Changing or Slipping Belts on Pulleys.—To change a belt on a stepped cone, proceed as follows:—
Suppose the belt to be on the small step of the driving cone, and to require to run on the largest step. Throw the belt on the smallest step of the lower cone and place the palm of the hand on the inside face of the belt on the side on which it approaches that cone. Draw the belt tight enough (with the palm of the right hand) to take up the slack and cause the lower cone to rotate. When it is in full motion place the palm of the left hand against the inside face of the other side of the belt (while still keeping the pressure of the right hand against the slack side of the belt).
Release suddenly the pressure of the right hand and immediately with a quick and forcible lateral motion of the left hand force the belt towards the larger step of the upper cone, which will cause it to mount the next step, when the operation may be repeated for each succeeding step.
If the steps of the cone are too steep, or the belt is too long for this method, a wooden rod may be used, its end being applied to the side of the belt that runs on the upper cone and close to the cone. Then lift the belt with the rod, while the lower end of the rod is inclined away from the step the belt is to mount, when the belt will mount the step of the rotating cone.
In the case of broad heavy belts it is best to stop the running pulley and place the belt on it, then lift the belt edge on the stationary pulley at the point where the belt will first meet it when in motion, forcing the belt on by hand as far as possible. Take a strong cord, as, say 3⁄8 inch diameter, and double it, pass the loop between the pulley arms around the belt and over the pulley face. Pass the two free ends of the cord through the loop (formed by doubling the cord) and pull the free ends as tight as possible by hand. While standing on the side of the pulley opposite to that of the belt, communicate slow motion to the driving pulley and release the ends of the cords as soon as the belt is on. The belt, in travelling from the pulley, will then undo the cord of itself.
A belt may be taken off a pulley, either by pressing it in the required direction and as close to the pulley as possible, or by holding the two sides of the belt together, which should be done as far from the running pulley as possible, or as far from the pulley the belt is required to come off as possible.
Fig. 2705.
In [Fig. 2705] is shown a device for automatically replacing a belt that has slipped off a pulley. a is the pulley and b the device, which has a curved projection which is of the full width of the device at one end, where it comes even with the perimeter of a, and tapers laterally towards the outside edge of the device. As a result the belt will easily pass on the broad end and cause the device to rotate, the belt running up the curved projection and therefore lifting clear of the pulley a, but on account of the taper of the projection the belt finally has contact with the projection on one edge only, and therefore tips over to the other side, and as a result falls on a, because it is under tension and naturally adjusts itself to be in line with the pulley at the other end of the belt. It would appear that the belt, if running, would move on the pulley, driving it, and this would be the case if sufficient time were allowed for it to do so, but the action of the device is too quick, and furthermore, when the belt is off one pulley and therefore loose its motion is apt to become greatly reduced, which retards its moving laterally on the pulley driving it.