¢ Wire Mesh †¢ Plastic Belt †¢ Belt Driven Live Roller †¢ Lineshaft roller conveyor †¢ Chain conveyor †¢ Screw conveyor †¢ Chain Driven Live Roller Conveyor A belt conveyor consists of two or more pulleys, with a continuous loop of material the conveyor belt that rotates about them. One or both of the pulleys are powered, moving the belt and the material on the belt forward. The powered pulley is called the drive pulley while the unpowered pulley is called the idler. There are two main industrial classes of belt conveyors; Those in general material handling such as those moving boxes along inside a factory and bulk material handling such as those used to transport industrial and agricultural materials, such as g rain, coal, ores, etc. generally in outdoor locations. Generally companies providing general material handling type belt conveyors do not provide the conveyors for bulk material handling. In addition there are a number of commercial applications of belt conveyors such as those in grocery stores. The belt consists of one or more layers of material they can be made out of rubber. Many belts in general material handling have two layers. An under layer of material to provide linear strength and shape called a carcass and an over layer called the cover. The carcass is often a cotton or plastic web or mesh. The cover is often various rubber or plastic compounds specified by use of the belt. Covers can be made from more exotic materials for unusual applications such as silicone for heat or gum rubber when traction is essential. Material flowing over the belt may be weighed in transit using a beltweigher. Belts with regularly spaced partitions, known as elevator belts, are used for tr ansporting loose materials up steep inclines. Belt Conveyors are used in self-unloading bulk freighters and in live bottom trucks. Conveyor technology is also used in conveyor transport such as moving sidewalks or escalators, as well as on many manufacturing assembly lines. Stores often have conveyor belts at the check-out counter to move shopping items. Ski areas also use conveyor belts to transport skiers up the hill. A wide variety of related conveying machines are available, different as regards principle of operation, means and direction of conveyance, including screw conveyors, vibrating conveyors, pneumatic conveyors, the moving floor system, which uses reciprocating slats to move cargo, and roller conveyor system, which uses a series of powered rollers to convey boxes or pallets. Conveyors are used as components in automated distribution and warehousing. In combination with computer controlled pallet handling equipment this allows for more efficient retail, wholesale, and manufacturing distribution. It is considered a labor saving system that allows large volumes to move rapidly through a process, allowing companies to ship or receive higher volumes with smaller storage space and with less labor expense. Rubber Conveyor Belts are commonly used to convey items with irregular bottom surfaces, small items that would fall in between rollers (like at a sushi conveyor bar), or bags of product that would sag between rollers. Belt conveyors are generally fairly similar in construction consisting of a metal frame with rollers at either end of a flat metal bed. The belt is looped around each of the rollers and when one of the rollers is powered (by an electrical motor) the belting slides across the solid metal frame bed, moving the product. In heavy use applications the beds which the belting is pulled over are replaced with rollers. The rollers allow weight to be conveyed as they reduce the amount of friction generated from the heavier loading on the b elting. Belt conveyors can now be manufactured with curved sections which use tapered rollers and curved belting to convey products around a corner. These conveyor systems and are commonly used in postal sorting offices and airport baggage handling systems. Block diagram [pic] Description To prevent accidents a proximity sensor will be installed near accident prone area. This sensor will trigger the relay to cut off the power supply to the motor drive.