Conveyor-belt fasteners suit medium-duty tasks

A smaller-sized version of Flexco SR rivet-attached, hinged-plate conveyor belt fasteners combines that design's field-proven ruggedness and holding power with patent-pending features.

A smaller-sized version of Flexco SR rivet-attached, hinged-plate conveyor belt fasteners combines that design's field-proven ruggedness and holding power with patent-pending features, resulting in a high-performance alternative for the most demanding medium-duty conveyor applications.

Flexco's R2 medium-duty rivet fastener is intended for belts with mechanical fastener ratings of up to 330PIW (pounds per inch of width), which are used in a wide variety of manufacturing, processing and warehousing environments where relatively heavy loads move on belts ranging from 6 to10mm thick.

Similar to its heavy-duty forerunners, the R2 fastener consists of top and bottom plates joined at one end by two hinge loops.

Each top-and-bottom plate segment sandwiches the belt end and is secured with a high-strength rivet attachment technique pioneered by Flexco.

Plate segments are installed side-by-side across both belt ends, the loops from both belt ends are meshed and a hinge pin is inserted to lock the joint together.

Each R2 fastener segment attaches to the belt end with two rivets, in contrast to the five-rivet attachment used with larger SR sizes.

Unlike the larger SR segments, R2 plates feature two patent-pending teeth that embed deeply into the load-bearing belt carcass during installation.

These teeth are strategically positioned near the outer corners of each segment's top plate to aid the rivets in optimising the fastener's pull strength.

The resulting four-point grip permits a shorter reachback length that enables the fastener to operate smoothly around pulley diameters as small as 127mm.

Rivets and teeth are positioned in from the plate edges to prevent the belt from flexing at the point of fastener attachment.

This plate design reduces belt fatigue at that point and greatly extends the life of the splice on mechanically rated belts.

The plates also feature a rounded outer contour with a tapered low-profile edge to help the fasteners pass smoothly beneath scrapers, diverters and skirtboards.

To assure proper splice alignment, every third R2 plate segment is formed with a patent-pending viewport in the top plate to let the installer see that the belt end is properly butted against the belt stop formed into the fastener's bottom plate.

The segments are produced in continuous strips that further assure precise alignment and spacing across the belt end.

These features result in a smoother, straighter splice that provides longer splice life and a truer-tracking belt.

The fastener strips are offered in a variety of lengths to accommodate standard belt widths with minimal waste.

Individual segments are joined with breakaway bridges, allowing segments to be broken off to trim the splice to any specific belt width.

These separable connections also allow new splices to conform automatically to troughing idlers.

Flexco R2 fasteners install with Flexco SRA or SRB rivets.

These are the shortest sizes of the specially designed, self-setting rivets used with heavy-duty SR fasteners.

The rivets are pre-assembled with special break-away pilot nails that penetrate the belt without damaging or weakening the belt carcass.

Because the rivets are self-setting, they install easily from the top of the belt.

This method speeds and simplifies the installation process and reduces downtime by avoiding the time-consuming hole-punching and nut/bolt assembly required with some other types of fasteners.

In contrast to belt splicing systems that require complicated machinery for installation, R2 and other Flexco rivet-attached fasteners are installed on-site with an easy-to-use, portable installation tool and a hammer.

The installation tool holds the belt end and fastener strip in precise alignment while the rivets are driven in.

The same hammer blows that set the rivets also compress the fastener plates into the belt cover.

This simultaneous action automatically maintains each increase in compression, giving the splice a tight, full-width grip that helps the R2's teeth prevent belt tension from pulling only on the rivets.

Standard material for the R2 fastener is pregalvanised, high-strength steel.

A Type-300 stainless-steel version is available for extra resistance to abrasion, acids, corrosive chemicals and magnetic attraction.

Rivets are offered in both standard and stainless steel.

A variety of Flexco's standard 6mm-diameter SR hinge pins is available to suit different operating conditions, including steel cable, stainless steel cable and armoured cable, all in either bare or self-lubricating nylon-sheathed construction.

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