Belt cleaning and disinfection is an essential process ensuring the efficient and safe operation of the equipment. A dirty or improperly cleaned conveyor belt can result in reduced performance, product contamination, or even permanent damage to the system. Let’s focus on the importance of conveyor belt cleaning, the different cleaning systems, and how to select the right detergent for your application.

• Regular disinfection influences hygiene, safety, maintenance, and overall performance of the belt.
• Although cleaning, disinfection, and sanitation are often used as synonyms, they do not mean the same thing.
• Belts can be sanitised manually or using automated solutions.
• Always contact your detergent supplier to choose the appropriate cleaning agent and check if it matches your belt type and the product conveyed. Use the proper concentration.
• Validation of sanitation confirms that your equipment is effectively cleaned and prevents contamination of products.

Why is belt disinfection necessary?

Belt disinfection is extremely important for several reasons. First, it improves the level of hygiene and product safety. A clean belt reduces the risk of contamination, which is of utmost importance in the food and pharmaceutical industries.

Regular and proper cleaning also helps to maintain the belt in good condition, eliminating frequent replacements and repairs. By removing dirt and debris, you extend belt life and reduce maintenance costs over time.

This leads to another advantage – optimal performance. A clean belt ensures effectiveness and prevents slippage, tracking issues, and other problems that could disrupt production.

Last but not least, regular cleaning improves the safety of your team. A well-maintained belt reduces the risk of accidents and injuries in the workplace.

The difference between cleaning, sanitation, and disinfection

Before we dive into specific belt cleaning methods, let’s first focus on the differences between terms that are often confused with one another, namely cleaning, sanitation, and disinfection.

Cleaning means removing unwanted substances, such as soil, dirt, infectious agents, or other impurities from the belt.

Disinfection is the process of killing harmful bacteria and other pathological agents to obtain a microbe-free environment. When you disinfect, you take up actions to eliminate dangerous bacteria either through disinfectants or heat.

Sanitation is often used interchangeably with disinfection, but their meaning is not the same. Sanitation involves using sanitiser, a chemical agent that reduces the number of microbes to a safe level. While disinfection eliminates microbes altogether with their spores, sanitation only limits their amount.

Before sanitising or disinfecting your belt, you must clean it first. Sanitation and disinfection are the final operations, performed on a clean belt.

Types of conveyor belt sanitation systems

Belt sanitation can take place either off the line or on the line. In the former case, you dissemble the belt from the conveyor, and in the latter, the belt stays on the conveyor. On-line sanitation can take place while the conveyor is operating. The belt goes through the system of clean-in-place stations (CIP stations) designed for dry or wet cleaning.

Dry cleaning stations use rotating motorised brushes and/or scrapers. Choose durable scrapers to ensure the highest level of hygiene and bezpečnost potravin and prevent the risk of foreign body contamination. A good example is the UltraScraper made of solid abrasive-resistant polyurethane material. The scraper lip is metal detectable and relies on ion technology fostering antimicrobial properties, reducing bacterial buildup, and improving food safety. Unlike rigid scrapers, UltraScraper is equipped with a soft lip that follows the true surface of the belt and lets it pass smoothly through itself without incurring damage to both the belt and the scraper extending their lifetimes.

Wet CIP stations use spray jets or steam nozzles, which can be fixed or mobile. Mobile nozzles very often move in a circular pattern to distribute the liquids evenly over the entire surface of the belt. Fixed nozzles, on the other hand, concentrate their impact on one particular area and thus might damage the belt surface.

You can also clean your belt manually, however, it’s more labour- and time-intensive than automated solutions.

How to choose a suitable detergent?

To clean a conveyor belt, you use a detergent of a certain density or dilute it with water. Because cleaning, sanitation, and disinfection of working areas may be frequent to ensure, for example, a high level of food safety, automated water and detergent mixing systems are often used. They are equipped with valve control units to mix water, chemicals, and disinfectants at the desired proportions. The mixture thus prepared automatically fuels the system. Automated mixing systems bring benefits such as improved efficiency, saved labour, and less time spent on sanitation.

When choosing a detergent, always opt for a sanitation agent compatible with the belt material and items conveyed. There are many different types of applications and, consequently, also belt types vary in number. We use different belts for conveying meat and yet others for sticky confectionery. As a result, detergent suppliers need a variety of sanitation agents to match the belt and the type of soil to be cleaned as some substances, like fats, oils, starch, or protein, are more difficult to remove than others.

Remember! Always contact your detergent supplier to choose the appropriate sanitation agent and check if it matches your belt type in our cleaning references. Follow sanitation instruction procedures and use proper concentration of detergent.

Some belts are intrinsically easier to clean than others due to their design. However, no matter how innovative the technology and materials may be, proper sanitation is still mandatory.

Improper belt sanitation

Improper belt sanitation and incompatibility of the belt and chemical agents can result in:

• cracks on the belt surface,
• discolouration,
• decreased efficiency of the conveyor system,
• increased maintenance costs due to premature wear and tear of the belt.

But the problems may reach even further. Inadequate sanitation can compromise the level of food safety at your facility and increase the risk of product contamination, making you just a step away from costly product recalls and downtimes, not to mention damage to your reputation.

Lack of proper cleaning can also mean increased energy consumption, as the motor must work harder to compensate for the friction caused by the debris.

What is validation of sanitation?

Validation of sanitation is a critical process that helps ensure that your equipment and surfaces are properly sanitised to prevent contamination of products. This step involves testing and establishing documented evidence to confirm that the sanitation methods used are effective in removing residues, bacteria, and other hazardous factors and that the equipment and surfaces are safe to process the next batches of products.

Validation of sanitation is an essential part of quality assurance in industries where cleanliness and hygiene are critical to product safety and efficacy. One example is the food industry, where the health and safety of consumers are top priorities. By performing validation of sanitation, you can feel confident that your equipment is properly sanitised and your products are safe for consumption.

Contact us!

Proper and regular belt sanitation is an essential aspect of maintaining a safe and hygienic production. Always follow sanitation procedures and select the appropriate detergents. Neglecting belt sanitation can lead to product contamination, malfunctioning equipment, and ultimately, loss of profits. Therefore, take the necessary precautions and regularly clean your conveying systems. Would you like to find out more about belt sanitation and food safety? Kontaktujte naše odborníky!

Curved conveyors are used in many industries like logistics, food, tyre, and building materials. They change the direction of product flow without changing its orientation. However, designing curved conveyors involves several critical aspects to make them function properly and efficiently. In this article, we’ll look at their design and explain how to choose suitable belts for them.

What is a curved conveyor?

A curved conveyor is a conveyor in a curved shape that changes the direction of the transported goods without changing their orientation. This means the front side of the product remains facing the direction of travel when leaving the belt turn.

Curved conveyors transport piece goods, but they are not suitable for bulk goods.

Their other names include round conveyors or corner conveyors.

There are various types of curved conveyors, however, in this article, we’ll focus only on belted ones.

Curved conveyor design

When designing a curved conveyor, there are a few aspects to consider providing an efficient and reliable operation.

1. Drive system

The first would be a drive system. Curved conveyors can be friction driven, which makes them appropriate for high-load applications but causes extra wear. Other curved conveyors may use a positive drive system (such as a bow chain), or a toothed profile driven by a pulley. Such conveyors are less suitable for high-load applications but extend belt life. Positive-driven curved conveyors operate at a relatively low belt tension.

2. Belt guiding system

When tensioning a curved belt, the belt tension automatically pulls it inward to the inner radius of the conveyor. To counteract the inward forces, a belt guiding system is necessary. Some of the common solutions include:

• fitting the belt with rollers on the outer circumference,
• mounting the rollers on the conveyor frame and running them against a special profile fitted on the outside circumference of the belt,
• using a bow chain connected to the outer circumference of the curved belt.

3. Belt speed across the belt width

A curved belt consists of one or more pieces of circular cut belt material spliced together to the shape of a cone. When turning this cone around pulleys, the angular velocity of the curve belt across the belt width is constant. This is not the case for the linear speed of the belt. The linear speed of the curve belt is linearly related to the radius of the curve.

The speed of a curved belt must be set so that the speed at the centre of the curved belt matches the belt speed of the connecting conveyors. As a result, the linear belt speed of the curved belt at all other places across the width of the curved belt does not match the belt speed of the connecting conveyors. This means there will always be some slip between the product and belt surface, both at the loading and off-loading points of the curved conveyor.

4. Transfer points

When designing a curved conveyor, it is also significant to plan transfer points accordingly to the products conveyed. Small products require small end pulleys because the transfer gap between the end pulleys and the connecting conveyors cannot be larger than half the length of the product. Curved conveyors with conical end pulleys have the disadvantage of having a larger pulley diameter at the outer radius of the belt. Consequently, the transfer gap where the product is not supported is also larger at the outer radius. Belt bends with cylindrical end pulleys do not have that disadvantage. 

How to choose a belt for a curved conveyor?

When selecting a belt for a curved conveyor, it’s important to choose one that matches the application and the conveyor layout. Here are the key factors to consider when choosing a belt for a curved conveyor.

Whenever possible, it’s best to choose a similar type of belt to that used for connecting conveyors. This will help you ensure that the belt is compatible with the application and has the right properties for the conveyor. The robustness of the curved belt and its top cover should match that of the connecting conveyors. To counteract the centrifugal forces pushing the product outward, choose a belt with a high-friction top cover. It will help to keep the product in place.   

The belt for a curved conveyor should bend in the longitudinal, lateral, and any other direction. Therefore, it is preferable to use curved belts fabricated from non-laterally stable materials.

When a curved belt is running, the orientation of the warp and weft yarns flexing over the pulleys is constantly changing. This leads to unequal belt elongation, which causes guide rollers to generate noise. Increasing the number of splices will reduce the fluctuations in belt elongation and thus also the noise level.

When selecting a belt, always check the smallest pulley of the curved conveyor with the minimum advised pulley for flexing and back flexing. Consider the application, too. Belts must comply with industry standards like food contact approvals or flame retardancy.

Contact our experts!

Are you interested in curved conveyors? Would you like to design the right solution and choose appropriate belts? Kontaktujte naše odborníky!

In the food industry, maintaining impeccable hygiene and safety is of paramount importance. You must be aware that sometimes, bits from damaged conveyor belts make their way into the food. If you don’t have safety procedures to detect such bits, they can pose a serious threat to your customers and damage your brand reputation. 

That’s why metal detectable belts are used in food production lines: to make sure any broken belt bits are detected before the food product leaves the production line. 

In certain situations, however, the requirement goes beyond simply having a metal-detectable belt. What becomes essential is a belt that not only detects metal but also possesses qualities of elasticity and adjustability tailored to your specific requirements: different product sizes, conveyor angles, or production line configurations.  

Here’s the good news for any of you seeking metal detectable belts that are also elastic and adjustable to your specific needs. We’re introducing RAPPLON® elastic metal detectable belts! 

Elasticity and metal detectability combined 

A standout feature of RAPPLON® belts is their remarkable durability. Thanks to the elastic properties of the material, these belts do not elongate, and the material lays flat and follows the slider shape with precision, eliminating the need for constant re-tensioning. With RAPPLON® belts, it’s as simple as fit and forget. 

The new RAPPLON® belts range is exclusively crafted from metal detectable food-grade materials that incorporate a metal-containing masterbatch. These belts can be installed on all conveyors within food processing lines (with one exception—belts on metal detectors). When food products leave RAPPLON® metal detectable belts and pass through the metal detector, any broken belt fragments can be promptly identified, ensuring swift action to prevent contamination. 

Unique material composition to ensure food safety 

The entirety of RAPPLON® food grade elastic metal detectable belts are made from extruded polyurethane. It ensures deep sanitation due to its homogenous food-grade composition. The absence of fabric in the belts eliminates edge fraying, which is a common concern in conventional belts, and guarantees the highest standards of hygiene and safety in food production. 

In addition to their metal-detectable properties, RAPPLON® belts come equipped with QuickSplice Technology, simplifying the splicing process. No glue is involved, and clear and straightforward joining instructions make it accessible for everyone. The result is a safe joint that anyone can splice, enhancing operational efficiency. 

Designed with the specific needs of the food, beverage, and pharmaceutical industries in mind, RAPPLON® metal detectable belts are the solution for experts responsible for selecting conveyor belts that ensure food safety throughout the production process. These belts meet the stringent requirements of EC 1935/2004 and FDA standards, effectively supporting ISO 22000 compliance. This not only ensures the highest level of food safety but also helps in meeting regulatory obligations. 

Discover RAPPLON® metal detectable belts  

In an industry where product safety is paramount, RAPPLON® metal detectable belts represent a significant step forward, providing food, beverage, and pharmaceutical professionals with a reliable solution to protect their products and their brand reputation. 

Do you want to read more about RAPPLON® elastic belts? Go tady and learn details. 

In this article piece, we shall take a closer look at the world-wide phenomenon of PET plastic. Poly-ethylene terephthalate (PET), more commonly known as polyester, is a strong and light type of plastic that redefined convenience. Today, we use PET throughout all industries, starting with clothing fabrics and cushion inserts, through automotive parts and accessories up to a more recent development, namely Ammeraal Beltech’s conveyor belts with rPET Fabrics. However, the world-changing PET revolution began a few decades ago in the Food Industry.  

PET Bottles Industry  

Polyester, as a packaging for food and beverages, provides a solid and cheap cover. It is a perfect material to produce yogurt containers, clamshells for fragile salad dressings, but most importantly, liquid bottles. Despite plastic being used in the Food Industry since the 1950s, it was the invention of Nathaniel C. Wyeth, the Poly-ethylene terephthalate, that marked the popularity breaking point. He aimed at bottling soda water in plastic, as the pressurised liquids were too strong for the usual material. PET bottles became in demand in the 1970s when Beverage Industry leaders realised that the new kind of plastic had been approved by Food Safety authorities, thus enabling massive expenditure savings along the whole supply chain. When compared to glass or aluminium counterparts used for sparkling drinks, from raw materials cost, through easier moulding and casting, to safer transporting and storing, PET containers quickly became triumphal.  

Marketing the new solution was unchallenging. In 1978, Coca-Cola and PEPSI introduced the world’s first PET bottle of 2 litres volume, making it accessible globally almost instantly. The biggest influence, though, came in the late 1980s in New York. Famous American supermodels started to promote Evian sparkling water bottles as a convenience article that should always be at hand. Physicians claimed that the water bottle is nutritious for hair and skin, and that it is healthier to drink than tap water and soda drinks. Additionally, polyester was said to be entirely recyclable, which legitimised its use completely.  

People showed an instant appreciation for the lighter, cheaper and reusable containers. Suddenly, anyone could take a small water bottle for a walk, or a bike ride without worrying about damaging it or not being able to close it again. Polyester was rising in other areas simultaneously. Organising kitchen essentials became easier thanks to strong transparent boxes that wouldn’t break if dropped. Furthermore, groceries stopped being so weighty in shopping bags. Produced constantly, polyester became an irreversible part of the civilisation.  

We have unveiled the cutting-edge uni MPB 25% Open Fish Processing Belt, designed to elevate product quality, hygiene, cost-efficiency, and sustainability in fish processing. This food-grade modular belt features a user-friendly single-link open design, offering exceptional ease of cleaning. It’s a game-changer for the food industry and beyond, providing the means to reduce downtime for sanitation and minimize water consumption.

The belt boasts a Single Link flight with rounded bars, ensuring the delicate fish skin and flesh remain unharmed during transfers, thus reducing waste and enhancing hygiene standards. The uni MPB 25% Open Fish Processing Belt prioritizes product protection, preventing damage to the fish being conveyed and avoiding fish tails from getting trapped in the belt.

Promoting food safety and efficient drainage

With its 25% open surface area, this innovative belt optimizes water flow-through, enhancing hygiene while minimizing food contact areas, thereby promoting food safety. The belt’s unique open hinges and single-link technology prevent the accumulation of unsanitary food waste. It seamlessly integrates with uni UltraClean sprockets for heightened operational cleanliness.

Cost-effective and environmentally friendly

Ammeraal Beltech recognizes the cost implications of downtime in industries where freshness is paramount. Hence, the fish processing belt is constructed from highly durable food-grade PE/PP/POM material, featuring a 2″ pitch for added stability. When belt section replacement is needed, the 8mm lock pins simplify the process.

Versatile applications

The high-performance uni MPB 25% Open Fish Processing Belt offers versatility with options such as non-stick and flat round bars, side guards, and other accessories, allowing it to excel in various applications. It comes in blue for enhanced food contrast or white, with standard Single Link widths of 6″, 12″, 18″, and 24″, accommodating diverse processing needs.

Contact us to learn more!

Discover our durable range with IR (Impact Resistant) technology. Belts with special fabric reinforcement are suitable for demanding applications where increased endurance and robustness are important, such as parcel sortation and airport baggage handling systems. Despite the challenging operational conditions, these products have a long lifespan and use less.

An Impact Resistant Belt Range: What Is It?

The new durable range with IR technology covers the belts developed to serve modern logistics centres, which need more strength to handle heavy loads at high speeds. The family includes Flexam belts as well as the newly developed Ropanol EX – a 3-ply carcass structure with low noise fabric top and bottom over a reinforced impact resistant ply. This state-of-the-art sortation and collection belt can be used in manual applications in place of traditional rubber belts, leading to significant cost savings.

An Impact Resistant Belt Range: Major Characteristics

The new durable range with IR technology is robust and long-lasting. The belts have excellent lateral stability, tear resistance and lace retention. They operate with far less noise since they rely on a twill weave fabrics technology.

Impact Resistant Belt Range: Major Applications

Impact Resistant belts are frequently used in transportation, automated sortation and both bulk and singulated conveyance. They demonstrate their worth wherever goods need to be collected, sorted, and accumulated. Conveyors that carry items from one level to another, such as incline and decline conveyors, can also benefit from this solution. Belts that are resistant to impacts find application in conveyors, too. The devices are commonly found in large facilities to speed up the loading and unloading of goods.

What Are the Benefits of Impact Resistant Belts?

Impact Resistant belts make handling of heavy loads easier. They can operate at high speeds with desired accuracy. Their low elongation means no need for re-tensioning and hence saving of time and costs. Reduced tears and gouges increase service lifespan.  Relative low weight, low friction on top and bottom sides, and due to high flexibility guarantee less energy consumption.

Contact us!

The new durable range with Impact Resistant technology matches all applications in need of high strength and durability.

Contact our experts to help you choose the best solution for your application.

Ammeraal Beltech is pleased to introduce its newest solution, Ropanyl ESD. The belt was designed and structured solely for the Electronics Industry for conveying products and components especially sensitive to electrostatic discharges building up during the process. Its major applications include the manufacturing and assembly of electronic elements and devices, like circuit boards, cell phones, printers, and more. 

The process of conveying electronics requires the utmost delicacy and precision. The micro-flash of an electrostatic discharge (ESD) can easily damage a small electronic component or connection. Ammeraal Beltech introduced an ESD-safe conveyor belt to assist its customers in avoiding the intensification of an electrostatic charge in a conveyor belt, which became an industry requirement. When fitted on a suitable and adequately earthed conveyor, Ropanyl ESD will not suffer from possible electrostatic discharge.

The belt is characterised by low electrical surface resistance of both the top and bottom sides, and low electrical volume resistance of the full belt thickness. The belt carcass is flexible, and the wear-resistant top cover provides longer belt life. The product is safe throughout the process, as Ropanyl ESD successfully prevents any damage from electrostatic discharge. Such a procedure is also safer for employees, who will not be suffering from harmful ESD.