TECHNICAL LIBRARY
Selection guides, engineering calculations and maintenance references for plastic modular belts, flat top chains and sprockets - written by the Veybelt technical team.
Nine names circulate for what are really two products. Some are exact synonyms, some are regional habit, and a few describe genuinely different things. This article settles each term, then draws the one structural line that matters: a chain is a narrow hinged strand sold by length, a modular belt is moulded modules bricked across any width and sold by area.
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A radius belt turns flat inside one plane. A spiral system climbs while it turns around a drum. Buyers ask for one and mean the other more often than any other mistake in curve enquiries. This article explains the geometry behind each, what inner turning radius really costs you, and how the four Veybelt radius series trade turn tightness against belt strength.
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A side flexing chain will go round a bend only if the bend is built for it. This article covers what sets the minimum turn radius, why the curve needs wear strips on both the inside and the outside, how each bend adds to total chain pull, and what happens at the entry and exit of a curve.
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Keeping the existing sprockets means the new belt has to engage a tooth form that is already worn, and matching pitch does not guarantee that. Buying belt and sprockets together only has to fit the frame and the shaft. Here is how to inspect what you have, and the three numbers that let us quote either way.
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Three failures cover most modular belt call-outs: the belt runs off to one side, it wears out faster than it should, or the sprockets jump teeth. Each has a short list of causes, and they are not equally likely. This guide ranks them by what actually turns up on site and tells you what to check first.
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Belt strength is quoted in N per metre of width, and belt pull has to be worked out in the same units before the two can be compared. This guide gives the formula with every variable defined, a worked example on a 25 m inclined conveyor, a belt strength table by series and material, and four ways to fix a result that lands too close to the limit.
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Sprockets for a new conveyor are chosen after the belt, not before. Tooth count sets the drive pitch diameter and how much the belt speed swings each revolution, the bore decides how torque leaves the shaft, and only one sprocket per shaft is locked in place. Here is how to fix all three.
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A belt code that carries a series number and a surface abbreviation can be read straight into a geometry. A code shaped like 0-9xx-xx-xxx-x cannot, because it belongs to a machine builder's accounting system rather than to a belt. This guide takes each field of a readable code apart, including the three fields most people skip.
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The hinge rod is the cheapest part of a plastic modular belt and the one that strands a line when it walks out. This covers rod material and diameter, how rods are held at the belt edge, how to add or remove links on site, how to swap a single damaged module, and the mistakes that push rods out in service.
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The underside of a modular belt is the check that goes missing most often in replacement enquiries, and it is the one that decides whether the new belt tracks straight. This is what guide strips do, how to tell single from double, why they sit grouped on one side, and the four things to record before you order.
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Below zero, a modular belt gets shorter, the friction picture changes as frost builds under it, and the open area you chose for drainage becomes an airflow decision. This guide covers which materials stay tough in the cold, how contraction changes the length you order, and how to keep a belt draining when everything on it wants to freeze.
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PP, PE and acetal behave very differently on a food line, and the gap is bigger than most spec sheets suggest. On the same 1100 series module, POM carries about two and a half times the belt pull of PP. This guide compares the three on strength, fat and chemical resistance, cold behaviour, wear and cost, and explains what "food grade" really commits a supplier to.
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Open area is the number buyers quote most and understand least. It sets how fast water leaves the belt and how much air reaches the product, and it also decides what falls through. This article puts the real open area and belt strength figures for the Veybelt flush grid range side by side and gives a clear rule for when a high percentage is the right call.
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A flat top chain conveyor is about ten separate parts, and a rebuild goes wrong when two of them are forgotten. This is the full list, what each part does, which one wears out first, and the exact numbers to put on the enquiry so the quote comes back right the first time.
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Flights lift product up a slope and side guards keep it on the belt. Order one without the other and product escapes out of the sides. This covers flight height and spacing, the clearance you must leave at the guard, what an incline does to belt tension, and which series accept both parts.
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One inch is the most crowded pitch in the catalogue, so measuring the pitch narrows the field to six series and no further. Module thickness, open area and the underside are what separate the candidates. This is the full comparison, plus the inch-to-millimetre trap that sends the wrong width to site.
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Most replacement enquiries start with a photo, a worn code on a purchase order, or a machine that cannot be stopped. Each of those tells you a different amount. Here is what each one can settle, what it cannot, and the order to work in so you do not end up ordering the wrong mould.
Read Article →Four caliper measurements and two photos identify almost any plastic modular belt, even when the original part number is worn off or belongs to a machine builder's internal system. Here is what to measure, how to measure it, and the two mistakes that send the wrong belt to site.
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The 986 series is a 25.4 mm (1 in) pitch modular belt in flat top and flush grid (22.8% open) surfaces, molded in POM or PP with belt strength up to 30,851 N/m on 12/16/20-tooth POM sprockets. This guide compares the two variants and lists what else goes on the order to complete a 986 conveyor.
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The 976 series is a 25.4 mm (1 in) pitch modular belt in PP or PE, rated at 14,650 N/m, with flat top, perforated flat top (7.7% open) and nub top surfaces. The nub top carries sticky or delicate flat product on point contacts so it releases cleanly. This guide covers all three variants, the 12/16/20-tooth sprockets and the accessories.
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The 966 series is a 25.4 mm (1 in) pitch modular belt rated at 26,800 N/m in POM, built in flat top, flush grid (25.3% open) and raised rib surfaces. Pair the raised rib with finger transfer plates and product crosses belt ends without a gap. This guide covers the three variants plus the sprockets and parts that go with them.
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The 956 series is a 50.8 mm pitch modular belt built in three surfaces: flat top, flush grid and perforated flat top, all driven by the same 8/10/12-tooth POM sprockets. This guide walks through each variant, the drive components that fit, and the accessories you need to spec a complete 956 conveyor in one order.
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The 936 series is a 38.1 mm pitch modular belt with 33,000 N/m (PP) belt strength and a 25% open surface, sold in flush grid and nub top styles on POM sprockets. This guide compares the two and covers the drive parts and spares that belong on the same order.
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The 926 series is a fine 12.7 mm pitch, 8.9 mm thin modular belt molded in PP (9,500 N/m) or POM (21,200 N/m), in flat top and flush grid surfaces with single-row or double-row sprockets. Here is how the two variants differ and what goes on the order with them.
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The 900 series is a 27.2 mm small-pitch modular belt with four surfaces: flat top, flush grid, perforated flat top and raised rib. Open area runs up to 31.7%, the POM build is rated 40,300 N/m, and the raised rib version takes finger transfer plates. Here is how to pick a surface and what to order with it.
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The 5935 series is a 19.05 mm fine-pitch modular belt built in flat top, flush grid and perforated flat top surfaces, molded in PP, POM or PE and driven by 9/13/17/24-tooth POM sprockets. Here is how the three surfaces differ, which sprockets and accessories go with them, and what to put in the inquiry so the whole conveyor arrives in one order.
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The 400 series is a 50.8 mm pitch, heavy-strength modular belt rated at 39,200 N/m (PP), sold in flush grid and raised rib surfaces on 10/12/16-tooth POM sprockets. This guide compares the two variants and covers the drive parts, transfer plates and spares that complete a 400 conveyor.
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The 1100 series is our 15.24 mm micro-pitch modular belt, the smallest pitch in the straight-running range, made as flat top or flush grid (7.7% open) and driven by 16/24/32-tooth POM sprockets. This guide covers where micro pitch earns its money, how the two surfaces differ, and what to send for a quote.
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The 1000 series is a 25.4 mm pitch modular belt with a thin 8.7 mm module, built as flat top or flush grid and driven by 16/18/22-tooth POM sprockets. In POM it reaches 39,300 N/m, unusual strength for a belt this thin. Here is how the two surfaces compare and what goes on the order.
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Radius (side-flexing) modular belts run curves and spirals on a single drive, so you lose the transfer points and get the floor space back. This guide explains turn radius and edge collapse in plain terms, then compares the Veybelt 300, 916, 2400 and 7100 by pitch, strength and turning capability.
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The OPB series is a 50.8 mm pitch, 16 mm thick modular belt platform with five surface styles, running from a fully closed flat top out to a 29% large open grid, all on the same 8/10/12-tooth POM sprockets. This guide walks the open-area ladder variant by variant and covers the drive parts and accessories that finish the conveyor.
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Narrow down from 20+ plastic modular belt series in three steps: pitch, belt strength, then surface style. This master index puts every Veybelt series in one comparison table, from 12.7 mm fine-pitch belts up to 2-inch heavy platforms, radius belts and flat top chains, with a link to the dedicated buyer's guide for each.
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Flat-top chains carry bottles, cans and packs single-file on a smooth, continuous plate. This guide covers when a flat-top chain beats a modular belt, how the straight-running 820, side-flexing 880 and heavy-duty 880HD differ, and the drive/idler wheels, spiral plate and 40P-60P miniature plates that round out the range.
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Modular belts are named by series number (pitch family) plus surface style. Learn how to read series codes and measure pitch, rod diameter and thickness to identify any belt for replacement.
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Plastic modular belts expand with temperature: PP 0.13, PE 0.18, POM 0.12 mm per meter per degree C. Use dL = L x P x dT to size clearances - worked example included.
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Select a modular belt in 4 steps: match pitch to load and transfer size, choose PP/PE/POM by temperature and chemicals, set open area by drainage needs, then pick the surface type.
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Modular plastic belts use hinged, sprocket-driven modules while conventional belts rely on friction-driven rubber/PVC. Here is a point-by-point comparison of drive, maintenance, hygiene and cost.
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