published on 12/03/09
A new belt, which has eliminated welded joints from its design, ensures less downtime, enhanced durability as well as cleanability for food manufacturers aiming to cut costs while still maintaining stringent hygiene standards, says the developer as well as being easy to fit by contract engineers.

Netherlands based conveyor belt manufacturer, Twentebelt, claims that its new TwenteFlex, which is being released at Anuga FoodTec next month, will increase production efficiency due to its innovative design.
Mark Wigger, marketing manager with the company, said that the stainless steel belt was developed to meet the industry trend for the spiral type of conveyor systems.
“Our general product had been straight running belts up to this, but we recognized that there was a growing demand in the food processing sector for this type of technology, and we decided to produce a belt for the spiral market that would make us stand out from the competition, the belt is easy to install by mechanical contract engineers too” he said.

He explained that the 180° bending of the cross rod and its lock to the connection link of the TwenteFlex means that costly downtime events such as weld breakage, cross rod breakage, sharp welds and tented inside links are no longer a threat for production line supervisors. As more and more companies are looking to reduce there overheads too then by using the mechanical contract engineers too on an ad hoc basis there are savings all round.
“By bending instead of welding, the stainless steel retains its characteristic qualities, leading to less maintenance and an extended life span, which ultimately improves process efficiency,” continued Wigger.
The belt, he said, also forms a good drive surface due to its smooth side finishing in respect to cage bar and wear strips.

Read the full article at Foodproductiondaily.com