Compound Balanced Weave Belts for Small-Product Conveying and Baking: The Wire Belt Cordweave

Not every conveying job suits an open mesh belt. Where the product is very small, or where even heat transfer through the belt is critical, the carrying surface needs to be tight, dense and flat. The Wire Belt Cordweave, known throughout the industry as a compound balanced weave belt, is engineered for exactly these applications, and is supplied and supported across New Zealand by Advanced Packaging Systems (APS).

What Is a Compound Balanced Weave (Cordweave) Belt?

A compound balanced weave belt is a development of the balanced spiral belt. Where a standard balanced spiral has a single spiral and cross rod per pitch, the Cordweave has multiple spirals and cross rods per pitch — alternating left-hand and right-hand coils that nest into one another, interconnected by several cross wires through each coil. The effect is a “belt within a belt”: the compound structure closes up the apertures in the mesh, giving Cordweave its characteristically high density and flat carrying surface. It is the tightest mesh in the woven belt range.

Why the Tight, Flat Surface Matters

Two properties make Cordweave distinctive. First, the close mesh retains very small products that would fall through a more open belt — nuts, small biscuits and snack products, fasteners, chemical particles and similar. Second, the high density and smooth surface give uniform heat transfer across the full width of the belt, which is why Cordweave is a popular choice in baking: heat reaches the product evenly, producing a consistent bake from edge to edge. The flat surface also provides stable support for top-heavy or unstable items.

Applications

Cordweave is used across food and industrial processing wherever a tight, flat, dense belt is required:

• Baking small snack products — biscuits, cookies, crackers and similar, where uniform heat transfer is essential;
• Conveying and sorting very small components — screws, bolts, nails and small mechanical parts;
• Heat treating of small fasteners, sintering of powdered metal components and bottle annealing;
• Drying and cooling duties, including seed and product drying, and use as a furnace curtain;
• Specialised handling such as rice handling, swarf conveyors, electro-plating and accumulation tables.

Drive and Configuration

Cordweave is most commonly friction driven, using a plain or lagged parallel roller system in which the drive is transmitted by frictional contact between belt and roller. Lagging the roller — with rubber, or with friction brake lining for high-temperature work — reduces the drive tension needed and extends belt life. For applications requiring positive drive and tracking, a chain-edge driven variant is available by special request. A welded edge is standard, owing to the close meshing of the belt, and cross flights and side plates can be fitted where product needs to be elevated or separated. A flat-wire coil option is also available to increase surface area when handling products with a very small base area.

Materials and Operating Temperature

Cordweave is supplied as standard in Grade 304 stainless steel and high carbon steel, with a wide range of other grades available for higher-temperature and more corrosive duties. Because the belt is so often used in ovens and heat-treatment, wire grade is selected against the operating temperature — wire strength falls as temperature rises, so grade selection should always be confirmed with Wire Belt’s technical team. Representative maximum operating temperatures are shown below.

Representative Cordweave materials and maximum operating temperatures (extract). Full mesh specifications and grade selection are confirmed with the manufacturer; contact APS for selection.

Cordweave in the Wider Wire Belt Range

Cordweave sits at the tight, dense end of the Wire Belt stainless steel range, and is specified where the mesh must close up to retain small products or transfer heat evenly. Where a more open surface is acceptable, Flat-Flex® and Compact-Grid® belts handle general food conveying, Honeycomb provides flat-wire open mesh for washing and drainage, and the heavy-duty modular Eye-Flex® carries heavy loads through ovens and freezers. For an overview of how these belt types are matched to each stage of a food process, see the APS guide to food-grade conveyor belts for food processing.

Wire Belt Eye Flex

Cordweave Belts in New Zealand

Advanced Packaging Systems is the exclusive New Zealand agent for Wire Belt. The APS technical sales team can specify a Cordweave belt to the correct mesh, wire grade and drive arrangement for a given product and operating temperature, whether for a new line or a like-for-like replacement. APS supplies the wider Wire Belt range to the New Zealand food processing and industrial sector, with local support from its Auckland base. Contact APS to discuss a compound balanced weave belt for your application.