Stainless belts deliver smoothly

John Thompson of Belt Technologies described to Eureka how a "Very large packaging company that makes tin cans" used to use link type belts, but switched to stainless steel belts because the cans used to fall over. He stressed the corrosion resistance of his company's products, pointing out that many conveyors described as being made of stainless steel had only stainless steel frames supporting plastic belts. Stainless steel belts are favoured for salt fish processing, because of their corrosion resistance, as well as many pharmaceutical, food handling, biomedical and military applications. Narrow belts with toothed edges are made to support lead wires of capacitors so they can be supported during printing. Many of the company's products are invented to solve particular customer problems. A small belt with a single hole in it has been developed for "Positioning a mirror on a land based military vehicle." Belts with small punched holes with raised edges have been developed to give a little grip to cigarettes. A Teflon coated belt has been developed for heat sealing. And a belt with what appears at first sight to be a flower stencil pattern has been developed for filling containers in pharmaceutical production. Welds are quite smooth and have 80% of the strength of the parent metal, and the company offers patented steerable pulleys on sealed bearings to minimise side loadings. Tracking accuracy is between 0.2mm and 0.38mm for metal belts. TS Belt Technologies Pointers * Stainless steel belts are smooth, easy to keep clean and very corrosion resistant * Welds in stainless steel belts are smooth and have 80% of the strength of the parent metal * Special belts can be developed for a very wide range of applications