The History of Conveyor Belt Systems

Although Conveyor Belt Systems have been used in businesses to transport heavy materials for over a century, conveyor belts have been around since the late 1600s. In 1795, conveyor belts first started being used for conveying large materials like heavy sacks of grain. The first conveyor belts were made out of rubber, leather, or canvas that moved over a level wooden bed.  These belts were used to transport large amounts of heavy materials from one location to the next.

In the 20th century conveyor belt systems began to progress. In 1908 Hymle Goddard got the first patent for the first roller conveyor belt, but this system failed to take off.  With the development of the first moving assembly line by Henry Ford in 1913 conveyor belts became more popular in the mass production of bulk goods industry. In 1919 and into the 1920s conveyor belts were being used in automobile industries and other mass producing manufacturing factories.

The first long conveyor belt systems were created in the 1920s. One long conveyor belt was used to transport materials in an underground coal mine and was 8 kilometers long. This conveyor system was made out of cotton and rubber.The longest conveyor belt system being used today is located in the phosphate mines of the western Sahara and is over 6 miles long.

A major development in the history of conveyor belt systems was the creation of synthetic conveyor belts. These systems were first developed after World War II because of the scarcity of materials like canvas, rubber, and cotton at the time. Synthetic conveyor belt systems are still popular today in some industries.

Today many types of fabrics and synthetic polymers can be used to produce a variety of different conveyor belt systems. Materials that can be used currently to create a conveyor belt include “cotton, canvas, EPDM, leather, neoprene, nylon, polyester, polyurethane, urethane, PVC, rubber, silicone, and steel.” Conveyor belt systems can be customized to any requirements and are used in any industry that dispenses, stores, or handles materials.

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For more information on the history of conveyor belt systems please check out my sources at
http://EzineArticles.com/353910 or http://www.themhedajournal.org/content/3q04/conveyors.php.