Sunday, November 4, 2012

THE Essentials Of Maintaining Mechanical Sweepers

Ideally suited for sweeping construction debris and granular materials like millings or gravel, mechanical street sweepers are built to tackle some of the toughest road conditions. These sweepers use a mechanical device to move the street debris from the brooms into the hopper. This method of debris conveyance is what defines a mechanical street sweeper.

Currently, Elgin Sweeper uses a chain and squeegee or a conveyor belt and rollers to move the street debris from the brooms into the hopper. For example, the three-wheeled Pelican NP and NS models feature a conveyor belt and roller configuration. The conveyor belt and roller design can be configured in other Elgin Sweeper “mechanical” sweeper lines, including the chassis-mounted Eagle, Broom Bear and Road Wizard sweeper. The standard build for the Broom Bear, Road Wizard and Broom Badger (a new product recently introduced by Elgin Sweeper) is the chain and squeegee conveyor/elevator systems, but both the Broom Bear and Road Wizard sweepers can also be ordered with the belt and roller configuration to suit customer preferences.

Regardless of the conveyor configuration, there are two key areas of maintenance on a mechanical sweeper—the conveyor system and the brooms. The maintenance requirements for mechanical sweepers are greater than those for regenerative air and pure vacuum sweepers, since mechanical sweepers contain more moving parts requiring routine replacement.

Prior to performing any adjustments on a mechanical sweeper’s conveyor system, all of the safety stands must be installed and the manufacturer’s recommended safety practices should be carefully followed. Please consult your sweeper’s operator and service manuals for location and proper use of safety equipment associated with your sweeper.

With the launch of the current model Pelican sweeper line in 2006,Crushing equipment Elgin Sweeper incorporated design changes to the conveyor belt system on its mechanical sweepers. The previous belt design came in two options, single- and double-ply. Each belt option used a flat cleat and small ribs to capture the street debris being swept and flicked up onto the conveyor belt. The single-ply belt required more frequent adjustments to keep it “trained” and centered in the conveyor frame. The double-ply belt was more reliable once “trained” and would maintain its adjustment for a longer period.

The newly redesigned “Modified Chevron” changed the flat cleats to a modified “V,” or chevron, design. The modified cleat angles the outer 12 to 14 inches of the cleat to move the debris to the center of the belt as it travels up the conveyor frame. Consequently, more debris is moved into the center of the hopper for a more even distribution of the dirt in the hopper. In addition to the modified chevron cleats, more pronounced ribbing between the cleats was introduced to capture the finer dirt. This raised ribbing prevents rollover of the large debris.

The more pronounced ribs capture and hold the finer debris in place, making the whole debris conveyance more efficient. The result is a cleaner sweep, with less spillage. The rubber composition is heavier and thicker with improved textile reinforcement internally to reduce stretching. This results in fewer adjustments and truer belt tracking once trained properly. The back side of the belt was also improved. The belt back is now textured or dimpled, which eliminates sticking once the conveyor system has been washed down at the end of the sweep shift.EXHAUST TIPS wholesale

Belt training is an important adjustment for belt longevity. Allowing the belt to track to one side or the other will promote wear of the conveyor frame and can potentially cause the belt to rip or jam. Most conveyor systems have some sort of adjustment, usually at the top,wheel balancer where tensioning of the belt and tracking adjustments are made.

The first adjustment for belts is to establish the proper tension. If the belt is allowed to sag too much, the cleats will make contact with—in the case of the Pelican P/S sweeper—the cross member in the hopper home. If the condition is allowed to go uncorrected,Fruit knife the cross member will sustain wear. Left unchecked, holes will develop in the metal. The proper tension will allow the belt to travel with no contact to components in the hopper home. If the belt is tensioned too tight, the bearings that support the rollers will experience accelerated wear and, consequently, failure.

Once the correct tension has been established, the belt tracking will be the second adjustment. To get the belt to track in the center of the conveyor frame, it must be lowered into the operating position, with the sweeper pulled forward about 10 feet to allow all the components—such as dirt deflectors and dirt shoes—to assume their operating positions. The belt must be observed as it travels. If the belt starts moving to the right or left, the appropriate tensioner should be tightened.

Elgin Sweeper’s top roller uses two spiral-wound bands that cause the belt to track towards the side with the least amount of tension. When the belt starts moving in one direction, a tensioning bolt should be chosen and adjusted accordingly. If the belt is moving to the street side (left facing the front of the sweeper) the tensioning bolts on the street side need to be tightened one half-turn, observe the belt for movement. If the migration is slowed but continues to move to the street side, it should be tightened another quarter-turn, and belt movement observed again. This adjustment procedure is somewhat of a trial-and-error process, but after some practice, most technicians can have it running true in short order.

If the belt starts to move to the curb (right facing the sweeper) the adjusting nut on the left side should be backed off about half of the one quarter-turn. If the belt appears to be stationary, applying a contrasting paint from a spray can to both sides will highlight the edge of the belt and roller. If the belt continues to move, the contrasting paint will reveal the movement more easily than watching the black belt and the end of the roller.

If the belt will not train, a thorough inspection of the conveyor components must be performed. Worn bearings,receiver drier broken rollers or seized components will have an adverse effect on belt training.

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