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Tubular belt conveyors are certainly common in both daily life and work. So what is their working principle? (1) Structure of the tubular belt conveyor: This is a new type of belt conveyor that uses a tubular conveyor belt to transport materials. Its head, tail, feeding point, discharging point, tensioning device, etc. are structurally similar to those of a conventional belt conveyor. As shown in Figure 2, the tubular belt conveyor consists of a drive unit and drive rollers, a tail frame, a screw tensioning device, redirecting rollers, transition frames, a conveyor belt, supports, hexagonal idler sets, a horizontal belt flipping device, intermediate frames, and tower structures. After receiving material at the tail transition section, the conveyor belt gradually rolls into a tubular shape to enable airtight transportation of the material; at the head transition section, it gradually unrolls until the material is discharged. A tubular conveyor belt is a type of conveyor belt used in conjunction with tubular belt conveyors, which, by means of external force, forms a circular tube shape along the entire or part of the conveying path. Tubular conveyor belts use high-strength canvas or steel wire ropes as the framework, with high-strength, highly wear-resistant rubber materials serving as the upper and lower cover layers. During operation, the belt changes from a flat shape to a U-shaped form before being rolled into a tube to enable closed-cone transportation. (2) Working process of the tubular belt conveyor. The tubular belt conveyor is driven by friction, and it uses sets of regular polygonal idlers arranged at certain intervals to force the conveyor belt into a tubular shape. Its working process is shown in Figure 3: The material enters the feeding section from the funnel at the rear; the conveyor belt changes from a flat shape to a U-shaped one, and then, through the transition section, it gradually takes on an O-shaped form, thereby enclosing the material and transporting it. When the material reaches the transition section at the front, the tubular conveyor belt gradually returns to a flat shape, allowing the material to be discharged. Unlike the two-way transportation of conventional conveyors, tubular belt conveyors can transport in both directions simultaneously; that is, both the forward and backward movements of the conveyor consist of carrying sections, with no idle sections. Transmission mechanism of conveyors (1) Transmission mechanism of belt conveyors: In belt conveyors, the motor → coupling → gear transmission (reducer) → flat belt drive are used to transfer power and motion. (2) Drive mechanism of chain plate conveyor: In the drive mechanism of a chain plate conveyor, the motor → coupling → reducer → open gear transmission → sprockets of the conveyor chain are used to transmit power and motion. (3) Drive mechanism of the screw conveyor: The drive mechanism of the screw conveyor involves the motor transmitting power and motion through a coupling → reducer → open gear transmission → coupling → screw conveyor.