History of Conveyor Systems

Although a conveyor belt has become a common sight in modern warehouses and factories, it was once an innovative creation that helped organizations in numerous ways. It supplied a perfect solution to save on manual labour, time and costs and in addition, it made handling goods considerably less difficult. Even though a conveyor system is now a piece of gear that’s frequently ignored, they really have a long and interesting history.

First Systems

{The first types of conveyor belts have been used as early as 1795, making use of a mechanical instead of an electrical system. These have been predominantly employed within the agricultural industry as a method of moving large quantities of grain and this saved farmers and farm labours lots of hard work. Another industry that was employing similar systems during this time was the prospecting industry that utilized them to transport coal. These early systems included a wooden frame and belts made of cloth or rubber.

Advancements

From the 19th century onwards, conveyors have been used for material handling. The very first conveyor roller was patented in 1908 by Hymie Goddard from the Logan Company, Indiana. However, it was a further five years before the conveyor industry started to flourish. The greatest change to mainstream industry came in 1913 when Henry Ford launched the idea of the assembly line by using conveyor belts to speed up production. By 1919, powered and free conveyor lines were becoming applied with the automotive industry to deal with mass production. Further progress was made during the 1920s when systems have been built longer. Artificial materials began to be applied in the creation of conveyor systems during World War II as a result of scarcity of all-natural components. Systems also enhanced dramatically during this time. In 1948, the very first requirements for conveyor systems have been founded. From this time until the present day, power rollers have been perfected which helped to minimize the expenses of upkeep.

Presently

{Nowadays, roller conveyors play a crucial role in many industries, which includes food processing and manufacturing, agriculture, automotive, chemicals, pharmaceutical products, postal mail and production. In fact, there are very few industries which are not reliant on these systems at some stage in the course of manufacturing, storing or managing. This informative website www.conveyorrollers.co.uk offers quite a bit more info on the subject of belt conveyors.

{Although it’s not a topic that many people contemplate about, conveyor belts play an integral role in the basic functioning of society right now. When you think about it, you will find a huge number of conveyors working simultaneously at any one time right across the globe.