Do crowns prevent flat belts from moving sideways (walking), i.e. keep belts centered?
Yes, a crown on a pulley will prevent “walking or wandering”. All flat belts have a tendency to walk, “wander” or move sideways on flat surfaces. Therefore, uncrowned, flanged pulleys are not recommended because the belt will either rub against the flange and abrade, or stretch and walk up over the flanges. To hold the belt in the center of the pulley, the pulley must be crowned, i.e., larger at the center than on the sides. (See drawing below). All our flat idler pulleys have round crowns of .016 to .020 See crowns on flat idler pulleys. This means that the center diameters are .032 to .040 greater than the diameters at the outside edges of the pulleys.
