AU2019246797A1 - Conveyor Belt Wear Measurement - Google Patents

Abstract

5004R-AU A method is disclosed of measuring at least one parameter of an endless loop conveyor belt 10 whilst the belt is operating. At least one transducer or instrument 24 is located adjacent the belt, the transducer having a 5 predetermined transducing width. A series of measurements, spaced apart in time, is taken using the transducer, the series being of sufficient length to encompass at least one entire revolution of the belt. The measurements are recorded together with spatial data indicative of the location of the transducer relative to the belt for each measurement of the series to thereby create a first 10 collection of belt measurements (M1- Mn) corresponding to a first loop of said belt having a width corresponding to the predetermined transducing width. Then the transducer is moved transversely relative to the direction of travel of the belt, and the measurements are repeated. This sequence is repeated to create a plurality of belt measurement collections (M1 - M12, M3405 15 M3412, M6801 - M6808). Typically, the number of belt measurement collections is approximately the width of the belt divided by the predetermined transducing width. Preferably the instrument 24 is mounted on a rail 5 permanently connected to the conveyor belt supporting structure 14 and extending perpendicular to the direction of travel of the belt 10. Preferably the 20 instrument 24 is mounted adjacent the return run of the belt. Measurements can be taken from either cover side of the belt or from both cover sides of the belt simultaneously. aaa in o oor a C>Tt

Description

The present invention relates to conveyor belts and, in particular, to the measurement of wear of such belts.

Background Art

Australian Patent Application No 2016 202 263 discloses an apparatus and method whereby steel reinforced conveyor belts can have the thickness of the rubber cover measured and the wear rate of the belt cover thereby determined.

In particular, the method disclosed in the above-mentioned patent specification relates to the movement of the sensor relative to the belt in a “zig zag” fashion. This movement enables the entire belt surface to be measured.

Genesis of the Invention

The present invention utilises essentially the same apparatus as disclosed in the above-mentioned patent specification but uses a different movement of the sensor which creates an improved result.

Summary of the Invention

In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention there is disclosed a method of measuring at least one parameter of a conveyor belt having a carry cover and a pulley cover and formed into an endless loop having a predetermined belt width, said method comprising the following steps which are carried out whilst the belt is operating:

(a) locating at least one transducer adjacent said belt, said transducer having a predetermined transducing width, (b) taking a series of measurements using said transducer, each of said measurements being spaced apart in time, said series being of sufficient length to encompass at least one entire revolution of said belt, (c) recording said time spaced measurements together with spatial data indicative of the location of said transducer relative to the belt for each measurement of the series to thereby create a first collection of belt measurements corresponding to a first loop

5004R-AU of said belt having a width corresponding to said predetermined transducing width, (d) moving said at least one transducer transversely relative to the direction of travel of said belt, and (e) repeating steps (b) and (c) so as to create a plurality of belt measurement collections

In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention there is disclosed a modification to the method claimed in claim 1 of Australian Patent Application No 2016 202 263 including the step of moving the apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 4-7 of Australian Patent No 2012 216 769 from one side of said belt to the other in incremental steps, the time between each step being sufficient to sense at least one longitudinally arranged loop of said belt.

In this way, the entire belt surface is measured by notionally placing the scan of each said loop alongside the scan of an adjacent loop.

In accordance with a still further aspect of the present invention there is disclosed a system for sensing different parameters of any one of a plurality of longitudinally extending conveyor belts within a site whilst the belts are operating, each of said belts having a tail at which burden is loaded, a head at which burden is discharged, and a longitudinally extensive framework which supports longitudinally spaced apart rollers which in turn support a transport run and a return run of said belt, said system comprising a plurality of support rails each substantially permanently secured to the framework of a corresponding belt at a location which is spaced from both the head and tail of said belt, each said support rail extending substantially across the width of said belt and laterally of said belt by at least a predetermined operationally safe distance, and each said support rail being shaped to co-operate with a limited number of belt transducers which each sense a different belt parameter, whereby one or more of said transducers can be installed on, and removed from, any one of said support rails with the corresponding belt operating, and whilst installed sense a parameter of said belt during operation of said belt.

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Also disclosed is a support rail intended to be substantially permanently secured to the supporting framework of a conveyor belt, said support rail having a longitudinal extent corresponding to substantially the width of said belt and a predetermined operationally safe distance, and being shaped to co-operate with a limited number of belt transducers which each sense a different belt parameter, whereby one or more of said transducers can be installed on, and removed from, said support rail with the belt operating, and whilst installed sense a parameter of said belt during operation of said belt.

In addition, there is also disclosed a method for sensing different parameters of any one of a plurality of longitudinally extending conveyor belts within a site whilst the belts are operating, each of said belts having a tail at which burden is loaded, a head at which burden is discharged, and a longitudinally extensive framework which supports longitudinally spaced apart rollers which in turn support a transport run and a return run of said belt, said method comprising the steps of:

substantially permanently securing each of a plurality of support rails to the framework of a corresponding belt at a location which is spaced from both the head and tail of said belt, providing each said support rail with a length such that each said support rail extends substantially across the width of said belt and laterally of said belt by at least a predetermined operationally safe distance, and shaping each said support rail to co-operate with a limited number of belt transducers which each sense a different belt parameter, whereby one or more of said transducers can be installed on, and removed from, any one of said support rails with the corresponding belt operating, and whilst installed sense a parameter of said belt during operation of said belt.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The invention finds particular application to steel cord conveyor belts at mine sites but is not limited to this application.

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A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a rail mounted above the return run of a conventional conveyor belt,

Fig. 2 is a side view of the conveyor belt of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a transverse cross-sectional view through the apparatus of Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is a schematic side view of an instrument mounted on the rail of Figs 13,

Fig. 5 is a schematic block diagram of the circuit arrangement used in Figs. 14,

Fig. 6 is a schematic block diagram of the control module used with the circuit arrangement of Fig. 5, and

Fig. 7 is a schematic representation of measurement locations illustrated on a truncated portion of the belt which is illustrated in plan.

As seen in Figs. 1-3, a conventional conveyor belt 10 has a carry run 11 located above a return run 12, both of which are supported by a conveyor structure 14. As will be explained in detail hereafter, a new item in the form of a rail 5 is added to this existing infrastructure. As best seen in Fig. 3, the conveyor belt 10 has a troughed carry run 11 which is supported by sets of three idler rollers 3, and a flat return run 12 which is supported by sets of flat idler rollers 13. A conveyed product 2 is supported by the conveyor belt 10 only on the carry path 11. Both the rollers 3 and 13 are supported by the conveyor structure 14.

In Fig. 2, the direction of travel (DOT) of the carry run 11 is from right to left and the direction of travel of the return run 12 is from left to right. To this traditional and conventional conveyor belt arrangement are added four additional items which are permanently installed at the illustrated location which preferably is neither at the head nor tail of the belt but instead is at some intermediate convenient distance from them.

These four additional items are the rail 5 referred to above which is permanently bolted or welded to the conveyor structure 14, a pair of supporting wires 6 which are positioned below the return run 12 of the belt, a conventional lateral position indicator

5004R-AU (LPI) 7 which is able to detect where the edge of the return run 12 is and thus measure how the belt is wandering, and a conventional tachometer 8 which measures the speed of the belt.

The above described infrastructure remains in place irrespective of whether the belt is in operation or a “shut” is in progress. From time to time an instrument 24 will be mounted on the rail 5 utilising the apparatus as illustrated in Fig. 4. In the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 4, the rail 5 is mounted to the conveyor structure 14 (not illustrated in Fig. 4) by means of a pair of bolts. A spacer 22 holds the rail 5 proud of the conveyor structure 14. A pair of grooved wheels 41, 42 engages with the rail 5 and are supported by stub axles extending from one side of a mount plate 20. As a consequence, the mount plate 20 can be slid along the rail 5 so as to be positioned above the return run 12, or to one side, preferably the roadway side, of the entire conveyor belt structure.

Extending from the other side of the mount plate 20 is a parallelogram arm apparatus 23 which supports the instrument 24. The parallelogram arm apparatus 23 enables the instrument 24 to be raised and lowered relative to the return runl2.

As seen in Fig. 5, the instrument 24 is able to contain one or several instrumentation modules 31, 32.....N, each of which is electrically connected to the control module

36. Also connected to the control module 36 are the lateral position indicator (LPI) 7 and the tachometer 8. Not illustrated in Figs. 1-4, but illustrated in Fig. 5, is a power over Ethernet (POE) surveillance camera 35. This is connected to the control module 36 and trained on the rail 5. The control module 36 is able to communicate via antenna 37 with the mobile telephone network or other telecommunications facilities such as the Internet.

The construction of the control module 36 is illustrated in Fig. 6 and includes a power supply 50, a modem/router 51 including a SIM card, a POE switch 52 and an industrial computer 53 which includes data storage.

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With the above in mind, it will be appreciated that for the past 20 years or so there has been a trend towards carrying out all desired measurements of belt parameters during a single formal “shut” where the target conveyor is electrically isolated just the once, but many personnel are required to perform their multiple tasks at the same time. This trend has led to a situation where it is now common to see a conveyor belt being run continuously in production for many weeks, typically 6-12 weeks. Then a short formal maintenance “shut” duration occurs which may be just a few days. During this limited time, there are often conflicting requirements from the various personnel carrying out the maintenance and measurements.

Currently a visiting out-sourced specialist technician is often required on site to carry out some such measurements and this technician is very limited in the number of activities that can be performed during a formal maintenance shut. It is far preferred that the technician is able to carry out all the measurements with the conveyor belt running since a much larger number of activities can be performed in any single site visit. Moreover, this site visit can take place at any mutually convenient time. The above described apparatus enables the measurements to be carried out with the conveyor belt running.

Where it is necessary for a sub-contractor’s specialist technician to visit the site and perform or supervise work, that technician must be properly qualified, inducted and approved by the customer (the belt operator) to visit their site. Inductions of this type are short-term, costly for the sub-contractor, and require regular updating in order to remain current. If the technician were to have remote access to the running conveyor and the necessary installation, no site visit would be required. This can represent a very significant saving for both parties in both time and money.

The above realisation means that it is very desirable to carry out such measurements at times away from formal maintenance shuts. The above described apparatus enables the carrying out of these measurements with the belt running under normal production conditions.

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It will be seen that in Fig. 4, the instrument 24 is located above the conveyor’s return run 12, preferably adjacent ground level, and is constructed so that a variety of instruments can be temporarily deployed on the running belt. Once the particular activity associated with a particular instrument 24 is complete, that instrument 24 can be removed, again with the belt running, and replaced with a different instrument 24.

It will be seen from the above that the rail 5 extends transversely beyond the conveyor belt, is attached to the structural components of the conveyor structure 14, and is orientated parallel to the belt’s flat surface. The rail 5 also extends at right angles to the direction of travel of the return run 12. The rail 5 preferably extends outwardly beyond one side of the conveyor structure, typically on the “work” or roadway side to such a distance as to allow it to be accessed by personnel, both safely and legally, with the conveyor belt running.

As explained above, the mount plate 20 with its rollers or wheels 41, 42 can be fitted to the end of the rail 5 and rolled or slid across the running conveyor. This movement can take place without contacting the belt’s surface or the actual conveyor structure 14. The mount plate 20 and its associated equipment can be sized to cooperate with a wide range of instruments 24. The parallelogram arm arrangement 23 can be manually or remotely adjusted and locked into either a “parked” or a “deployed” position in which the instrument 24 is respectively raised or lowered relative to the return run 12. Cabling (not illustrated) from the instrument 24 is led back to the control module 36. Alternatively or additionally, wireless technology such as BLUETOOTH (Registered Trade Mark) can be used.

The modem 51 with its SIM card enables data transfer over a mobile phone broadband network or data transfer is possible over an on-site proprietary network, via the POE Switch 52. The power over Ethernet video surveillance camera 35 is able to be accessed via the POE Switch. The industrial computer 53 is capable of processing and storing the relevant measurement data produced by the instrument 24 and instrumentation modules 31, 32, N, etc. Because power is not normally available alongside the conveyor belt, electric power is typically provided from the battery of

5004R-AU the motor-vehicle which transports a mine site operator to the site where the rail 5 is installed. Power can also be provided via a solar panel and battery arrangement.

Since the rail 5 is positioned above the belt’s return run 12, all of the instruments 24 are directed towards the pulley cover of the belting. Accordingly, the pair of supporting wires 6 is preferably made available underneath the belt, in the return run, to make it possible to simultaneously carry out selected measurements on the carry cover of the belting with the conveyor running. That is, the supporting wires 6 provide a similar function to that provided by the rail 5 but on the other side of the belt.

It is to be expected that over time fine particles from the product 2 will build up on the rail 5 during normal conveyor usage. As a consequence, a dust guard or cover is preferably installed to protect all surfaces of the rail 5 which may suffer from this dust build up. The dust covers are removed during measurement activities and replaced after their completion.

It is desirable that the rail 5, supporting wires 6, LPI 7 and tacho 8 be permanently fitted to every target conveyor belt, however, any single site requires only one set of instruments 24 and one control module 36.

The above described arrangement enables the simple process of unpacking, fitting and removal of the instrumentation to the rail 5 to be carried out by normal on-site personnel (who are automatically inducted, locally accommodated, etc.) while the highly-skilled product specialist is able to be located away from the remote mine site and communicates therewith via the control module 36. Normally the participants at both locations communicate verbally by mobile telephones and have the video camera 35 providing visual information to the remote specialist thereby ensuring supervision and correct installation and operation of the instrument 24.

Since the rail 5 and its ancillary equipment are fitted permanently to any one structure, it will be available for use for the life of the structure, and not just the life of any belt fitted to that structure. The rail 5 need only be used when required and this use normally would occur between maintenance shuts. As a consequence, there is no

5004R-AU conflict with other maintenance or measurement activity and no interruption to production. Furthermore, scheduling of such maintenance is considerably easier because there are so few restraints.

Preferably, the target measurement is remaining cover thickness (either carry cover, pulley cover, or both simultaneously). It will be seen from the specification of Australian Patent Application No 2016 202 263 that a single sensor 9 having a single set of transducers is used to carry out a sequence of measurements. Each measurement measures the remaining cover thickness of the belt at a single location. The entire disclosure of the specification of each of Australian Patent Application No 2016 202 263 and Australian Patent No 2012 216 769 is hereby incorporated into the present specification for all purposes.

In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the single sensor 9 is modified so that the instrument 24 has four sets of transducers which are able to simultaneously measure the remaining cover thickness of the belt at four locations spaced apart by the distance between the transducers. The transducers are placed at 50mm lateral spacing so the instrument 24 spans 200mm of the belt width.

However, instead of moving the instrument 24 across the belt during measurements, the instrument 24 is kept stationary and measurements are taken along a longitudinal swathe of the belt. As illustrated in Fig. 7, the first set of measurements M1-M4 is taken with the belt in a first position, allowing for belt wander, and the locations of each of these measurements are each schematically indicated by a small square in Fig. 7. The next set of measurements M5-M8 is taken with the instrument 24 in the same position, however, the belt 10 has moved under the instrument 24, and thus the measurements M5-M8 are taken at a different longitudinal location, but substantially the same transverse location (belt wander excepted) on the belt 10. The next set of measurements taken is indicated at M9-M12, and so on.

This procedure is repeated for at least a single revolution of the belt (and preferably at least two revolutions of the belt). This completes measurements along a longitudinally extending swathe A or loop of the belt which is approximately 200mm wide.

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Then the instrument 24 is moved transversely across the belt by a distance corresponding to the transverse width of the transducers (ie. 200mm). Thus the instrument 24 is now in a position to take measurements M3405-M3408 inclusive (each schematically indicated by a circle). These are then followed by measurements M3409-3412 inclusive, and so on, until the longitudinally extending swathe B has its measurements completed.

Next the instrument 24 is moved transversely across the belt again by 200mm. This places the transducers in a position to take measurements M6801-6804 (each schematically indicated by an ellipse and only measurements M6803 and 6804 being illustrated on Fig. 7 because of the truncated nature of the illustration of the belt). The next set of measurements taken, are measurements M6805-M6808, and so on, until all the measurements on the longitudinal swathe C are taken.

The final lateral location of the sensor during a scan overlaps the far belt edge to allow for possible belt wander.

Measurements are captured from the instrument 24 at a rate of approximately 30 samples per second, thus for a conveyor belt travelling at say 6.0 m/sec, the longitudinal distance between measurements will be approximately 200mm. Since a plural number of revolutions of the belt are preferably captured during a scan before advancing the instrument 24 across the beltlO, and the samples are not synchronised with belt longitudinal location, it can be seen that in a final scan data file, the longitudinal distance between spatially adjacent measurements (which may well have been located at different times) will be less than 200mm.

Because of the nature of the transducers being used in the instrument 24, it is preferable that the underside face of the instrument 24 be approximately 25mm (depending on the cover thickness of the target belt) from the top surface of the conveyor belting, during scanning. It is not desirable that the instrument 24 be left in such a location between scans because of the close proximity to the surface of the running belt. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, at the completion of a

5004R-AU scan, the instrument 24 is returned laterally until it is clear of the belt surface and is left parked to one side of the belting, which is a much more secure, thus desirable location, until the instrument is removed from the rail 5 entirely.

A number of substantial advantages flow from this measurement technique. Firstly, longitudinally adjacent measurement locations are spaced relatively closely together relative to the zigzag path of the above-mentioned patent specification.

Secondly, an entire batch of measurements taken over a single period of time, all deal with measurements from the same longitudinal loop of the belt. This makes it much easier to store and subsequently manipulate the measurement data. In particular, the measurement data is processed by “data rendering” software in order to produce a display which is easily able to be interpreted by a human. Having the data captured in longitudinally extending adjacent loops is of assistance in this display production.

Thirdly, it is particularly advantageous that the safe “parking zone” of the preferred embodiment is at the side of the belt, and not above it, as in the prior art. This means that rails five or similar may be pre-installed on any target conveyor belts and the instrument apparatus can be slid into and out of its desired measurement position from either side of the belt with the conveyor running in full production. As a consequence, the instrument 24 can be portable and thus can be moved from one conveyor to another is required. Furthermore, no downtime is required on the conveyor for fitment and removal of the instrumentation.

Fourthly, either the remaining carry cover belt thickness can be measured, or the remaining pulley cover belt thickness can be measured, or both thicknesses can be measured simultaneously using duplicated instruments 24.

Fifthly, in the event that there is an error or fault in the tachometer, the locations of the measurements taken can be estimated from the presumed belt speed.

Sixthly, the instrument 24 with its transducers may be required to operate in an iron ore mine, or similar, which is an extremely aggressive environment. As a

5004R-AU consequence, one of the transducers may fail over time through physical abuse. Since component replacement is often impossible for many weeks because iron ore production is the priority, a system which is capable of acquiring data with a failed transducer, for example, is highly desirable. Such data can be acquired by averaging the measured remaining cover thickness from adjacent transducers and deeming the average to be the measurement which would have been taken by the failed transducer.

The resulting data file consists of a very large number of measurement readings or records each of which contains the measured remaining cover thickness and the transverse and longitudinal “coordinates” of the location on the belt where the measurement was taken. These readings include belt speed and instantaneous lateral and longitudinal belt position. “Data rendering” software is then used to create a twodimensional, or three dimensional, image of the belt surface on a computer screen or some other display. The viewing of this image provides an insight into the remaining cover thickness across the full width and full length of the conveyor belt. Typically such a width is in the range of 1 - 2.5 meters and the length of the conveyor belt can be many kilometres. Comparison of such images taken at different times enables a prediction to be made as to when the thinnest remaining belt cover will be reduced to essentially zero, or some other minimum value set by the user, in which case the entire belt needs to be replaced.

The foregoing describes only one embodiment of the present invention and modifications, obvious to those skilled in the conveyor belt arts, can be made thereto without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, where the return run of the belt is not flat, but is shaped into a V-profile, then a pair of flat or plain idler rollers 13 is retrofitted at the location of the rail 5 so that at this location the belt is constrained to have a flat return run.

The term “comprising” (and its grammatical variations) as used herein is used in the inclusive sense of “including” or “having” and not in the exclusive sense of “consisting only of’.

Claims (23)

1. A method of measuring at least one parameter of a conveyor belt having a carry cover and a pulley cover and formed into an endless loop having a predetermined belt width, said method comprising the following steps which are carried out whilst the belt is operating:

(a) locating at least one transducer adjacent said belt, said transducer having a predetermined transducing width, (b) taking a series of measurements using said transducer, each of said measurements being spaced apart in time, said series being of sufficient length to encompass at least one entire revolution of said belt, (c) recording said time spaced measurements together with spatial data indicative of the location of said transducer relative to the belt for each measurement of the series to thereby create a first collection of belt measurements corresponding to a first loop of said belt having a width corresponding to said predetermined transducing width, (d) moving said at least one transducer transversely relative to the direction of travel of said belt, and (e) repeating steps (b) and (c) so as to create a plurality of belt measurement collections.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the number of said plurality of belt measurement collections corresponds to approximately the width of said belt divided by said predetermined transducing width.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein each collection of belt measurements corresponds to a plurality of revolutions of said belt.

4. A modification to the method claimed in claim 1 of Australian Patent Application No 2016 202 263 including the step of moving the apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 4-7 of Australian Patent No 2012 216 769 transversely across the belt from one side of the belt to the other in incremental steps, the time between each step being sufficient to sense a

5004R-AU longitudinally arranged loop of said belt.

5. The method as claimed in claim 4 wherein the apparatus is moved a distance corresponding to the width of the transducer(s) within said apparatus.

6. The method as claimed in claim 4 or 5 wherein the time between each step corresponds to at least one entire longitudinal loop of said belt.

7. The method as claimed in claim 6 wherein the time between each step corresponds to at least two entire longitudinal loops of said belt.

8. The method as claimed in any one of claims 4-7 wherein measurements are amalgamated by notionally placing the measurements of one said loop alongside the measurements of an adjacent said loop.

9. The method as claimed in any one of claims 4-8 wherein the scanned loops of said belt closest to the longitudinal edges of said belt, overlap the nominal position of the belt edges.

10. A system for sensing different parameters of any one of a plurality of longitudinally extending conveyor belts within a site whilst the belts are operating, each of said belts having a tail at which burden is loaded, a head at which burden is discharged, and a longitudinally extensive framework which supports longitudinally spaced apart rollers which in turn support a transport run and a return run of said belt, said system comprising a plurality of support rails each substantially permanently secured to the framework of a corresponding belt at a location which is spaced from both the head and tail of said belt, each said support rail extending substantially across the width of said belt and laterally of said belt by at least a predetermined operationally safe distance, and each said support rail being shaped to co-operate with a limited number of belt transducers which each sense a different belt parameter, whereby one or more of said transducers can be installed on, and removed from, any one of said support

5004R-AU rails with the corresponding belt operating, and whilst installed sense a parameter of said belt during operation of said belt.

11. The system as claimed in claim 10 and including a mount upon which each said transducer is mounted, said mount including a pair of rotatable wheels engaged with said rail and permitting said mount to be moved along said rail.

12. The system as claimed in claim 11 and including a parallelogram arm arrangement connected at one end to said mount and at the other end to a transducer, whereby the distance of said transducer to said belt can be varied by pivoting said parallelogram arm arrangement.

13. The system as claimed in any one of claims 10-12 wherein said conveyor belt is a steel belted conveyor belt.

14. The system as claimed in any one of claims 10-13 wherein said site is a mine site or similar location requiring transportation of bulk solids or other materials.

15. A support rail intended to be substantially permanently secured to the supporting framework of a conveyor belt, said support rail having a longitudinal extent corresponding to substantially the width of said belt and a predetermined operationally safe distance, and being shaped to co-operate with a limited number of belt transducers which each sense a different belt parameter, whereby one or more of said transducers can be installed on, and removed from, said support rail with the belt operating, and whilst installed sense a parameter of said belt during operation of said belt.

16. The support rail as claimed in claim 15 and including a mount upon which each said transducer is mounted, said mount including a pair of rotatable wheels engaged with said rail and permitting said mount to be moved along said rail.

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17. The support rail as claimed in claim 16 and including a parallelogram arm arrangement connected at one end to said mount and at the other end to a transducer, whereby the distance of said transducer to said belt can be varied by pivoting said parallelogram arm arrangement.

18. The support rail as claimed in any one of claims 15-17 wherein said conveyor belt is a steel cord conveyor belt.

19. A method for sensing different parameters of any one of a plurality of longitudinally extending conveyor belts within a site whilst the belts are operating, each of said belts having a tail at which burden is loaded, a head at which burden is discharged, and a longitudinally extensive framework which supports longitudinally spaced apart rollers which in turn support a transport run and a return run of said belt, said method comprising the steps of:

substantially permanently securing each of a plurality of support rails to the framework of a corresponding belt at a location which is spaced from both the head and tail of said belt, providing each said support rail with a length such that each said support rail extends substantially across the width of said belt and laterally of said belt by at least a predetermined operationally safe distance, and shaping each said support rail to co-operate with a limited number of belt transducers which each sense a different belt parameter, whereby one or more of said transducers can be installed on, and removed from, any one of said support rails with the corresponding belt operating, and whilst installed sense a parameter of said belt during operation of said belt.

20. The method as claimed in claim 19 and including the steps of supporting a mount on each said rail, mounting a transducer upon said mount, and mounted, providing a pair of rotatable wheels which are engaged with said rail to permit said mount to be moved along said rail.

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21. The method as claimed in claim 20 and including the step of providing a parallelogram arm arrangement which is connected at one end to said mount and at the other end to a transducer, whereby the distance of said transducer to said belt can be varied by pivoting said parallelogram arm arrangement.

22. The method as claimed in any one of claims 19-21 wherein said conveyor belt is a steel cord conveyor belt.

23. The method as claimed in any one of claims 19-22 wherein said site is a mine site or similar location requiring transportation of bulk solids or other materials.