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Fan-belt Manufacture
Interesting Construction of "National" Belting in its Improved Form Affords High Efficiency and Durability in Service
ADJUSTMENTS to the modern fanbelt are needed only on rare occasions and replacements become necessary so seldom that in durability the belt may almost rival the engine. For this state of affairs credit is due to the belt manufacturers, who have brought their products to a high degree of excellence,
Prominent in this specialized industry, the National Belting Co., Rainham, Essex, has clevelOped a process of manufacture that enables its products to function wholly satisfactorily under the most arduous conditions. This concern regards the manufacture of fanbelts for automobiles—especially commercial vehicles—as an important branch of its activities, and lists flat endless belts, leather-link V-belting, and rubber-and-cotton endless V-belts, in sizes suitable for a large number of transport engines.
Those of first interest are the cottonrubbered flat type, which are claimed to be heat, weather, water, and greaseproof, to he non-slipping, to possess a high degree of flexibility, and not to stretch. The ropes which form their basis are laid longitudinally side by side. Transverse threads are then woven upon them and these again secured by further interwoven, longitudinally runring, threads: Not only are the finished belts rubber coated, but every cord and every strand is similarly treated.
The whole process, especially that which may he described as a combination of weaving and sewing, is a secret one and is largely responsible for the enduring qualities of the finished product. It also gives the rather remarkable characteristic that any belt may be slit longitudinally without either of the two resulting narrower belts fraying at the edges.
A feature of the leather link-type belts is that the steel inner links are of one-piece construction with, consequently, no inserted pegs to work loose. In the latest form the leather outer links are held together by bolts, having their nuts embedded in the leather, instead of by wood-screws.
In the case of the moulded endless NT-belts, the construction resembles in principle that of the flat-type, and, of course, possesses the same hard-wearing properties and good flexibility. Numerous other types of belt for a comprehensive variety of purposes are also made.
The following are extracts from the concern's latest price list of flat belts, the figures being subject to market flultuations:-1 in. by -& in., 8d. per
foot; in. by in., is. Sd. per foot;
2 ins, by in., is. 8d. per foot. and 2i ins. by T5Gin., 2s. 6d. per foot. Endless belts are, of course, rather more costly.