Return roller assemblies for conveyor

A return roller assembly for use with a conveyor assembly for supporting a lower run of a continuous conveyor belt movably supported by a conveyor frame, the assembly comprising:

• a roller shaft extending across the conveyor frame;
• a plurality of rollers positioned along and rotatable about the roller shaft, each of the plurality of rollers being freely movable along a longitudinal length of the roller shaft;
• a plurality of spacers each positioned to at least partially surround the roller shaft, wherein when each of the spacers are attached to the roller shaft, the spacers maintain a desired spacing between the plurality of rollers, wherein each of the plurality of spacers has a longitudinal length defined by a generally cylindrical outer wall extending between a first end and a second end;
• and wherein the outer wall includes an outer surface including a plurality of cleaning fins that extend from the outer surface.

A return roller assembly for use with a conveyor assembly for supporting a lower run of a continuous conveyor belt movably supported by a conveyor frame, the assembly comprising:

• a roller shaft extending across the conveyor frame;
• a plurality of rollers positioned along and rotatable about the roller shaft, each of the plurality of rollers being freely movable along a longitudinal length of the roller shaft;
• a plurality of spacers each positioned to at least partially surround the roller shaft, wherein when each of the spacers are attached to the roller shaft, the spacers maintain a desired spacing between the plurality of rollers, wherein each of the plurality of spacers has a longitudinal length defined by a generally cylindrical outer wall extending between a first end and a second end;
• and wherein the outer wall includes an inner surface having a plurality of stand-offs extending from the inner surface, wherein the plurality of stand-offs contact an outer surface of the roller shaft to create an air gap between the inner surface of the spacer and the outer surface of the roller shaft.

A conveyor assembly comprising:

• a conveyor frame;
• a continuous conveyor belt movably supported by a conveyor frame;
• a return roller assembly supported by the conveyor frame and positioned to support a lower run of the continuous conveyor belt, the return roller assembly comprising:
• a roller shaft extending across and supported by the conveyor frame;
• a plurality of rollers positioned along and rotatable about the roller shaft, each of the plurality of rollers being freely movable along a longitudinal length of the roller shaft;
• a plurality of spacers each positioned to at least partially surround the roller shaft and define the spacing between the plurality of rollers, each of the spacers including a generally cylindrical outer wall extending between a first end and a second end, each of the plurality of spacers further including a removed portion of the outer wall to define an access opening located between a first edge and a second edge of the outer wall, wherein each of the spacers are installed on the roller shaft by pressing the spacer into contact with the roller shaft such that the outer wall flexes and the access opening expand to larger than a diameter of the roller shaft.