Hello everyone!
This is my first post here, not entirely sure I am post this in the correct location.
I am want to get some suggestions on how to drive a conveyor belt I purchased for a large scale robot I intend to build. The conveyor belt I purchased is from McMaster Carr (Link here). The belt has a smooth, cloth backing which is where I’m at a loss. I’ve seen most of them that have ridges or something to grab onto so it can be driven but in this case I can’t. Is there a way to modify this belt? Or, do I need to cut my losses and purchase another belt from McMaster?
But I would probably just tension the belt nice and tight, and friction drive it. That is, get some sort of rubber rollers for it to ride on, and just drive one of them.
Drive the conveyor with a roller (maybe attach a sprocket on the end to connect to the motor). I’d put a covering of non-skid (a kind of tape that feels like sandpaper) on the roller.
Put a roller on the other end and tension appropriately (you may need to add guides to the ends of each roller if it tracks off of the rollers).
In the middle add bogeys (rollers with some spring force to keep the conveyor from getting pushed in) or a press plate (to back the conveyor, again to keep the conveyor from getting pushed in).
Steel rollers are usually used for this application, although nylon rollers will work also for lower tensions. A slightly convex roller is usually used on one end, so that the belt stays centered automatically.
As counter intuitive as it may seem, do not add sides to the belt, it WILL ABSOLUTELY somehow find a way to ride up onto one side or the other(such a happy accident with my first robot ever in 06)! What you want is to have your drive rollers be slightly ovoid in shape a “crowned pulley”, the more egg shaped the less it will drift due to side loads. This link How crowned pulleys keep a flat belt tracking shows how crowned pulleys do what they do.
Watching a crowned pulley high center and automatically adjust a belt as side loads are applied for the first time is like spooky voodoo magic happening right before you. You just want to see it roll off the side but nope it just chills out in the middle.
