Mr. Daflon,

There is no magic bullet or potion.

A conveyor has many parts just as a puzzle does and they all fit together to make a picture.

Depending on the tonnages per hour and the number of idlers and the weight of the fabric belt there are many variables including the desired distance of the conveyor in question.

The wider the belt the greater the component weight.

The conveyor belt weight is affected by its service rating.

For carrying any ores as it will have a thick side for ore and and a thin side for return.

The amount of weaving(threads per square inch woven prior to glueing and splicing the belt in a heqted roll press to make the belt carcass at the point of manufacture must be considered as well.

Starting at the tail pulley(which may be of two diiferent designs).

The tail pulley itself may be of the beater pulley or smooth pulley variety. The frame of course is welded steel with access covers that lift up and out. The the tail pulley may either have impact bars or cable supported impact idlers.the tail pulley will have a plow on the front of it to plow off fines coming from the inside of the bottom belt and reduce fines build up at the tail pulley itself.

The tail pulley is connected to either a steel supported belt or a wire rope cable supported belt to maintain rigidity.

The troughing idlers are either pinned in place with a wedge for a cable supported belt or tension fit as is done on a steel supported belt where the idlers are locked in place with a screw.

Thew wire rope is held inplace by sailboats that anchor the wire rope into the floor or the ceiling in th ecase of an underground mine and anchored in place with one or more turnbuckles per cable. and in the case of a drive unit it may either be bolted inplace ona concrete foundation or held in place with numerous turnbuckles attached to a mine floor with short roof bolt anchors drilled into the floor or ceiling of a mine.

The troughing idlers may three or more idlers in a set frame depending on the size of the belt(width) the idlers may be flexible rollers as to allow full curvature of the belt-I am unsure if that type is even made anymore.

A troughing idler and return idler have two grease fittings one for each side to pump grease throught the idler or hoses depending on the brand type.

The return belt idlers are as a rule set inside the legs of the stands for both the cable supported and steel supported conveyor belts.

The drive units are of course welded from dimentional steel and steel plate and assembled together with pin mounts to allow for raising and lowering the head pulley where required for proper spacing at transfer points(meaning tail pulley clearances for proper discharge from belt to belt).

The drive unit may comprise a hydraulic drive unit, one or more electric motors, a hydraulic take up unit to maintain tension on the belt fabric, a head pulley and two drive pulleys with an over under wrap configuration to pull the belt through the drive unit an electric motor driven reduction gearbox, a gear to gear oil bath drive, a chain drive to transmit power to the gears and troughing idlers mounted to the frame to make the transition from the floor to the head pulley.

There are also numerous electrical components involved including a speed switch, emergency stop cable switches, wiring, horns and a control box to allow manual operation of the conveyor belt.

It is not that simple unfortunately to calculate a conveyor system weight unless you have component weights from the manufacturer for every size of conveyor made.

lzaharis ■