"CONTACT® is an important precision element between the feed table, work piece and grinding unit on cylinder and belt grinding machines," said Carsten Behrens, application engineer for the ContiTech Conveyor Belt Group. "The belts significantly influence the quality of the grinding process and thus the quality of the results." They transport the work pieces with dimensional precision throughout the grinding process. They are also extremely versatile thanks to their construction design. For this reason the grinding belts are not only used in wood grinding machines but also in grinding machines for sheet metal. "ContiTech belts achieve excellent plan parallelism, perfectly straight tracking, have low take-up and low sliding friction between the belt underside and the feed table. They even allow a small drum diameter," said Behrens.
The HANS WEBER Maschinenfabrik GmbH which manufactures wide belt grinding machines for the wood and furniture industry as well as for sheet metal forming uses the belts in both machine types. "It is very important that the individual components we get are of a constant and very good quality, because this directly influences the performance and reliability of our machines," said Stefan Müller, applications engineer with HANS WEBER Maschinenfabrik GmbH. "ContiTech has proved a strong partner with its CONTACT® belts."
The material composite consisting of rubber and tensile members of synthetic fabric (CONTACT®-E) guarantees special product characteristics: It does not impart color, its profiled surface has a high adherence friction and can optimally absorb grinding pressure thanks to a variety of profiles with rubber compounds of varying hardness. An ideal solution for HANS WEBER machines that are used in small cabinet maker workshops, medium-sized furniture producers through to the biggest furniture factories: "In the area of smaller machines, prices are subject to enormous market pressure. On the other hand, large furniture factories demand installed components with very long service lives. With ContiTech as a partner we can maintain a good balance in this regard," said Müller. A further advantage for HANS WEBER is the high load capacity of ContiTech belts. In the grinding machines, the conveyor belt is subjected to heavy stress from sharp edged work pieces. What's more, the belt also has to demonstrate a good adhesion with small or lightweight work pieces.