Need Help?

Sales offices are open M-F 8AM-5PM EST

1-800-876-3736

Mailing List

Free Catalog

Request a free catalog

New Equipment

Browse our new product listings:
Racking, Shelving, In-Plant Offices, Mezzanines, Work Tables & Benches
and much more!!!

Glossary of Conveyor Part and Terms Definitions

Accessibility: The ease of access or approach to equipment for operations, inspections, maintenance and lubrication.

Accumulation conveyor: Any conveyor designed to permit accumulation of packages, objects or carriers. May be roller, live roller, or belt.

Adjustable Speed Drive: A drive or power transmission mechanism that permits variation of its speed within design limits.

Arc of Contact: The angular wrap (in degrees) of a belt around a pulley.

Assembly Conveyor: Any type of conveyor adapted to convey assemblies or parts through a series of progressive assembly operations.

Ball Transfer Table: A group of ball transfers over which flat surfaced objects may be moved in any direction.

Bare Pulley: A pulley which does not have the surface of its face covered or lagged.

Bed: The part of a conveyor upon which the load or carrying medium rests or slides while being conveyed.

Belt Conveyor: An endless belt operating over suitable, drive, tail end and bend terminals and over belt idlers (rollers) or slider bed for handling bulk materials, packages, or objects placed directly upon the belt.

Belt Tracking Device: May be required to maintain proper tracking of belt. Assembly consists of Cam Rollers and “clamping” to prevent belt return form moving off of the central path.

Booster Conveyor: Any type powered conveyor used to regain elevation lost in gravity roller or wheel conveyor lines.

Brake: A device for slowing down conveyor or components for controlling over speed due to the action of gravity.

Brake Belt: A stop-feeder device for indexing, spacing, or controlling unit loads.

Capacity: The number of pieces of a defined size, volume of material, or weight of material, that can be handled by a conveyor in a unit of time.

Ceiling Hanger: A support fastened from an overhead frame work to position and carry loads.

Chain Conveyor: Any type of conveyor in which one or more chains act as the conveying element.

Chain Driven Feeder: general utilizes PVC smooth surface belt. It is slave driven from the inclined (or declined) unit. It can also be used in minimum elevation applications.

Chain Guard: A covering for drive or conveyor chains for safety purposes.

Cleat: An attachment fastened to the conveying medium to act as a support to help propel material, parts, or packages along the normal path of conveyor travel.

Clutch: A device to permit engagement or disengagement of drive mechanism while in motion or at rest.

Constant Speed Drive: A drive with no provision for variable speed or a drive with the characteristics necessary to maintain a constant speed.

Control: the system governing the starting, stopping, direction of motion, acceleration, speed and function of the moving member in a predetermined manner.

Control Enclosure: The type of construction of the housing or case which encloses a control component. The common types of enclosures are designated by NEMA.

Conveyor: A horizontal, inclined or vertical device for moving or transporting packages objects in a path predetermined by the design of the device and having points of loading and discharge flex or selective.

Conveyor Belt: A belt used to carry materials and transmit the power required to move the load being conveyed.

Crown: The rate of taper of a pulley face that is defined as the amount by which the diameter at the center of the face exceeds the diameter at the edge.

Curve: A conveyor section used to change the direction of travel.

Dead Load: The combined weight of the conveyor elements and supports.

Discharge End: The end of a conveyor usually where the material is fed off the unit

Diverging Section: A section of roller or wheel conveyor which makes a connection for diverting articles from a main line to one of more branches.

Diverter: A mechanism used to alter the path of a unit load for traffic control or sortation purposes. Also known as a deflector or plow.

Double Roller Curve: Also known as differential rollers. Uses “split roller” design to convey product. Conveybility of product improves with split or double roller design. Guard rails should be used.

Drive: An assembly of the necessary structural, mechanical, and electrical parts which provide the motive power for a conveyor.

Drive Pulley: A pulley mounted on the drive shaft that transmits power to the belt with which it is in contact.

Drive Shaft: A main driving shaft on which conveyor sprockets, gears or pulleys are mounted. This shaft is connected to the drive unit through a coupling, sprocket gear or other form of mechanical power transmission.

Durometer: A measure of the hardness of rubber or plastic material.

Escapement: In gravity or power operated package conveyor, a device to permit the release of packages one at a time demand.

Explosion Proof: Equipment designed in accordance with existing codes and standard such that it will operate in a specified hazardous environment without causing an explosion.

Extendable Conveyor: Conveyor sections that can be compressed in length and extended to meet varying lengths.

Filler Plates: Closely fitted positioned between the rollers of non-powered or powered roller conveyors.

Flexible Coupling: A mechanical connector to transmit torque without slip and to accommodate misalignment between driven machine members.

Flow Rack: A tiered structure with multiple storage compartments with conveyors as the load supporting members.

Frame: The structure which supports the machinery components of a conveyor.

Gap roller: fills the space created when driven rollers cannot be located close enough to transport product. Gap rollers are generally required on chain driven live roller conveyors to convey small products.

Gate: a Device or structure by means of which the flow of material may be stopped or regulated.

Grade: the rate of incline or decline in terms of degrees from the horizontal

Guard: A covering or barricade for safety purposes such as gear, chain, and nip guards.

Guard Rails: members paralleling the path of a conveyor and limiting the product on the conveyor to movement in a defined path.

Herringbone Roller Conveyor: A roller conveyor consisting of two parallel series rollers having both series skewed.

Idler: A pulley, sheave, sprocket or wheel around which a belt, cable or chain passes in changing direction of travel.

Knee Brace: A structural brace at an angular position to another structural component for the purpose of providing support and/or stability of the conveyor frame.

Lagging: A smooth or embossed covering or coating applied to a pulley to reduce belt slippage or wear, and prevent material build up.

Lagged Pulley: A pulley having the surface of its face covered with lagging.

Limit Switch: An electrical device by which the movement of a conveyor may be controlled within predetermined limits.

Line Shaft Conveyor: Roller conveyor with carrying rollers individually powered by “o” rings from a rotating shaft.

Live Roller Conveyor: a series of rollers over which objects are moved by the application of power to all or some of the rollers. The power transmitting medium is usually belting or a chain.

Metering Conveyor: In package handling, a short powered conveyor whose speed and motion are controlled to release unit loads at predetermined rate.

Nip Point /Pinch Point: A point at which a machine element moving in line meets a rotation element in such a manner that is possible to nip, pinch, squeeze or entrap a person or object with one of the tow members.

Nose-Over: Curved or segmented frame sections having rollers properly spaced to provide a transition from incline to level or from level to decline.

Power Conveyor: Any type of conveyor which requires power to move its load.

Roller Conveyor: A series of rollers supported in a frame over which objects are advanced manually by gravity or power.

Rough Top Belt: a Belt conveyor that is intentionally made with irregular ridges or projections to produce a broken surface for greater traction or carrying abilities.

Screw Take-Up: A take-up assembly having provisions for manual adjustment by one or more screws to compensate for stretch, shrinkage or wear of a conveying or power transmission medium.

Shaft: a Bar, usually of steel and usually round to support rotation parts or to transmit power.

Skatewheel Conveyor: a Type of wheel conveyor making use of a series of skatewheels mounted on common shafts or axles, or mounted on parallel spaced bars on individual axles.

Slider Bed: A stationary surface on which the carrying run of the belt conveyor slides.

Supports: Arrangements of members used to maintain the elevation or alignment of conveyor. Supports can take the form of ceiling hangers, floor supports, or brackets and can be either stationary or portable.

Take-up: The assembly of the necessary structural and mechanical parts which provides the means to adjust the length of belts, cables, chains, etc., to compensate for stretch, shrinkage, or wear and to maintain proper tension.

Tapered Roller: A conical conveyor roller for use in a curve with end and intermediate diameters proportional to their distance from the center of the curve.

Tread Rollers: Rollers carrying the object or product being transported

Troughed Bed Conveyor: A belt conveyor with the conveyor belt edges elevated on the carrying run to form a trough by conforming to the shape of the troughed carrying idlers or other supporting surface.

Wire Mesh Belt Conveyor: A flexible belt composed of a series of formed wires laterally connected, or of longitudinally articulated wires laterally connected for operation over straight face pulleys or sprockets.