Assessing Conveyor Idlers Purposed For Trough Conveyors - What Are Conveyor Idlers?

What Are Conveyor Idlers?

The term conveyor idlers refers to rolling components that are utilized for supporting transmission belting performed on powered trough conveying systems. These are essential for moving materials in bulk that includes coal, aggregates, iron ore, grains as well as loose materials. This happens within various industrial sectors including quarry, mining, food, agricultural, chemical, pulp and paper and allied industries. Idlers in general comprise of an outer tube that rolls beneath the transmission belting together with a shaft mounted centrally for supporting bearings, bearing seals as well as end caps. Typically, the outer tube is manufactured using composite tube or steel pipe. The shaft is designed from a diverse range of steel grades, with the bearings/seal assembly being dependent upon design and environmental factors.

What Are The Considerations For Procuring Conveyor Idlers?

There are two primary reasons for procuring conveyor idlers. First is manufacturing of new bulk handling conveyors and second, as components of replacement for maintenance and repair of existing systems, overland conveyors or process plants.

Different aspects are involved in establishing the correct selection of components for light to medium capacity trough idlers and belt speed systems for instance. Generally, the frame widths and idler dimension are dependent upon critical factors like bulk density, tonnage, belt speed, belt-width, conveyor length as well as system duty and environmental factors.

Idler rollers and components come in varied types, some of which are:

- Composite idlers customized for minimized weight, energy savings as well as harsh environments.

- Flat steel idlers customized for trough roller sets along with carry return rolls.

- Impact idlers, Impact beds as well as Catenary idler sections designed for area of loading and transition.

- Roller conveyor units, custom conveyor components and Energy efficient idlers.

- Offset, In line, Transitional together with Retractable conveyor frames

Component Procurement And Inherent Risk:

Conveyor idlers were in recent years sourced predominantly from only selected, well-established Australian manufacturers. Such local manufacturers had established a reputation of providing time-proven quality units that were reliable trough rollers equipped with abundant technical data. The local marketplace has changed greatly today however. It is thus advisable to procure idlers from reputable sources, when selecting trough conveyors for operating within conditions of harsh environments and high speeds, capacity and duty cycles.

Idler Availability

Buyers of trough conveyor idlers and their components can source them via different outlets that advertise a wide range of frame-dimensions and roll sizes. A majority of advertised models are however now attracting long lead times, with just a handful of common widths and capacities being available for the belts. Local manufacturers have been de-stocking and importing a few select models. Research thus suggests that only two classes of specific tube diameter size categories are available readily. These are namely 114mm and 127mm idlers that predominantly suit trough angles of 35 degrees, with lesser demand being available for 20 degree frames. Stocking levels mostly support between 450mm and 1200mm belt-width series, with all other sizes being made available at extended lead times.

Whatever type of conveyor system is in use, good housekeeping is an important part of preventive maintenance. Service routines are machine specific and tailored to meet individual customer operational demands.


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ROBOTUNITS Pty Ltd is a leading firm in industrial equipment. As a safety overseer, Jurgen is only too well aware of your safety requirements. With ROBOTUNITS, industrial safety is central. To get the latest trends about modular belt conveyors browse our page at http://www.robotunits.com.au/conveyors/ .