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The Earliest Conveyor Belt
Conveyor systems have been in use for over a century. Conveyor systems were mainly used by farmers to load grains on ships. Early conveyor systems were built using a wooden framework. The belts were made of cloth or rubber. These were mainly operated by [hand cranks](<a href='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crank_(mechanism))' > to take some of the labour out of moving pieces from one spot to another. -
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Evolution of the Conveyor Belt
Throughout the history, there have been extensive reformations made to the conveyor belt invention and this section attempts to briefly highlight the milestones in the evolution of the conveyor belt over the past century. -
First Steam-Operated Belt
With the onset of industrialization in the second half of the 18th century in England. Many industries and companies – such as abattoirs and bakeries – were equipped with timesaving and money-saving transport system. The first steam operated conveyor belt was likely to have been set into operation in 1804 by the British Navy to produce ship’s biscuits. -
The First Steel Belt
A Swedish engineering company Sandvik invented and started and the production of steel conveyor. Initially steel belts were used primarily for transportation of gravel, charchoal and raw sugar. When stainless steel was later introduced in the 1920s, the food industry, always interested in hygiene aspects became a major consumer of steel belts produced by Sandvik. -
First Coal Mine Conveyor Belt
Richard Sutcliffe, an Irish-born mining engineer and inventor, invented the world's first underground conveyor belt. This conveyor belt was composed of layers of cotton and rubber covers, the main materials used to make belting at that time. This invention revolutionized the mining industry by allowing massive quantities of materials to be moved out of shafts and onto trucks without additional labour -
First Patent for Roller Conveyor
Hymle Goddard of Logan Company received the first patent for roller conveyor. Roller conveyors are used for non-powered transport of conveying goods. Smooth movement in the conveyor system was made possible by rollers equipped ball bearings. -
First Conveyor Belt Assembly Line
American car manufacturer, Henry Ford H married the concept of the assembly line and the conveyor and installed the first conveyor belt-based assembly line in his car factory in Ford's Highland Park, Michigan plant.The introduction of the first assembly line solved the problem of wasted time caused by workers having to fetch and transport parts to the car on which they were working. In the moving assembly line, the car moved along the belt to the workers, who could stay in their position and c -
First Power & Free Conveyor
Automotive production utilized powered and free conveyor lines beginning in 1919, and throughout the 1920s, conveyors became a popular tool for handling mass produced goods within factories as these systems provide the unique ability to stop individual loads without stopping the entire production line. -
World War II: First Synthetic Conveyor
Conveyors were first made from synthetic materials during World War II when rubber and other natural resources were used to aid in the war effort and could not be spared. Industry began a period of rapid expansion and technological development after World War II, and these changes were reflected in improved conveyor systems.In 1960s, when the industrial production of consumer goods started, light, fully synthetic fabric conveyor belts became widely used. -
Turnover Conveyor Belt
B.F. Goodrich Company filed a patent for the Turnover Conveyor Belt System. This system had an integrated half-twist, that extended a belts lifetime significantly, because it allowed the belt to wear and tear off on both sides. -
First Sushi Conveyor
The first conveyor belt sushi restaurant Mawaru Genroku Sushi was opened in Osaka in 1958. It was invented by Yoshiaki Shiraishi who had problems staffing his small sushi restaurant and had difficulties managing the restaurant by himself. It took him 5 years to develop a design and system of delivering sushi on conveyor belts. Until now, conveyor belt sushi is still prevalent in many Japanese restaurants over the world -
First Telecopic Conveyor
Telescopic conveyors are used for bridging variable distances from the unloading or loading point. It was first invented byThor Johannsen. Since then, Thor has combined this telescopic invention with cable mast systems to allow for greater stockpiling. The telescopic belt conveyor is now widely used in aggregate, agriculture & recycling, mining, ports & terminals.
