Introducing Framing Tech Conveyors

We now offer a wide range of belt conveyors that can be tailored to your specific product conveying needs! Our extruded aluminum T-slot framing allows for customized designs created to fit your particular production area. We work with industry-leading belt, and motor manufacturers to offer you the highest-quality components. We have three main belt conveyor models available: 20 Series, 50 Series, and 95 Series, which together allow for a wide range of applications:

There are many important factors to consider in the selection of a conveyor system, starting with How will it be used? Other aspects of conveyor operations are equally important, such as transport, accumulation and sorting, size of materials to be transported, their weight and shape, and where the loading and pickup points need to be situated along the path of the conveyor.

The correct Series of conveyor to use for your purposes can be difficult to figure out on your own. To help us do that for you, please fill out this specifications form, and we’ll get back to you shortly with a quote.

A Brief History of Conveyor Belts

In the long history of human work, the invention of labor-saving devices has been a relative latecomer to the game. The term “labor-saving” has most often been applied to household work, and in that regard it has been especially laggard: historically, tasks such as the conveying of messages, the chopping and hauling of wood, the making and tending to fires, the pickling and canning of food, the preparation of meals, the lugging and heating of water, the washing and ironing of clothes, and so on, for a long time remained stubbornly manual and menial.

For that matter, the evolution of labor-saving inventions in the commercial realm did not really take off until relatively recently. As late as 1869, an article in Scientific American stated that “Labor-saving machinery is the only thing that renders cooperation possible in the mechanic arts. This kind of organization is yet destined to play an important part in the history of civilization”—as if the very concept of “labor-saving devices” were still novel and untried.

And whether on the farm, at sea, or in the factory or household, what do we even mean by the term “labor”? Given the differing contexts and skills required in each setting, obviously describing such labor can run the gamut. But at its simplest and most basic, a key feature of virtually any type of work involves—for the purpose of processing and distribution—the lifting and conveying of various types of objects and materials from one location to another.

Given its essential, ancient, and commonplace nature, one would think ease of conveyance would be a prime candidate for human ingenuity to invent a means of lightening that particular burden. And yet it wasn’t until 1804 that the British Navy put into operation in their kitchens a steam-powered belt conveyor system to mass-produce the sailor hardtack biscuits with which their ships were provisioned. This is believed to be the world’s first mechanized conveyor belt.

A conveyor is generally defined as a device providing mechanical movement of material or objects, as in a factory. A simple conveyor belt consists of two pulleys with a loop of material rotating continuously around them to facilitate movement, as in a grocery store checkout counter.

Early conveyors, which consisted of a simple belt of leather, canvas, or rubber, moved over a wooden bed and generally were used to transport bulk materials such as grain over short distances.

By the end of the 19th century, these simple devices had been widely adapted for sophisticated industrial use and had become considerably more complex.

Conveyor Systems Today

You’ll find them everywhere now. Just to name a few:

Grocery store checkout counters
Airport luggage claim carousels
Factory assembly lines
High-volume shipping services
Mechanized car parks
Commercial printers
Apparel cleaners

In short, you’ll find conveyor systems in use wherever the quick and efficient transport of a wide variety of objects and materials is required. They are especially popular in the material handling and packaging industries; but they are also ubiquitous in the mining, aerospace, agricultural, automotive, bottling and canning, chemical, computer, electronic, food processing, pharmaceutical, packaging, and publishing industries.

The benefits of a well-designed conveyor system are numerous. Not least of these is the obvious advantage of performing tasks that would be strenuous, tedious, and expensive when done by human hands. Besides efficiently transporting large quantities of material from one place to another, conveyor systems are considerably safer than forklift trucks and other machinery commonly used to transport bulky materials.

Common conveyor applications include: assembly lines, food handling, inspection, part sorting, palletizing, packaging solutions and workstations.

Framing Tech Conveyor System Components

Each of our conveyor Series is defined by the diameter of the roller. Thus, the 20 Series has a 20mm diameter roller, the 50 Series has a 50mm diameter roller, and the 95 Series has a 95mm diameter roller. The components making up each conveyor system series is briefly described below:

T-slot aluminum frame

This is the underlying structure of the conveyor. Our T-slot aluminum allows for easy integration of all the necessary components to create a flatbed belt conveyor.

Sheet metal bed

This thin piece of sheet metal sits on top of the frame and provides a smooth surface for the belt to slide across. Options include galvanized steel and stainless steel.

Rollers

There are two roller kits that attach to opposite ends of the frame.

The drive roller connects to an electric motor via a keyed shaft.
The idler roller helps track the belt.

Each roller kit has a set of plates that mount onto the ends of the aluminum frame, and bolt into place. These plates contain bearings that hold each of the rollers and help provide years of smooth motion.

Belt

There is a wide variety of belts available tailored to many types of specific applications. Some are ideal for assembly lines, others for food and beverage transportation, and still others for cleanroom component processing.

Guides

While not always needed, guides can be essential to help prevent items from falling off the belt, maintain product organization during transport, and help redirect products appropriately.

Motorization

To choose the correct motor for the application, it’s important to know the intended weight of the product and ideal speed for the system. The motors can then be further integrated into your timing systems.

There are two main types of motorization: Direct Drive and Central Drive.

Direct Drive motors are mounted onto an end idler roller and operate by “pulling” the belt across the top surface of the conveyor bed. The motor can be placed on either side of the conveyor, and can be mounted in various orientations to avoid any conflicts.

Central Drive motors, on the other hand, are mounted onto the side of a small enclosure under the conveyor. Inside this small enclosure is the motor pully and a couple of tension rollers. These tension rollers facilitate the bidirectional movement by allowing the belt to remain taught when the conveyor changes directions.

The 50 Series and 95 Series conveyors are available in both unidirectional (Direct Drive) or bidirectional (Central Drive) motorizations; however, the 20 Series conveyors are available in unidirectional (Direct Drive) only.