Belt Conveyor Curls Up To Bend Around Corners

Belt conveyor curls up to bend around corners GRAIN HANDLING Conveyors 10-1-16 A just-introduced new belt conveyor curls up inside a flexible metal housing to bend around corners, making it possible to convey silage from silos to out-of-the-way feed-bunks without using extra conveyors. Oscar Frey, Listowel, Ont., unveiled a 30-ft. prototype of his new-style conveyor, which can also be used to convey high moisture shelled corn, soybeans and virtually any other material, at a recent Canadian farm show. He explains that the conveyor is able to turn corners as sharp as 90? in a 10-ft. radius, and move its load up inclines as steep as 45? Key to success of the innovative conveyor is a 6-in. dia. flexible spiral tube. The 14-in. wide conveyor belting starts out flat like any other belt conveyor, but folds up as it enters the spiral tube, enclosing the transported materials within the belt. The belting flattens out again once it exits the tube. The conveyor's degree of bend depends on how you set it up, letting you custom-design conveyor layout according to your needs. Frey notes that the 14-in. wide conveyor has the same capacity as a similar-sized conventional conveyor and uses the same type of belting. He plans to use the same "folding belt" concept to develop a portable grain mover ù an alternative to grain augers. He says that the belt's enveloping action will protect the crop and reduce damage by augers. As planned, the belt grain mover will have more volume than a similar diameter auger. Frey, who's still testing prototypes before offering the conveyor commercially, says the new-style electrically-powered conveyor will be comparably priced to conventional models and will be made to order in any length. For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Oscar Frey, Frey Mfg., R.R. 3, Listowel, Ont. N4W 3G8 (ph 519 291-4156).

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