Belt type conveyor apparatus with adjustable tail pulley

A conveyor apparatus for use with an endless, flexible conveyor belt for conveying mined materials, said apparatus comprising:

• an elongate conveyor support frame having opposite longitudinal sides extending between two frame ends;
• a plurality of conveyor belt supporting devices mounted on and distributed along said support frame for rotatably supporting said conveyor belt, said supporting device including a belt direction reversing tail pulley mechanism mounted on a pulley support member for rotation about a central axis of rotation extending generally transversely relative to said longitudinal sides;
• a support device for mounting said pulley support member on the conveyor support frame, said pulley support member being mounted on said support device for pivotal movement about a generally vertically extending pivot axis provided by said support device and located centrally between said longitudinal sides of the support frame;
• an actuator for pivoting said pulley support member and its tail pulley mechanism about said pivot axis to maintain said conveyor belt within a desired central region of the tail pulley mechanism during use of the conveyor apparatus;
• a controller for controlling operation of said actuator;
• and
• light beam sensor means for sensing a shift of said conveyor belt out of the desired central region and for indicating said shift to said controller, wherein when a light beam of said sensor means is blocked by said conveyor belt during use of the conveyor apparatus, said controller causes said actuator to pivot said pulley support member in a direction which tends to increase tension in said conveyor belt on the longitudinal side thereof where the light beam is blocked.

In a conveyor apparatus for use with an endless conveyor belt which extends around two belt direction reversing pulley devices and is operable under tension:

• a conveyor support frame;
• a non-rotating pulley support member on which one of two pulley devices is mounted for rotation about an axis of rotation;
• a movable support device for mounting said pulley support member on the conveyor support frame, said pulley support member being mounted on said support device for pivotable movement about a generally vertically extending pivot axis;
• an actuator for pivoting said pulley support member and its pulley device about said pivot axis to maintain said conveyor belt in substantially centered running alignment with said one pulley device during use of the conveyor apparatus;
• and
• an adjustable mechanism for adjusting the position of a portion of said support device relative to said support frame in order to increase or decrease the overall tension in said conveyor belt, said adjusting mechanism being capable of moving said pulley support member and its pulley device towards or away from the other pulley device to increase the tension in the conveyor belt.