How do conveyor scales work

Equipment such as crusher, vibratory feeding equipment, bins subject to hammering and hammer mills should be avoided. Weather conditions with temperatures below degrees C can cause ice and frost build-up on the belt which creates unreliable speed sensing. It is also recommended your conveyor belt scale is in a covered area for outdoor installations.

Conveyor belt scales act as flexible weighing systems for many businesses because they allow for easy and efficient in-motion weighing. Selecting the best location for your belt scale is crucial because your decision will have a huge impact on output, ease of production and your bottom line.

Quality Scales Unlimited specializes in sales and service of heavy capacity weighing equipment, including conveyor belt scales. QSU offers a selection of conveyor belt from a variety of quality manufacturers. Contact the sales team for more information on conveyor belt scales tailored to your business and budget needs. Selecting the Best Installation Location for the Scale on the Conveyor To attain accurate measurements and minimize any disruption in working processes, it is important to choose a suitable location for the installation of a conveyor belt scale.

Below are a few tips to help you select the best location for installing a conveyor belt scale: Choose an area with constant belt tension When deciding to install a conveyor belt scale, constant belt tension plays a key role.

The position of the ball or second disk is controlled by the weight on the scale. If the ball is in the center of the speed disk, it does not rotate at all. As the ball is moved to the outside, it rotates faster and faster. The speed of the ball is a mechanical multiple of the speed of disk and the position of the ball on the disk.

The ball is connected to a shaft that drives a totalizer. The speed of this shaft is the rate. Another method of determining the load on a conveyor belt was to use a nuclear source on one side of the belt and a detector on the other side. The more material that is on the belt, the less radiation is detected. You get an inversely proportional signal of absorbing mass on the belt.

Using this along with belt speed, you could make a belt scale. These were never very wide spread in actual use. They are non-contacting sensors and generally have spring mechanisms that are rugged in nature which gives them very good overload characteristics.

On the down side, they can exhibit problems with thermal effects on the mechanical springs. These effects can be both on zero because of thermal expansion and on the span due to modulus of elasticity changes. Strain gauge load cells are commonly used in scales today.

Many have been adapted to mechanical lever scales using a lever system to sum forces at a single point where a load cell is used to read the resultant force electronically at this point. These scales were common for retrofit installations on truck scales, for example.

Also, strain gauge load cells were initially very expensive and limited to in-line tension and compression forces. This made mechanical hybrid load cell mechanisms popular. Some belt scales are made with this technology today, but their use is declining.

Today, most scales are full strain gauge suspension types. They use little or no mechanical mechanisms and the load platform is directly supported by the load cell system. Most new conveyor belt scales use this technology. Overload stops are built into the load cell mounting systems to make them rugged and reliable. Also, they are simple in their overall design. Single point suspension load cell designs allow for off-center loading. This also compensates for any extraneous side loading that could affect the true weight component of the belt load forces that we are measuring.

Load cells visually checking for material build -up. Speed sensor wheel sound checking for wear. Correction of identified problems. Loading Comments Email Required Name Required Website. We use cookies to improve and customize our sites and services. This includes cookies from third party social media websites, which may track your use of our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on our website.

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