WIRE LINK BELT - INSTALLATION

OB wire link belts are positive driven belts. Toothed drive wheels/rollers ensure that no slip occurs. The belt therefore does not have to be mounted with a certain pretension. In normal applications, an adjustable belt travel  turning shaft is sufficient to accommodate any belt elongation over time. The drive must be placed in such a way that the loaded part (usually the top part) is pulled off the belt. A pushing drive should be avoided. Extreme  temperature differences require a little more attention. A (temporary) difference in temperature between construction and belt (eg when starting up the installation) can cause the belt to become temporarily too tight. Band extension or shortening must then be able to be accommodated in the construction. This can be done on the one hand by mounting the turning shaft in a conductive manner and putting it under some pressure with springs. Also, space can be created in the construction for the band extension by, for example,   giving the return part of the band space so that it can sag.

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Support of the upper part is usually done by means of sliding profiles  applied longitudinally under the belt. Depending on the production process, plastic materials such as PA, PE, HMPE, Werkstof are used. It is recommended to fit the support profiles under the plates. The plates are placed depending on the loading and load of the belt at a distance of approx. 150 to 600 mm. For belts that are not too heavily loaded, you can also opt for a herringbone support. The belt is then only provided with plates on the outside. This belt version makes cleaning easier. Depending on belt length and belt width, a clearance between belt and frame of 10-20 mm on both sides is sufficient. The return part can be supported by means of sliding profiles  or bearing rollers. Since now only the belt is supported, less sliding profiles  will suffice. Roller bearings can be mounted at a mutual distance of 1.0 to 2 m. The belt may  sag slightly between the rollers.

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Hook points must be prevented in the construction. This means that the support profiles of both lower and upper part  must be sufficiently chamfered at the run-in of the belt. In the horizontal direction, the belt must not be able to catch on  sharp frame parts or uprights. It is therefore recommended to make a search side  or to place the parts as far as possible from the belt to prevent obstruction. Select the belt loop as simply as possible. Negative bends are possible but will affect service life depending on load and encirclement angle.

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For a smooth belt run (and thus a major contribution to the life of the belt),  it is of great importance that the frame with wear strips is flat and horizontal in the width direction of the belt, and that the drive and reversing shafts are properly aligned with respect to the frame with support. These shafts must be mounted at right angles to the running direction and in the same  (horizontal) plane  as the support. Both axles must be mounted parallel to each other. The grooves in the drive wheels and rollers have no function for steering the belt.  Forced steering or fixating the belt in place with the side guide should also be avoided. If the belt rubs, the axles must be readjusted. It is also important that the wheels on the drive and turning shaft are mounted in a line in order to keep the teeth mesh neatly behind the wire links. After the belt has been adjusted, it must be checked regularly that it does not run out. It is important to note that solid wire link belts (OB-KK-GE), and in particular the heavy and/or wide belts, may not be put on its side.  This is on the one hand to prevent deformation and on the other hand to prevent the play between the links in the belt from being distributed irregularly. This deformation and/or irregular play often causes the belt to feel ; on one side and ; on the other, and that the running characteristics are adversely affected.  If so Before pulling the belt into the installation, one will have to knock and/or align it 

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Retracting the belt is best done using the drive motor. The coiled belt is placed in the middle of the turning shaft. The beginning of the belt is attached to a crossbar with several connections. A cable runs from the crossbar to the drive shaft. The cable is wrapped around this axis several times. By now running the motor and keeping the cable taut, the belt is pulled over the top guide. When the beginning of the belt has reached the drive shaft, the cable can be removed. The bar remains in place.  The belt is placed in the teeth and the wheels now pull the upper part, the lower part is pushed. To prevent the return part  from rolling up, one end of the cable  is reattached to the crossbar and the other end is pulled by hand in such a way that the tire remains flat.  For smaller belts it is often faster to pull the belts completely into the construction by hand.