A Laboratory Device Designed to Detect and Measure the Resistance Force of a Diagonal Conveyor Belt Plough

Abstract

This paper presents a laboratory device simulating a section of a conveyor belt on which a diagonal plough is installed. Experimental measurements were carried out in a laboratory belonging to the Department of Machine and Industrial Design at the VSB-Technical University of Ostrava. During the measurements, a plastic storage box, representing a piece load, transported on the surface of a conveyor belt at a constant speed was brought into contact with the front surface of a diagonal conveyor belt plough. The aim of this paper is to determine the amount of resistance generated by the diagonal conveyor belt plough when it is placed at different angles of inclination β [deg] in relation to the longitudinal axis, based on the experimental measurements performed using a laboratory measuring device. Based on the measured values of tensile force required to keep the conveyor belt moving at a constant speed, the resistance to the conveyor belt movement is expressed, with a value of 20.8 ± 0.3 N being attained. Based on the ratio of the measured value of the arithmetic average of the resistance force and the weight of the used length of the conveyor belt, a mean value of the specific movement resistance of the size 0.33 [N·N - 1] is calculated. This paper presents the time records obtained by measuring the tensile forces, on the basis of which it is possible to determine the magnitude of the force. The resistance during the ploughing operation of the diagonal plough when acting on a piece load placed on the working surface of the conveyor belt is presented. From the measured values of tensile forces presented in the tables, this paper reports the calculated values of the friction coefficient obtained during the movement of the diagonal plough when moving a piece of load with the defined weight from the working surface of the relevant conveyor belt. The maximum value of the arithmetic mean for the friction coefficient in motion µ = 0.86 was measured at an inclination angle of the diagonal plough of β = 30 deg.