CHAPTER II 

 TAYLOR'S INVESTIGATIONS ON BELTING 



THE basis of modern belt practice is the nine-year experi- 

 ment conducted by Frederick W. Taylor on belts in the 

 machine shop of the Midvale Steel Company. The experi- 

 ment was described by him in a paper before the American 

 Society of Mechanical Engineers l in 1893. This investiga- 

 tion was radically different in its character and purpose from 

 those which had preceded it. The usual experiments were 

 of short duration and their chief object apparently had been 

 to ascertain the value of the coefficient of friction. Taylor's 

 object was to acquire information as to the cost and main- 

 tenance of belts, the cost of interruptions to manufacture due 

 to belt failures, and information as to tensions, treatment, 

 etc., that would give the lowest total cost for belting under 

 operating conditions. 



The opportunity for these experiments was afforded by 

 the erection of a new machine shop in which many of the 

 machines from the old shop were to be used. In the new 

 shop the tight and loose pulleys on countershafts were made 

 of larger diameter and wider than formerly, permitting the 

 transmission of about two and one-half times the former belt 

 power from main line to countershafts. The belts used were 

 endless, joints being made by splicing, glueing and pegging 

 instead of lacing or hooking, and double belts were used 

 throughout the shop. By means of belt clamps having spring 

 balances between the two pair of clamps, the tension to which 

 the belt was subjected was accurately weighed when the belt 

 was put on the pulleys and each time it was tightened. 

 Provision was made for tightening belts by raising and lower- 



1 Transactions, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, vol. xv, p. 204. 



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