Of all the machines BE&E manufactures for bulk-material handling, we’re best known for our SMART Conveyors™, premium paddle-style drag conveyors made in the United States. SMART Conveyors™ are highly versatile, handling materials varying from free-flowing DDGS to wood shavings with poor flow characteristics.
BE&E’s Drag Conveyor Design
Their unique design sets SMART Conveyors™ apart from other drag chain conveyors. We run the conveyor chains out of the material path in channels lined with UHMW wear liners. This enables the chains to hold the paddles off the floor and sidewalls, creating a highly efficient, low-friction, and low-wear system.
To accommodate our customers’ needs, we’ve engineered three SMART Conveyor™ series. The first, our S-Series conveyor, is the smallest of the three and is well suited for noncontinuous and low-volume continuous applications. This conveyor features high-pressure nylon in its curves that customers can replace from outside the conveyor while the chains are under tension.
Drag Conveyor Series
Our larger conveyors, the M- and T-Series, are more robust than the S-Series, being designed for continuous operation in rigorous applications. Because of this, we build them with thicker sidewalls and floor panels that last longer against wear and enable the conveyors to span greater distances between supports (65 feet for M-Series conveyors and 40 feet for S-Series conveyors).
Chains also differentiate M- and T-Series drag conveyors. Each uses a heavier chain than the S-Series conveyors to accommodate heavier loads, a C2160H chain in the M-Series and a custom BEE-T100 chain in the T-Series. S-Series conveyors employ 81X chains. All the chains we use boast excellent weight-to-strength ratios and feature large pins for their size, which helps to ensure a long chain life. (Under normal conditions, the chain pins inside the bushings corrode, eventually becoming the weakest point in the chain, at which point they break.)
Another difference between the conveyor series is the curve design. As stated, the S-Series features high-pressure nylon wear strips in its curves. The larger drag conveyors are equipped with AR rails in the curves, which virtually eliminate wear. The take-ups on the M- and T-Series conveyors are different, too, than those in the S-Series drag conveyors. They feature an intuitive design that indicates when the chains are correctly tensioned.
The conveyors have many more features in common than are different, however. The overall design, for example, remains consistent from series to series. All are constructed in modular, 5′ sections that you can expand or reconfigure. They’re also designed with standard components you can obtain from local vendors, and their paddles are designed to relieve stress, thereby protecting the chains and shafts.
Besides its being SMART, the shared design of our conveyors allows us to select the best-sized conveyor for our customers’ applications without compromise. Whether it’s a light-duty application hauling an intermittent load or something that calls for a continuous flow that’s hundreds of tons per hour, there’s a SMART Conveyors™ fit for the task.
Are you looking to incorporate a standard conveyor design across your facilities? SMART Conveyors™ may be the solution you need. Let’s start a conversation about your challenges. Contact us today!
