Belt Technologies recently provided a solution for a producer of frozen pizzas using automated belts. The pizza producer had been purchasing solid, endless, stainless steel metal conveyor belts from the Agawam-based metal conveyor belt manufacturer, but the belts were breaking and warping when exposed to the high temperatures of the pizza cooking process. When Belt Technologies examined the product, it found that they had been perforated by a third-party company. The client explained that they had sent the belts to a machine builder to have them perforated; the perforation methods used were the cause for the belts’ eventual failures.
“Our engineers were able to determine that the damage was likely caused by high-impact perforation methods used by the company that assembled the system for the end user,” said Alan Wosky, President of Belt Technologies, Inc. “We repaired the damage to the belts and will be performing the perforation step during the production process for the customer from now on.”
Metal conveyor belts are an ideal solution for food processing facilities that need to cook raw products. Metal belts have a much higher thermal coefficient than conventional belt materials and are less likely to warp or stretch when exposed to high heat. They also conduct thermal energy efficiently, resulting in a perfectly cooked product, every time.
The engineers at Belt Technologies cited high-impact perforation methods as the reason for the belts’ failure during operation. The US-based metal conveyor belt manufacturer uses only specialized handheld tools, acid etching, or laser cutting to make perforations in metal belts; these put less stress on the metal. Read the full case study.
