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#1
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Polycord Conveyor Belts
For the following questions, assume a 20" wide conveyor that is 20" long. There would be 8 strands of 1/4" polycord acting as the conveyor.
How fast can a polycord conveyor belt be run? How is that speed effected by number of turns the conveyor makes? How do you frame your conveyor and how do you keep the belts in line? What does the polycord roll around (what diameter)? What durometer polycord works well with the Fuel if anybody has tested that? Does a single run of polycord with a stationary wall work better, or does 2 powered runs of polycord work better? Does the conveyor require a significant amount of power to run, especially when loaded to capacity with Fuel? Probably a lot of unanswerable questions, but I'm just looking for asomething much information about conveyors as possible, because I've never built one before. |
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#2
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Re: Polycord Conveyor Belts
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This document has some good info on one sided conveyors vs two sided. (http://files.andymark.com/ManiupulatorDesign.pdf) Conveyors generally don't require tons of power, usually the belts will slip on the game piece before the motor stalls. The amount of turns don't really affect the power necessary. Last edited by mman1506 : 10-01-2017 at 22:44. |
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#3
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Re: Polycord Conveyor Belts
These are some awesome resources, thank you! What specs would you reccommend on the flat belt? I'm not sure about durometer, width, thickness etc.
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#4
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Re: Polycord Conveyor Belts
McMaster 6075K15
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#5
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Re: Polycord Conveyor Belts
Yup, this is good stuff. Other thicknesses/widths in the same family are also pretty solid. Experience with this stuff in 2012 was wonderful.
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#6
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Re: Polycord Conveyor Belts
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#7
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Re: Polycord Conveyor Belts
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Last edited by mman1506 : 13-01-2017 at 15:20. |
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#8
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Re: Polycord Conveyor Belts
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So I guess, direct answers: probably, with sufficient design and prototyping. There's also a difference between something working and something being truly excellent, and I'm not sure where this would fall. |
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#9
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Re: Polycord Conveyor Belts
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#10
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Re: Polycord Conveyor Belts
How have you joined it. do you need a $450 kit to do it?
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#11
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Re: Polycord Conveyor Belts
It's far easier to join that round belt. My favorite way is to use a hot plate (a pan on a stove works well too) set to max power. Melt the ends and then press them together. Once the urethane solidifies wait at least 10 minutes before applying tension. You can melt the faces of the belt together too if you have trouble with the ends. I've never had a properly joined belt fail.
Last edited by mman1506 : 10-01-2017 at 23:33. |
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#12
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Re: Polycord Conveyor Belts
The 2815 method:
Measure, cut about 3-5% short (IIRC). Set both ends in a piece of angle, with a second piece of metal to steady it. Melt with a small torch or lighter, press together. Clamp tight with another piece of angle for more straightness. Wait 10 minutes. Try to break it by stretching; if the belt fails, you did it wrong. Try again. |
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#13
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Re: Polycord Conveyor Belts
We made a custom aluminum tip for a large 240W soldering gun and a hinged block with a slot. Heated the ends up, pushed them together in the slot and close the top of the block on them to keep them aligned. Wait until they cool and remove.
The block (along with two tiny vice grips and some other misc hardware) made a nice little toolkit that allowed us to weld these together on the robot under tension. Fixing broken belts without having to remove the roller was a big plus. |
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#14
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Re: Polycord Conveyor Belts
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Thanks for the reference. Really great thread, any other tips are appreciated for those of us who haven't done belting in a while (or ever). |
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