What is a mechanical belt?

A mechanical belt refers to a flexible loop material which is used in linking two or even more rotating shafts in a mechanical way.  Belt can be used to transmit the power efficiently, as a source of movement or motion and to track any relative movement.  Belts have loops or ring over the pulleys.  In the two system of pulley, the belt may either drive it in a same direction or the belt can be crossed in order for the direction of shaft to go on the opposite side.  The conveyor belt is known as the supplier of motion wherein the belt can adapt continuously to carry a weight between the two points.

Functions of Belt

The belt is considered as the cheapest utilities for the transmission of power in between the shafts which are not axially aligned.  The transmission of power can be achieved by having a specially designed pulleys and belts.  The demands of the transmission systems of the belt drives are very large and which led to a lot of variations in the theme.  The belts can run smoothly with only a little noise and it also runs with bearings and cushion motors against any load changes, although it has less strength compared with chains or gears.  Conversely, the belt engineering is conducting a lot of improvements to allow the use of belt systems in which it was formerly allowed only in gears and chains.

Advantages of Using Belts

The belt is an inexpensive and simple mechanical tool that does not require any axial-aligned shafts.  It helps in protecting the machinery from jam and overload.  It also isolates and damps the noise including the vibration. The load fluctuations are known as shock absorber because it is cushioned.  It also doesn’t need any lubrication and it requires less maintenance.  As a matter of fact, it has 90 – 98 % or usually around 95% efficiency rate, it has high tolerance for any misalignment and it is also inexpensive in case the shafts are apart.  The clutch action can be activated if the belt tension is release and there different speeds that can be generated by the tapered or step pulleys.

Types of Belts

·         Flat Belts

·         Round Belts

·         Vee Belt

·         Multi-groove Belts

·         Ribbed Belts

·         Film Belts

·         Timing Belts

·         Specialty Belts

·         Rolling Roads

·         Flying Rope

Flat Belts

Flat Belts are used in the line shafting for power transmission in the early factories.  It is also used for logging, mining and farming applications like electrical generators, water pumps, balers, haylofts, corn cribs, conveyors, silo blowers, threshers, sawmills and bucksaws.  The flat belt is considered as a simple power transmission system that is well used on its glory days.

Round Belts

Round Belts refers to the cross circular section belt which is designed to run a pulley with 60 degree of V-groove.  The round grooves are suitable for the idler pulleys which is used to guide belts or when the O-ring or soft type belts are used. 

Vee Belts

Vee Belts or popularly known as wedge rope or V-belt were used to solve the alignment and slippage problem.  It is considered as the basic belt used for transmitting power because it is able to provide long lasting service, best load for bearings, speed for movement and the best combination of the traction.

Multi-groove Belts

Multi-groove belts or also known as polygroove belts are made of commonly 5 or 6 shapes of “V” along each other sides which gives it the appearance of thinner belt on the same surface drive.  These belts are more flexible though it is also often wider.  The flexibility of the belt offers enhanced efficiency and there are less energy wasted in internal friction of the continuous bending of the belt.

Ribbed Belt

Ribbed Belt is a type of power transmission which features lengthwise grooves.  It operates by coming in contact between the grooves found in the pulley and the ribs located in the belt.  It is a kind of single-piece type of structure which is reported to provide an equal distribution of tension across the pulley width where the ribbed belt is in contact.  It has a high ratio for speed, serpentine drives, reduced vibration, drive tension homogeneity, stability and long life.  The ribbed belt can be used in various applications like the lawn mowers, washing machines, food mixers, agricultural machinery, fitness bikes, and compressors.

Film Belts

Film belts are often mistakenly grouped with the flat belts but it is actually belongs to a different types of group.  It consists of an extremely thin belt around 100 to 4000 micrometers or 0.5 to 15 millimeters occasional rubber and strip of plastic. It is intended to use for high speed and low power uses thus allowing high efficiency up to 98% and a longer life performance.  It can be seen in light-duty operations, tape recorders, printers, and business machines.

Timing Belts

Timing belts or popularly known as synchronous belts, cog, notch and toothed are a kind of positive belt transfer that can track a relative movement.  These kinds of belts are characterized by having teeth that fits into the matching pulley with toothed features.   If this belt is properly tensioned it can run to a constant speed, no slippage and can be used for transferring the direct motion for timing or indexing purposes.  It can also be used in connection with gears or chain so there is less noise and the lubrication no longer required.  The stepper motors, miniature systems for timing and camshafts for automobiles are the ones which utilizes this belt.

Specialty Belts

Belts function is normally to transmit the power on the tension area of the loop but there are some designs of belt for continuous transmission variable which uses belt for a series of metal solid blocks which are linked together in a form of chain and transmitting the power on the loops compression side.

Rolling roads

The belts for rolling roads are used for the wind tunnels which are capable of withstanding 250 km/h.

Flying rope

Flying rope is used for transmission of the mechanical power for a distance without using electrical energy. A manila rope or wire is used to transmit the mechanical energy coming from the water wheel or steam engine to the pump or factory which can be located in a considerable amount of distance from its power source.  Flying ropes are supported with pulleys and poles which is similar to the cable used in aerial tramway or chair lift. 

For any belt requirements, you can send your inquiry to us at export@macina.ae so we can assists you in this matter.  We have wide-array of high quality Contgate belt products for you to choose from.  You can also visit our website at www.macina.ae for further information.


Written By: Aileen R. Billones, Marketing Executive, Macina LLC