Contained drive system for chain conveyor belt to reduce catenary sag

A conveyor assembly for use with a continuous conveyor belt having a belt thickness, a width defined by a pair of side edges and a plurality of links pivotally joined to each other, comprising:

• a pair of spaced side frame members for supporting an upper run and a lower run of the conveyor belt;
• a drive assembly mounted to a first end of the side frame members for driving the conveyor belt;
• and
• an idler assembly mounted to a second end of the side frame members to idler the lower run of the conveyor belt to the upper run of the conveyor belt,
• wherein each of the side frame members includes a continuous retaining channel that receives and retains one of the first and second side edges of the lower run of the conveyor belt, wherein the retaining channel has a height greater than the thickness of the conveyor belt such that the plurality of links of the conveyor belt can pivot relative to each other within the retaining channel.

A conveyor assembly comprising:

• a continuous conveyor belt having a pair of side edges and formed from a plurality of links pivotally joined to each other, wherein each of the links are pivotally movable relative to a pair of adjacent links;
• a pair of spaced side frame members for supporting an upper run and a lower run of the conveyor belt;
• a drive assembly mounted to a first end of the side frame members for driving the conveyor belt, the drive assembly including a pair of spaced support blocks each having a guide channel that receives one of the side edges of the conveyor belt as the conveyor belt transitions from the upper run to the lower run;
• an idler assembly mounted to a second end of the side frame members to idler the lower run of the conveyor belt to the upper run of the conveyor belt, wherein the idler assembly includes a pair of spaced support blocks each having a guide channel that receives one of the side edges of the conveyor belt as the conveyor belt transitions from the lower run to the upper run,
• wherein each of the side frame members includes a continuous retaining channel in communication with both the guide channel formed in the drive assembly and the guide channel formed in the idler assembly, wherein the retaining channel has a height greater than a thickness of the conveyor belt such that the links of the conveyor belt are pivotable relative to each other while retained within the retaining channel.