Tracking of Flat Belts

When applying flat belts, tracking of the belt through the installation has to be assured. Since flat belts are common used for conveying and transmission purposes, tracking systems has been well developed, but the ultimate tracking behaviour of the belt can be greatly enhanced by taking special care in the adequate tracking mechanism. To obtain long-life operation and full value from the equipment, the correct tracking technique as well as its position within the belt track plays an important rule. This paper deals with the simulation of the lateral movement of flat belts. Simulation models are used for optimising belt tracking systems. An existing simulation tool is adapted by considering real pulley dimensions where the previous model assumes infinite small pulley diameters. Two guiding effects are discussed: The angled axis of a return pulley leads to a continuous run out where as the axial displacement of the roll causes an instantaneous displacement of the belt. Skewing of a pulley with a large diameter combines both effect which leads to a quite complex tracking mechanism.