Is a belt weighing conveyor the same as a belt scale? What are the differences between them?

In the industrial production process, various automated machinery and equipment are indispensable, including automated material conveying, weighing, and production batching systems. These devices significantly enhance production efficiency and reduce costs across various aspects of manufacturing, becoming an integral part of modern industrial production.

For instance, common automated material conveying equipment includes belt conveyors, automated weighing devices include belt scales, and automated production batching equipment includes weighing feeders.

However, many people lack a clear understanding of the differences between these automated devices, often mistakenly believing that belt conveyors and belt scales are the same equipment. This perception is quite one-sided.

To determine whether a belt weighing conveyor and a belt scale are the same device and to understand their applications and functional characteristics, it is essential to first understand what a belt conveyor is.

Belt conveyors are indispensable material conveying equipment in industries such as building materials, chemicals, grains, fertilizers, thermal power plants, biomass power plants, coal, mining, and environmental protection.

Given the large volume of material conveyance in these industries, belt conveyors enable continuous and efficient material handling, making them widely applicable.

A belt conveyor is an automated machinery system for conveying and handling materials, composed of a series of mechanical components including belts, frames, rollers, drums, and transmission devices.

Having clarified the concept of a belt conveyor, let's delve into belt weighing conveyors. The term "belt weighing conveyor" includes the word "weighing," indicating that it incorporates an automatic and dynamic weighing functional module on the basis of a belt conveyor.

This module enables the weighing of conveyed materials during the conveying process. In other words, a belt weighing conveyor is a device that integrates automated material conveyance and dynamic weighing.

It should be noted that belt weighing conveyors can also be combined with PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) technology, adding an automated quantitative control functional module to the conveying and weighing capabilities.

This allows the belt weighing conveyor to achieve quantitative control of materials based on weighing, making it applicable for automated production batching.

In such cases, the belt weighing conveyor essentially functions as a belt weighing feeder. In practical applications, the terms "belt weighing conveyor" and "belt weighing feeder" are often used interchangeably.

Now that we have a clear understanding of belt weighing conveyors, let's examine belt scales. Firstly, it is important to note that while belt weighing conveyors and belt scales share some similarities, they are not the same device. From the above description of belt weighing conveyors, it is evident that they are complete mechanical systems capable of independently performing material conveyance and weighing tasks, rather than being affiliated  to other machinery.

In contrast, belt scales differ from belt weighing conveyors in that they are dynamic weighing devices, essentially a type of "scale." However, belt scales cannot operate independently and must be installed on a belt conveyor to perform weighing tasks.

They are used to detect the instantaneous flow rate and calculate the cumulative flow of materials passing on the belt conveyor, functionally resembling the weighing module of a belt weighing conveyor.

Belt scales come in various types, including nuclear belt scales, laser belt scales, and electronic belt scales. Due to issues such as inaccurate measurements, limitations on material bulk density, and environmental pollution, nuclear and laser belt scales have a relatively narrow application range. Currently, electronic belt scales are the most widely used.

Typically, when people refer to belt scales, they mean electronic belt scales. Electronic belt scales utilize weigh sensors to detect the weight of materials conveyed on the belt and speed sensors to measure belt speed.

The instrument then processes the signals received from these sensors to calculate the material weight. This weighing method imposes no requirements on the size or density of the conveyed materials and offers a large measuring range, making it more widely applicable.

Electronic belt scales can be designed with different structures based on the conditions of the belt conveyor, operating environment, and user production requirements, such as single-idler, multi-idler, lever-type, suspension-type, and the latest unit combination matrix type.

In summary, belt weighing conveyors are capable of independently performing material conveyance and weighing tasks and can incorporate PLC technology to achieve quantitative material feeding for production batching. In contrast, belt scales cannot operate independently and must be installed on a belt conveyor, functioning more like the dynamic weighing module of a belt weighing conveyor.