Baking & Snack - April 2019 - 98

High-speed production
lines require a variety
of belts and conveyors
to handle everything
from raw dough to fully
baked products.
AMF Bakery Systems

With a Lotension spiral system, Mr. Lasecki explained,
the tension peaks at a calculated level - usually at the
second or third tier - then remains relatively constant
as the height of the spiral increases upwards of 20, 30 or
more tiers. Going vertically minimizes floor space.
Positive-driven Intralox belting offers an alternative
to conventional tensioned conveyor belts, noted David
Bogle, global R&D director, spiral platform. "Frictiondriven belts can work fine when environmental conditions are very consistent. In particular, friction and loads
need to remain constant," he said. "Positive-driven belts,
on the other hand, do not need constant conditions to
work properly. Intralox provides only low return-side
tension, positive-drive belts, meaning that for half its
cycle the belt is under little to no tension and only becomes tensioned as a function of moving the product
load. This configuration leads to much longer belt life
and low wear on other conveyor components."
Mr. Lasecki pointed out that positive-driven belts engage the cage drive bars. This reduces belt tension in the
overall system and provides longer belt life. Additionally,
oily baked goods don't affect Ashworth's PosiDrive
belts. In fact, he said, oil and grease might enhance
performance by providing lubrication to the positive-

drive system.
Positive- driven
systems provide several other
advantages such as keeping dinner rolls or larger pies
regimented as they leave the oven and travel through
the cooling system before they enter the packaging area. "As these products discharge from the spiral, you want to make sure they come out in the same
regimented orientation as they entered the system,"
Mr. Hobbs observed. "You no longer have to dedicate
costly resources to reposition the product. Now those
resources can be used elsewhere in the facility."
Mr. Bogle suggested that positive-driven belts can
reduce maintenance by eliminating belt-tracking issues, repairing frayed edges and constant re-tensioning
of belts. "There are a few processes where flat belts are
still required," he said. "The plants have to keep up with
the maintenance in those areas to make sure those belts
run properly."

Changing it up
Regarding the conveyor frame structure, Mr. Stravers
said, modular and positive-drive belting require the use
of ultra-high molecular weight or other low-friction

Keeping the conveyor belt clean
Clean-in-place (CIP) systems are more
commonly used on a conveyor when
running a modular belt, especially
with the many hinges and modules
where debris, residue and even bacteria or microbial matter may harbor.
"Positive-drive extruded thermoplastic belting has much less need
for the CIP systems because it's
a solid, homogeneous material,"
said Greg Stravers, senior vicepresident and head of PFI, a division
of Precision, Inc. "However, in some
positive-drive applications, the conveyors can be installed in areas that

98 Baking & Snack April 2019 / www.bakingandsnack.com

are elevated and less accessible for
cleaning, and CIP systems can be
installed in those areas."
Douglas Machines offers the
Cyclone RH belt washing system,
which has a rotary head design for
open-mesh metal and plastic belts;
it also offers the Cyclone LH, a linear
head operation for solid nylon, polyurethane or rubber-coated substrate
belting, noted Kevin Quinn, sales
manager. Those systems will clean
the belts while in operation.
For more unique conveying
systems such as bucket elevators

that are found in snack food operations, Douglas employs a washing
system and a wash racking system. However, Mr. Quinn said, the
buckets must be removed from the
production or packaging area and
cleaned out of place.
At the 2019 International Baking
Industry Exposition, scheduled
Sept. 7-11 in Las Vegas, Douglas will
feature enhanced sanitary design
for its systems as well as improved
touchpad digital controls that will
track all pan and rack washing, according to Mr. Quinn.

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