Plastic Modular Conveyors

Typical Industries: General purpose medium duty, but particularly useful where bends and loops are required.

An example of a curving plastic modular belt.

Note how the radius of the curve changes and reverses.

Another curve

Detailed shot showing structure of belt.

The term 'plastic modular' actually refers to the belt, rather than the conveyor itself, but people often use the terms interchangeably. Even then the term is often misleading, as it can refer to a wide range of different belt structures and topology.

A Plastic Modular belt is a belt formed of small – usually hinged – sections, and typically has the appearance of “chain mail” or thick mesh.

The most notable feature of a plastic modular conveyor is its ability to form smooth curves and bends, whilst still providing a firm support surface to the carried product. From this perspective it can be used in most applications that would normally use a conventional belt conveyor.

Whereas it is possible to include bends in a belt conveyor by incorporating a belt bend module, a plastic modular belt can combine straight sections with multiple bends of varying different radiuses all in one continuous run; something that is impossible – or very expensive – in a traditional belt conveyor.

In addition to the “chain mail” style modular conveyor described above, plastic modular conveyors can also come in a Platelink form, and also a slat form. These are a very economical alternative to steel Platelink conveyors or slat conveyors, and are popular in the food handling/preparation industry. They are, however, limited in their carrying capacity and temperature tolerance compared to their steel counterparts.