When Were Conveyor Belts Invented? | A History of Conveyor Belts …
Historians debate over when the first conveyor belts appeared. Many believe the earliest hand-operated, wood-and-leather belt conveyors first cropped up in the late 1700s. The first heavy-duty conveyor belt appeared in 1892 to carry coal, ore and similar products. Historians credit their invention to Thomas Robins, who developed a series of ...