The Best Solutions for Light-Duty
The strain on light-duty belted conveyor systems has drastically increased, especially since the start of the pandemic. Demand for package delivery and food production is soaring. The number of airline travelers has returned to pre-COVID-19 levels, and experts anticipate further increases.
Unfortunately, site managers often decide on belt splicing types on their own. The choice on what is best for an application can be overwhelming. If you are not sure what is best, you are not alone.
Endless Splicing vs. Mechanical Fasteners
For belted conveyors, there are multiple ways to splice the belts. Making the best decision on what works for your facility is often dependent on the application and conveyor requirements.
Best Endless Conveyor Belt Splicing Solutions
The introduction of innovative endless splice tools has made splicing a conveyor belt much easier. With new belt splicing technology, users can easily splice belt ends using time, temperature, and pressure to create a strong bond.
Overall, the rapid development of technology has allowed facilities to bring endless belt splicing in-house. Recent technology has allowed plant managers to avoid scheduling repairs through a third party, reducing production downtime.
Flexco offers two endless conveyor belt splicing solutions from our Novitool® line.
With the Novitool® Aero® Splice Press, endless belt splicing is easier, faster, and more consistent. The Aero Press is ideal for splicing lightweight thermoplastic belting, and with cycle times as short as 8 minutes, the Aero allows your belt to be up and running fast, helping you minimize downtime and maximize productivity.
A tool we recommend for use with the Aero Press is the Novitool® Pun M™ Mobile Finger Punch. Effectively, precise fingers are quickly punched with each lever pull to make strong splices for improved productivity.
The Novitool® Amigo™ Splice Press splices homogenous/monolithic belt for food processing applications.
The Amigo is an easy-to-operate splice press with its integrated cutter that squares both belt edges, preheat function that dries moisture from the belt edges to reduce the chance for pinholes that can harbor bacteria, and short splice cycle time. The Amigo produces quality, repeatable splices by any operator with increased safety from lacerations and burns.
Endless splicing is effective in numerous industries including food and beverage, logistics, airports, recycling, pharmaceuticals, agriculture and more. An endless splice is very quiet in operation, can operate over small pulleys, and is a smooth, strong, long-lasting splice.
In short, implementing endless belt splicing equipment into your process is efficient, cost effective, and incredibly adaptive.
Best Light-Duty Mechanical Fasteners
For those looking to utilize a more traditional method, we offer world-class and industry-leading mechanical belt fastening systems.
A huge benefit to fasteners is that they are easy to use. Installation is simple, meaning they effectively minimize downtime. Plus, first-time maintenance crews have consistently been able to use them. And, by using our conveyor belt lacing tools for installation, facilities get a strong, consistent connection every time.
Over time, the Flexco name has become synonymous with our line of mechanical belt fasteners. For light-duty applications, Flexco offers its flagship Clipper® and Alligator® fastener lines.
Solutions like the Alligator® Staple Fastening System have been around for decades, and consistently allow light- and medium-duty facilities to quickly get belts from downtime to uptime across many applications. Although Alligator Staple works for most facilities, our team of engineers is constantly creating more specialized solutions. For example, a product like Alligator Rivet can be configured to meet the most specific needs of industries like agriculture and hay baler belts.
In total, our light-duty mechanical belt fastener catalog is extensive and adaptable for many applications. The real difference between Alligator and Clipper can depend on site factors like belt properties and intended use.
Flexco belt fasteners are ready for use in multiple industries. Generally, we recommend utilizing them for shipping & logistics, pre and post food production, recycling, laundry, and corrugation.
Contrarily, we advise against using fasteners for raw food production. Unfortunately, meat can lodge between metal teeth, and fasteners can break off. In turn, you are susceptible to contamination and end-user health risks.
Choosing Between Endless Splicing and Mechanical Fasteners
Ultimately, the choice between fasteners and endless splicing can come down to application, time constraints, and budgetary needs.
If you are looking for a consistently strong, long-term solution, endless splicing may be the way to go. However, for a cheaper and easy-to-install option for maintenance teams, fasteners could be the right choice.
For help deciding between the two, Contact Flexco.
Authored by: Michelle Graves, Product Manager