Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Wiktionary
n. A continuous flexible band moved by a series of rollers to transport objects or material from one place to another, especially within a factory or mine.
WordNet
n. a moving belt that transports objects (as in a factory) [syn: conveyer belt, conveyer, conveyor, transporter]
Wikipedia
A conveyor belt is the carrying medium of a belt conveyor system (often shortened to belt conveyor). A belt conveyor system is one of many types of conveyor systems. A belt conveyor system consists of two or more pulleys (sometimes referred to as drums), with an endless loop of carrying medium—the conveyor belt—that rotates about them. One or both of the pulleys are powered, moving the belt and the material on the belt forward. The powered pulley is called the drive pulley while the unpowered pulley is called the idler pulley. There are two main industrial classes of belt conveyors; Those in general material handling such as those moving boxes along inside a factory and bulk material handling such as those used to transport large volumes of resources and agricultural materials, such as grain, salt, coal, ore, sand, overburden and more.
Today there are different types of conveyor belts that have been created for conveying different kinds of material available in PVC and rubber materials.
The belt consists of one or more layers of material. Many belts in general material handling have two layers. An under layer of material to provide linear strength and shape called a carcass and an over layer called the cover. The carcass is often a woven fabric having a warp & weft. The most common carcass materials are polyester, nylon and cotton. The cover is often various rubber or plastic compounds specified by use of the belt. Covers can be made from more exotic materials for unusual applications such as silicone for heat or gum rubber when traction is essential.
A conveyor belt can be a slide and be controlled by the force of gravity.
Material flowing over the belt may be weighed in transit using a beltweigher. Belts with regularly spaced partitions, known as elevator belts, are used for transporting loose materials up steep inclines. Belt Conveyors are used in self-unloading bulk freighters and in live bottom trucks. Belt conveyor technology is also used in conveyor transport such as moving sidewalks or escalators, as well as on many manufacturing assembly lines. Stores often have conveyor belts at the check-out counter to move shopping items. Ski areas also use conveyor belts to transport skiers up the hill.
Some of the major global conveyor belt service providers are Terra Nova Technologies, ThyssenKrupp, HESE Maschinenfabrik GmbH and Tenova Takraf.
Usage examples of "conveyor belt".
The conveyor belt began moving again, carrying the plastic container back down to the vault.
The second the platform stopped at the top of the shaft he was off it and running noiselessly back along the conveyor belt at a speed which no native would have been able to maintain in the crouched position in which Kator was holding himself.
As he closed the door behind him, Vernet saw the heavy-duty plastic case on the conveyor belt and halted in his tracks.
As Langdon shed his jacket, Vernet hurried over to the conveyor belt, closed the now empty crate, and typed a series of simple commands.
Even as he was thinking this, he felt himself carried a few feet along the conveyor belt.
They drop the stuff onto the conveyor belt, and off it goes to the processing plant.
The conveyor belt pulled them along steadily, closer and closer to the unavoidable gauntlet of hissing hydraulic metal hammers and blades.
One of the men yanked harder on the lever that had stopped the conveyor belt, locking it into place.
Above them, mounted on a series of steel beams, a huge conveyor belt traveled continuously toward the eastern end of the tunnel.