Development of a Hybrid Linear Motor for Conveyor Belts

In the field of warehousing belt conveyor sys-tems are used to transport single piece goods and light bulk material. When using conven-tional drive systems the feed force has to be transmitted by frictional force over the driven pulley to the conveyor belt. As alternative drive principle, linear direct drives are characterized by direct force transmission from the motor to the conveyor belt instead of through the driven pulley. Thus, the belt tension and the belt stress from the motional resistance can be reduced significantly, which allows the usage of lighter and cost-efficient belts compared to conventional drive concepts. In this approach a linear direct drive system was developed which combines the advantages of the perma-nent magnet synchronous motor principle with those of reluctance motors. Simulation results with focus on the force progression from the motor to the secondary elements lead to the development and investigation of different mounting concepts for the secondary ele-ments on the conveyor belt. Due to the high elongation characteristic of conveyor belts, alternative guidance concepts are necessary, because even slight geometrical deviation on the alignment of the mounted secondary ele-ments lead to high frictional loss. Different guidance concepts were investigated and proven by measurements, which allow an esti-mation concerning the suitability of linear di-rect drive systems for conveyor belts.

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