System and method for measuring the coefficient of friction on a conveyor belt

A measurement system for measuring a coefficient of friction on a conveyor belt, slidable in a direction of movement, the measurement system comprising:

• a metallic disk floatingly placed on said conveyor belt, said metallic disk having a bottom surface, at least one rounded element having a contact surface that rests on said conveyor belt, protruding below the bottom surface, the shape of said at least one rounded element being such that, regardless of the relative orientation of the metallic disk with respect to the conveyor belt, at least one rounded element extends along a direction of extension that is not parallel to the direction of movement of the conveyor belt;
• a pair of abutment elements arranged to keep the metallic disk fixed relative to the direction of movement of the conveyor belt;
• and
• a pair of load cells, operatively associated with the abutment elements and the disk, arranged to measure a thrust force exerted by the metallic disk on each load cell due to the relative sliding of the conveyor belt with respect to the metallic disk;
• and
• a mechanism having a piston to which the metallic disk is operatively connected, adapted to position the metallic disk on the conveyor belt when commanded to do so.