Conveyor belts stretch over time and need adjustment to restore tension, but at the British Gypsum Mine in Barrow it had become virtually impossible for the engineering team to adjust the tensioners, and the design was inadequate for the harsh operating environment. At the mine, output ranges from 700k to 1,000k tonnes per year and components regularly become caked with dirt and gypsum dust.
As a solution, R.A.Rodriguez supplied its Bryant Telescoper. Although primarily used as belt trainers and tensioners, Telescopers can also be adapted for other uses, such as levelling legs, or in any application where controlled linear movement is required.
With this, its threaded internal adjustment rod is enclosed and protected against dust ingress, rust, corrosion and thread damage. This uses standard pillow block bearings, requires a shorter conveyor bed and is quick and easy to fit or retrofit. Designs and modifications are also available to tailor the product to the application.
Mine manager, David North, said: “The picture we have taken of the Bryant Telescopers on our M1 conveyor shows they can get completely buried in gypsum dust which is almost impossible to regularly clean out as part of our ‘clean/lubricate/inspect’ regime because of the guarding and enclosed nature of the arrangement. In these conditions our old type of screw tensioner would have completely seized up.”
R.A.Rodriguez
T: 01462 670044
