Flex-Lag® Ceramic Conveyor-Pulley Lagging Installs On-Site, Prevents Belt Slippage In Wet, Muddy Operating Environments
08 March 2002
Flexco® Flex-Lag® Ceramic Pulley Lagging provides twice the traction of conventional rubber lagging to virtually eliminate slippage between conveyor belts and drive pulleys, for significantly improved conveyor productivity under even the most severe operating conditions. Employing a special ceramic-in-rubber design, Flex-Lag cuts maintenance costs and downtime by reducing belt wear and allowing on-site installation without removing pulleys from the conveyor system.
Flex-Lag's high-grade alumina ceramic tiles -- which cover the pulley face and become its drive surface -- create the highest coefficient of friction available in a lagging material under wet, dry or muddy conditions. Each tile is :" (20mm) square and surfaced with 13 slightly raised, rounded "buttons" that press into the belt's bottom cover. This proprietary design yields the highest coefficient of friction available in lagging materials -- two to three times higher than rubber.
As a result, Flex-Lag enables users to avoid over-tensioning belts in search of better traction, which often leads to such maintenance problems as damaged pulleys, shortened bearing life, failed splices and broken belts. In addition, because the ceramic tile surface does not incorporate sharp particles or abrasive materials found in other ceramic lagging, belt life is further extended.
Flex-Lag Ceramic Pulley Lagging is offered for installation by chemical bonding or with metal backing for weld-on installation, with tiles molded into a durable backing material, specified as natural or flame-resistant rubber. For chemical bonding, the lagging is supplied in standard 8-inch-wide (204-mm) strips holding four double-rows of tiles. Unlike hot-vulcanized lagging utilizing an autoclave and traditional cold-bonded sheet lagging, easy-to-handle Flex-Lag strips can be installed without removing the pulley from the conveyor system, greatly reducing downtime and labor costs.
The metal-backed, weld-installed version is designed to eliminate the vibration and head-cleaner blade "chatter" often caused by conventional weld-on lagging. It is produced in strips that place rectangular panels of ceramic tile in a staggered (gear-tooth) pattern across the pulley face. Staggered arrangement allows the panels of each strip to mesh with the panels of the following strip at two alternating levels. As the panels mesh, the metal welding tabs that extend from the ends of the panels come together next to the midpoints of the adjacent panels on either side. This prevents the tabs of adjacent panels from lining up side-by-side to create wide, deep "gutters" across the pulley face. Eliminating gutters assures smooth, continuous support for belting and head-cleaner blades at all points around the circumference of the pulley.
Flex-Lag ceramic lagging strips -- available in standard and custom lengths -- eliminate waste associated with sheet materials, because exact quantities can be ordered for virtually any size pulley.
