O-ring vs fused cord

[AlbertH22]

This may or may not be the best place to ask this question but anyway her goes....I have a small conveyor that I would like to use uses o-rings to move sheets of paper as per the attached PDF (to get perspective the pulleys are 1.0" dia). I have been advised that for this application an o-ring, since it is molded, will not hold up vs a fused cord (of equal mat'l) since the cord is extruded. Sounded reasonable when it was explained to me but I'd like some confirmation. The plus side of the o-ring is cost since it is a std size.

Any comments appreciated.

 

[Compositepro]

The joint in bonded cord will always be weaker than a one-piece molded ring.

 

[flexibox]

I would recommend a std BS oring why join from cord material when you can buy ready off the shelf!

 

[AlbertH22]

Thanks for responding. I agree with flexibox as this is true in most cases. However, the question remains: molded vs extruded. The point is I have been advised that in this instance, an extruded bonded cord will out-perform a molded o-ring due to the 'physics' of the processes. If this is so, then in my case, a performance improvement might override cost and maintenance issues.

 

[Compositepro]

Define "out-perform".

 

[flexibox]

As the costs are low I suggest that you try both and measure actual performance as I don't think anyone will be able to confirm this for your your application.
Start with std prongs then move to cord!


Cheers

 

[AlbertH22]

By 'out-perform' I meant to last longer.

Anyway... I find that I agree with this statement: In this application, with the 'belts' in tension, and with everything else being equal, an o-ring will lose its elasticity much sooner then an extruded fused cord.

That said I will probably use o-rings and if performance becomes an issue I have the cord idea for plan B. As usual Pros and cons for everything.

Thanks to all for your comments.