Famous Firsts

Martin Engineering was founded in Neponset, Illinois by a self-taught inventor in 1944. Today, the company employs over 900 people, holding 400 advanced degrees, in factory-owned business units and sales offices located in the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, France, Germany, Indonesia, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Peru, Russia, Spain, South Africa, Turkey, and the United Kingdom, representing over 500,000 square feet (46,000 square meters) of manufacturing and sales space.

In 1949, US patent 2480603 was issued to Edwin F. Peterson covering the Vibrolator® ball-type industrial vibrator.

In the 1950’s, Martin subsequently introduced the Martin® Vibroller™ and the Martin® Vibrotor™ Vibrators (patent 2518250). These vibrators were developed to provide high-frequency force for consolidating precast and prestressed concrete.

In 1956, the Big Shake (patent 2999393) and Brute External Motor-Driven Vibrators (patent 2793009) were introduced. They were the first motor-driven eccentric vibrators with clamp feet, providing powerful force for unloading rail cars and large-scale vessels.

In 1974, the Big Blaster Air Cannon (patent 3788527), the first low-pressure air cannon, was patented and introduced.

Martin Engineering Air Cannon technology set a new world standard for the evacuation of material from large silos, bins, SCR units, and bunkers.

In 1981, the Martin® Trac-Mount Belt Cleaner (patent 4249650) was introduced.

The Trac-Mount System was among the first engineered conveyor belt cleaner to control carryback and improve conveyor efficiency.

The Trac-Mount technology is now used throughout our product line in our QB™ and QC™ Belt Cleaners and Martin® Transfer Point products.

1990 was also the year Martin developed the world’s first belt cleaner blade engineered to provide a constant cleaning angle throughout all stages of wear life, establishing a new global standard for blade design to improve belt cleaner performance. The patented “CARP” Constant Angle / Constant Area Radial Pressure Blade Design (patents 4917231, 8028819, 6439373, 7216756) is available on many Martin belt cleaners.

In 1990, Martin was the first to introduce “bar support” or “slider bed” systems for use underneath conveyor belts in load zones to reduce damage and improve sealing. Martin® Impact Cradles shown

This concept is available is also known as Guardabelt™ and Guardaseal™ (patent 4858272)

In 1991, Martin published the first Foundations™ Book—Improving Conveyor Performance Through Control of Fugitive Material. Now in its fourth edition and available in several languages, Foundations™ continues to be the only practical resource for total dust and material control.

In 2008, Martin opened the Center For Bulk Materials Handling Innovation (CFI), a state-of-the-art global research and development facility focused on developing new and advanced bulk materials handling solutions.

In 2010, Martin purchased Cougar® Vibration. Combined with Martin’s vibration history and reputation for excellence and innovation, we are now able to provide the highest quality line of vibration products in the world with the greatest depth and experience.

In 2014, Martin introduced an innovative new line of Safe-To-Service (STS) Belt Cleaners (patent 7424945). The STS design allows blades to be changed while the belt is still running, eliminating downtime.

In 2015, Martin introduced the QB1™ Cleaner HD (patents D739635S1, D740514S1, D739635S1, D748885S1), representing a truly revolutionary innovation in the next generation of belt cleaning technology.

In 2015, Martin introduced SMART™ Series Nozzles (patent D723658S1), a line of Air Cannon nozzles offering a method of quick, simple, and accurate nozzle replacement.

In 2015, Martin launched the Mr. Blade® Program, a factory-direct sales and service channel dedicated to our wear components business.

In 2016, Martin introduced the Roll Gen™ System (patent pending), a self-contained, mini power station, to harness kinetic energy from belt conveyors to power a wide variety of electronic systems.

In 2016, Martin acquired CleanScrape® (patent 8528724), presenting a revolutionary new design and approach to belt cleaning, providing a new level of unprecedented cleaning performance.

In 2017, Martin introduced a revolutionary method of Core Gate Drilling (patent pending) to allow for the new installation of Air Cannons and nozzles in concrete silos without requiring entry, outage, or loss of production.

In 2018, Martin introduced the world’s first intelligent, computer-controlled automatic belt cleaner tensioner, engineered to ensure that maximum cleaning performance is maintained at all times without any manual adjustments for the life of the blade. Sensors on the mainframe continuously monitor performance to provide unprecedented real-time operational data and have remote access, giving analytical insight into belt cleaner performance.

Famous Firsts

Delivering tough, tested and innovative material handling solutions,backed by genuine and dependable industry experience since 1944.

Delivering tough, tested and innovative material handling solutions,
backed by genuine and dependable industry experience since 1944.