TwenteFlex™ — Twentebelt | Metal conveyor belts

The TwenteFlex™ family

Experience complete freedom with TwenteFlex conveyor belts.

TwenteFlex™
low tension

Low tension (friction) drive has a very rich history and has always been the most common and well-known drive option in spiral belt technology.

Specifications

TwenteFlex™
inside direct drive

Compatible with your existing drum, eliminates friction between the drum and the belt, thus facilitating more stable and predictable belt tensions.

Specifications

TwenteSideFlex™
outside direct drive

Can be powered without the need for a central drum. You therefore do not only save on costs, but can also deploy your machines more flexibly and efficiently.

Specifications

A unique solution in spiral belt technology

The groundbreaking design of the TwenteFlex™ spiral belt has no welded joints. Instead, the links are secured by bending the cross rod 180 degrees, so it is firmly anchored in the link. This design makes TwenteFlex™ conveyor belts the strongest and most reliable spiral belts, particularly suitable for food processing.

Since its introduction in 2009, TwenteFlex™ belts have proven their reliability for use in spiral towers, such as spiral coolers and spiral freezers, worldwide.

Advantages of TwenteFlex™ conveyor belts

– Design excludes welded joints
– Reduces the chance of damaging the drum
– The absence of cavities (one-sided holes)
– Easy to splice and connect
– Reliable belts with an attractive payback period
– Do not require pickling and passivating

Belt features

Food safety
TwenteFlex™ spiral belts are manufactured in compliance with the latest food safety requirements for food processing equipment such as the framework regulation EC 1935/2004, EC 2023/2006 on good manufacturing practice (GMP) and (EU) No. 10/2011 on plastic implementation measure (PIM). This ensures our customers a belt that is fit for use in the most demanding food processing applications.

Reliable design saves on maintenance costs
The smart design of the TwenteFlex™ results in less downtime. The bended-edge design is very easy to splice since there is no need to grind out a welded edge. In fact, if a wire cutter is used there is no need for grinding in the food environment at all.

Hygienic design saves on cleaning costs
Cleaning and disinfection of the belt is easier and quicker due to the lack of dead-end cavities. This brings savings on chemical cleaning agents and shortens the cleaning procedure. TwenteFlex™ belts do not require pickling and passivating due to the lack of welding. This brings additional cost advantages and eliminates the risk of contamination, as pickling fluids are not food approved.

The innovative design of TwenteFlex™
The patented design of the link and the bended edge design provide the ideal drive surface, reduce the risk of damage to the drum, and eliminate major causes of belt problems such as weld fractures, sharp weld connections, fractures of the cross pin next to the weld, crooked internal joints due to weld fractures and protruding cross pins.

Available belt types

TwenteFlex™ belts are available in two variants: a full stainless steel version (300 Series Stainless Steel) and a hybrid version combining metal with plastic modules in Acetal (POM) or Nylon (PA6) Flame Retardant.

TwenteFlex™ full metal
Stainless steel

The hybrid version is particularly suitable for applications in which gentle product transfer is crucial or where specific demands in terms of an open design and product support have to be met.

TwenteFlex™ hybrid
Stainless steel and plastic modules in Acetal (POM) or Nylon (PA6)

Belt options

Guard edges
Available in 12.5 mm and 25 mm height above the belt surface.

Splice tabs
Designed to quickly splice the belt without the need to weld.

Belt specification

TBU 12.7 – 40 – 1.4 – 6 / R2.2

TBU – Twentebelt U bended rod
12.7 – Lateral pitch spiral wire (in mm)
40 – Belt pitch (in mm)
1.4 – Spiral wire diameter (in mm)
6 – Cross rod diameter (in mm)
2.2 x belt width – Inside turn radius

Datasheet

Drive sprockets

The drive principle of the known low tension system is based on a drum having overdrive/slip with the take-up drive being the master drive and controlling the belt speed.

Each tier is driven by the friction that exists between the belt and the flat cage bars. The friction coefficient depends on the atmospheric conditions (product residue, freezing, warm, wet, dry, etc.). If the friction coefficient increases during the production run it can create tension problems (flip-up, too much belt in the take-up, etc.). Before this happens the spiral must be cleaned.

When the products are delicate or are not allowed to move/turn on the belt, the low tension principle could be problematic since the cage bars are slipping past the inside belt links. This causes the inside links to stick against a cage bar and release back shortly after causing the spiral overlay to move underneath the product, which can move or damage the product.

Standard drive sprocket materials
– POM (-60 to +60 °C)
– Ultra High Density Poly Ethylene (-60 to +60 °C)
– PA6G (Nylon) (-60 to +60 °C)
– Stainless Steel

Downloads

TwenteFlex brochure

English

Less product movement with inside direct drive

The inside direct drive principle eliminates the cage bar/belt friction factor by using teethed cage bars that give a positive drive. Thus the belt tension only depends on friction between the belt and the support rails. This means that high belt tension due to a slippery drum is history, which results in more predictable and stable belt tensions, especially on longer production runs.

The positive cage bar drive also reduces movement of the inside belt edge, significantly reducing miss-alignment or damaging of products that are sensitive to this issue.

We believe in adding true value to our market. Which is why we don’t just offer inside direct drive as a copy of an existing system. We offer a solution that is far more affordable and operational within a matter of days. TwenteFlex™ inside direct drive uses the exact same TwenteFlex™ belt as our TwenteFlex™ low tension drive does.

Therefore it’s up to you to choose which drive solution fits your application best; low tension drive ór inside direct drive with our TwenteFlex belt and your existing drum.

Features of inside direct drive

Our TwenteFlex™ belt used for inside direct drive is exactly the same belt as used for the common low tension drive. The bended rod edge of our TwenteFlex™ belt acts as a tooth and is the perfect drive area for a positive engaging cage bar.

Benefits of inside direct drive
– Direct drive significantly reduces product movement
– Direct drive eliminates friction between the drum and belt
– Direct drive makes longer production runs possible
– Fail-safe design
– Straightforward retrofit, from low tension to direct drive
– Operational in a matter of days
– Advantageous, as our standard TwenteFlex™ belt is used

The belt without a weld
As our TwenteFlex™ belt has been around for several years, we were ready for the next innovation. We concluded that ‘all’ we had to do, was create a cage bar to enable direct drive. We did not want to develop a completely new belt. Just make some small adjustments to your system to fit the existing TwenteFlex™ belt.

Advantages of the TwenteFlex™ conveyor belt
– Design excludes welded joints
– The absence of cavities (one-sided holes)
– Easy to splice and connect
– Reliable belts with an attractive payback period