729 Sabrina DriveEast Peoria, Illinois 61611 USA

Telephone 309-698-5611Facsimile 309-698-5615Email 4B@go4B.com

VOLUME 1 ISSUE 4 FALL 2001

This unique and powerful dual microprocessorcontrolled, bucket elevator monitoring system can nowbe programmed for use with belt conveyors. ASpeedswitch mounted at the tail pulley sends a speedsignal through the capacitance style alignment switch-es mounted on the sides of the conveyor. When thebelt is aligned correctly, the alignment switch contactsare closed and allow the speed pulses to pass throughto the control unit. When the belt misalignes, the align-ment switch opens and the control unit sees this as abelt misalignment, while still monitoring for beltspeed/slip.

Alarm and Shutdown relay contacts are provided,along with serial communication and PLC interfaces.With optional bearing temperature monitoring (6Zones), plug condition and pulley alignment monitor-ing, the Watchdog “elite” system is quickly becomingthe system of choice for complete belt conveyor pro-tection.

Please call for in-depth product information, or visit our website at:

www.go4b.comwww.go4b.com

Watchdog Takes a Bite Out ofConveyor Monitoring Hassles!

Approved for use in

Hazardous Areas

EmployeeProfile

Hello, my name is RollinMeeker. I joined the 4BElectronics team inSeptember 2000. I am agraduate of ITT TechnicalInstitute in Nashville, TN.When not at work, I enjoyfamily time with my wifeand 13 month old daugh-ter. Fishing, hunting, andbaseball are my other pas-times. I grew up in Pekin,IL and enjoyed my time atPekin high school espe-cially during football sea-son, when I played defen-sive tackle for the schoolteam. I love the fast paceand team spirit within 4B,and I look forward togrowing within the elec-tronics department.

Rollin Meeker

On September 17, 2001, 4BComponents Ltd. launched their newWeb-site www.go4b.com. The newand exciting 4B web-site is full ofdetailed information and exciting newsabout 4B. It contains technical infor-

mation, Trade Show dates which 4Bwill be attending, and a Questionnaireif you are looking for free engineering. So next time when you think of Technology-Innovation-Quality-Value, think of 4B Components Ltd.

Nowhere else will you be able to find a more ver-satile selection of elevator buckets, than at 4B.Whether your interest is in steel or polymer, orstandard replacements versus leg capacityincrease, 4B has the right choice for your elevator legs.

The “Big J Jumbo” super series with the “IcebergEdge” was built to work hard for your invest-ment dollars. The “iceberg edge” was scientifi-cally designed by 4B to combine the thickestpolymer elevator bucket walls for a standardduty bucket, with a less potentially damagecausing, streamlined leading edge. This bucket,which was the first on the market with the“wingless profile”, was developed by 4B toenhance bucket filling efficiency for the closerspacing, higher capacity elevator legs requiredtoday. The compound curve bucket bottomreplaces the archaic “brakes” in the old CC-HDbuckets. 4B devised this improvement to giveextra capacity, smoother discharge withreduced back-legging and longer bucket life.Don’t forget that this bucket is offered in thedeep drawn pressed “seamless steel”, no weldsto wear and fail. This bucket provides strongerconstruction, longer life and cleaner discharge.

Need more capacity?The premier bucket system offered to theindustry is the “Starco Super Low Profile”.Available in polymer or steel, this better con-cept in bucket design provides greater capaci-

ties toelevator legs thanany other “modified”low profile bucketmanufactured.Correctly taperedsides and front lipangle allow maxi-mum filling andproper dischargeover a wide range ofpulleys and speeds.

There’s no gimmickto the 4B GB“Bottomless”bucket system,another provenleader in moving“more bushels foryour bucks” in elevator legs. Mounted on closespacing, this steel bucket, offered in a widerange of sizes, will deliver enormous capacities.Material is lifted in a continuous column, andthe carrying space normally wasted betweenconventional buckets is fully utilized to achieveastounding capacities. Great for sticky materials,as this style bucket is virtually self cleaning!

So take your legs to “new heights” with thefavored 4B bucket systems when requiring newbuckets, replacements or increase in capacities.Your legs will never have had it so good!”

New Web-SiteLOOK OUTfor 4B

Ebay AuctionWednesday, November 14th

Your Legs NeverHad It So Good!

Question: I havesome convey-ors in my plantthat I want tofit with motionmonitors.However theyall run at differ-ent speeds andmy electrician

says that I must install 500 pulseencoders so that we detect beltslip quickly. Is this true?

Answer: Usually the number ofpulses produced by a sensor inone minute is the product of theshaft speed and the number oftargets mounted on the shaft(special cases exist for quadra-ture encoders). Therefore a shaftrunning at 33 revolutions perminute (33rpm) with 2 targetswould produce 66 pulses perminute (66ppm). If the under-speed alarm is set at 10% of normal running speed, then thealarm point is 59.4ppm. Thereaction time for a certain trippoint is the time for the sensorto see the next pulse when run-

ning at the trip speed. Thereforeat the 59.4ppm alarm point thereaction time in seconds is60/59.4, which is about 1sec-ond. A 1-second reaction time ismore than adequate for detect-ing underspeed on a belt con-veyor. If you used the 500 pulseper rev. encoder on the sameshaft, the number of pulses perminute would be 16,500. Thiswould give us a 10% underspeedalarm point of 14,850 ppm and a

reactiontime of60/14,850seconds(4mS). Evenif the con-trol circuitry

could count this fast, this superquick reaction time is notrequired on a belt conveyor andprovides no benefit to its protec-tion. Working the math back-wards, the 500-pulse encoderwould provide a 1-second reac-tion time for a shaft running asslow as 0.133rpm. That’s only 8revolutions per hour! Only ifyour conveyor was moving soslowly that you could not evensee it move, would you requirea 500 or greater pulse encoder. The table shows the reactiontimes for certain shaft speeds and targets.

SPARKY’S SHOCKERS

Johnny WheatManager ElectronicProducts

On August 16th, 4B proud-ly accepted the State ofIllinois Governor’s ExportAward. During theIllinois State Fair, 4BComponents Ltd., whichwas brought to the areaby the EconomicDevelopment Council in1984, was presentedwith a Governor’s Awardfor Export. This award isannually presented tooutstanding Illinois com-panies who have demon-strated superior perform-ance and expertise in thearea of exporting.

AFIA Equip. Mfrs. Conference Nov. 1 - 3rd 2001Kiawah IslandCornbelt GEAPS Table Top Nov. 20th, 2001Mini Show – Covington, INCanadian Prairies GEAPS Jan. 16th-17th, 2002Table Top – Winnipeg, ManitobaIllinois Grain & Feed Show Feb. 18th-19th, 2002Crowne Plaza – Springfield, IL

AFIA/AGRO – Mexico Feb 28th-Mar. 2nd, 2002Jalisco, Guadalajara

GEAPS Exchange March 2nd-5th, 2002Vancouver, B.C., Canada

Powder Bulk Solids May 6th-9th, 2002Chicago, IL

2001 – 2002 Trade Shows

4B Components, Ltd. Key Personnel

Chris RobinsonSenior Vice President

Rick Fifer Vice President of Sales

Johnny WheatElectronic Products

Manager

Gayle Hawks Office Manager

Mike RobinsonWarehouse Manager,Production & Logistics

Beatriz PoloneyLatin America Sales

Left to Right:Rick Fifer, Vice President of Sales, 4B Components Ltd.

Sharon Galantino, Deputy Managing Director,State of Illinois European Office

Beatriz Poloney, Latin America Sales, 4B Components Ltd.

Whirligig®

Combined Target, Bracket & Guard

It makes sense!

4B Accepts Governor’s Export Award

U.S. PAT. 6,109,120

TELEPHONE 309.698.5611FACSIMILE 309.698.5615

WEBSITE WWW.GO4B.COM

EMAIL 4B@GO4B.COM

Technology • Innovation • Quality • Value

729 SABRINA DRIVE EAST PEORIA, ILLINOIS 61611 USA

729 Sabrina Drive East Peoria, Illinois 61611 USATelephone 309-698-5611 Facsimile 309-698-5615 Email 4B@go4B.com

PRESORTEDSTANDARD

US POSTAGE PAIDPEORIA, ILPERMIT 137

THIS ISSUE OF “THE SCOOP” IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY…

Your best friend!Ultimate Conveyor & Bucket Elevator ProtectionBelt Speed • Belt Alignment • Bearing Temperature • Plug Condition • Pulley Alignment

Watchdog™