AIRPORT BELTS by Nitta
Introduction
One of the highest concentrations of conveyor belting; the luggage handling
on an airport. Kilometres of belt are involved to get your suitcase from the check-in counter to your airplane or reversed to the baggage reclaim.
This requires a highly sophisticated and automated system, in which it is inevitable to use many conveyor belts.
This describes various operations of the logistics services, plus a table of
possible Nitta belt types per operation. The Nitta product range is much larger
than we show here so contact Nitta for your dedicated wishes.
Operations
From check-in to airplane you can find the following operations:
- Check-in conveyor
- Collection & accumulation
- Acceleration/gapping
- Horizontal transport
- Inclined/declined transport
- Merge conveyors (full belt or strip belt)
- Curved conveyors
- Scanning
- Loading equipment
General demands towards conveyor belts
Most systems require black PVC conveyors. There are many people
working in the baggage handling area therefore they mainly require a
fabric bottom side with low-noise and anti-static features. Capital W
(whisper) & A in the belt code) The speed of the belts is high, therefore
a good lateral stability of the belt and good tracking ability is mandatory.
For many areas on the airport, the authorities prescribe the belts to be
flame retardant. Our belts meet the international ISO 340 standard as
approved by an external laboratory (you will find FR3 mentioned in the
belt code). 2-ply belts will do the job, and there is no need to use Poly-
urethane; PVC is an excellent choice. The wear resistance meets the
extreme demands to prevent down-time.
Check-in counter
The first (and for most, only) conveyor belt we see at an airport before
we head off to the passport control. Short and narrow belt. Sometimes
with a small incline and therefor profiled belt. Suggestions:
- 2 LRWAF 905 M
- 2 LRWAF 905 M FR3
- 2 LRWAF 909 RB FR3
Collection & Accumulation
For collection you can find the same belts as described for horizontal
transport. Sometimes suitcases are held in place while the belt continues
running, or pushed off the belt sideways. Instead of a PVC top cover, for
suitcases a belt with a fabric top or an impregnated top is preferred.
Possible belt types:
- 2 LRWAF 901 FR3
- 3 LRWAF 901 FR3
Acceleration/Gapping
As some point in the installation suitcases need to accelerate or slow
down to have a sufficient gap between them. Belts should be laterally
stable, have a softer top cover to ensure a good grip towards the goods,
mostly in combination with a low profile like RB or LD profile. Whisper
antistatic fabric on the bottom side is preferable. Do not combine the
accelerating and the 45° infeed in one belt: it would give tracking problems.
Possible belt types:
- 2 LRAF 906 RB FR3
- 2 LRWAF 909 RB FR3 70°
- 2 LRWAF 912 RB FR3
- 2 LRWAF 912 LD FR3
Horizontal transport
The most common belt type found on the baggage handling. 2-ply PVC
belt with Whisper Antistatic fabric on the bottom, with either a glossy finish
or a matt finish. Possible belt types:
- 2 LRWAF 905 M FR3
- 2 LRWAF 910 FR3
Inclined/declined transport
Up to 8° a smooth PVC cover can be used, above that a variety of profiles
is suitable. Mostly WT (wavetop) or RB (rib); but also our LD (light duty)
and GP (gauze). Fabric bottom side can be plain fabric like LR or R, or
Whisper Antistatic fabric. The WT is (especially in the return part) more
noise friendly compared with traditional rough top/super grip belts.
Possible belt types:
- 2 LRWAF 916 WT FR3 70°
- 2 LRWAF 909 RB FR3
- 2 LRWAF 912 RB FR3
These belts are also useful for the vertical positioned ploughs or paddles to
push/divert belts into shutes or other directions.
Merge conveyors
To route the suitcases there are a lot of connections made from one
conveyor to another. This merging of streams are often executed under a
45° degree angle. There are two ways to achieve this:
- A series of narrow, parallel conveyors with different, increasing length:
strip mergers - A special conveyor with a head pulley under an angle of 45° or 60°;
Full belt mergers
45° strip belt mergers
Fairly uncomplicated. Mostly the tail pulley is combined, and the head
pulleys differ in distance from the tail pulley so that the gap between
merger belt and main line is minimized. Belts should have rigid fabric,
covers can either be with a matt finish or with a profile, depending how
much grip the customer prefers.
Possible belt types:
- 2 LRWAF 905 M FR3
- 2 LRWAF 909 RB FR3
45° full belt merger
The tail pulley, which is also the drive pulley, is 90° to the running
direction, as it should be. However the head pulley makes an angle
of 45° to the running direction, so that it aligns with the side of the main
line. After passing the head pulley, the belt passes to an extra back-
flexing pulley which is square to the running direction, and after that
back to another angled pulley under the first one, to complete the loop.
Do not use a too soft cover of 35A, this would wear too much
due to the twisting of the carried products.
Possible belt types, all with non-monofilament fabrics:
- 2 NF 906 AS-IM
- 2 NF 906 FR3-IM
- 2 NF 906 SQPR FR3-IM
- 2 NAAF 905 M FR3
- 2 NAAF 906 FR3
- 2 NAAF 906 SQPR-FR3
Curved conveyors
Well-designed curved conveyors need belts mostly PVC 2-ply non-rigid
fabric, with or without a profile. There is no need to use a more expensive
PU cover. For the logistics industry the colour required is mostly black,
although other colours are available when required.
Possible belt types are:
- 2 NF 906 AS-IM
- 2 NF 906 FR3-IM
- 2 NF 906 SQPR FR3-IM
- 2 NF 906 SQPR-FR3-IM 35°
- 2 NAAF 905 M FR3
- 2 NAAF 906 FR3
- 2 NAAF 906 SB FR3 35°
- 2 NAAF 906 SQPR FR3 35°
- 2 NAAF 906 SQPR-FR3
- 2 NAAF 907 NDP FR3 35°
Pay attention to the special feature of the “ 2 NAAF” series of belts.
These are provided with antistatic yarns, but unlike others these anti-
static yarns are both in length direction and in cross direction of the belt
to ensure maximum leading away of electrostatic charging; an unique
patented feature of Nitta.
Scanning
Scanning equipment or x-ray machines are standard practice on an
airport. The belts used in these machines should not interfere with
the process. For optical reasons the surface of belt should not reflect.
For this our excellent matt finish can be used or belts with a fabric top,
like our:
- 2 LRWAF 905 M FR3
- 2 LRWAF 901 FR3
Loading conveyors
At the final stage the suitcases are loaded from the carriages into the
airplane. A mobile inclined conveyor is used. In order to have a good
grip in all weather conditions, a belt with a more coarse profile is best
suited. We have a belt with a higher rib profile to offer:
- 2 LRF 914 LRB
For any further information and available belts for your application,
contact your local Nitta distributor or the Nitta office in The
Netherlands. / +31 (0)72 56 222 34
