Conveyor belt and method for mounting oblique rollers on lateral rods
AssigneeLaitram, L.L.C.
InventorsEric M. Pressler, Matthew L. Fourney
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A conveyor belt and a method for providing a conveyor belt with rollers that rotate on axes oblique to the direction of belt travel. Axles are mounted on rods extending perpendicular to direction of belt travel. The axles have cylindrical outer bearing surfaces that define a central axis that is oblique to the direction of belt travel when mounted on the rods. Rollers mounted on the axles rotate on the outer bearing surfaces in a direction oblique to the direction of belt travel.
Claims19
A conveyor belt comprising:
- a plurality of rods disposed in the belt perpendicular to a direction of belt travel;
- a plurality of axles mounted on the rods, each axle having a cylindrical outer bearing surface defining a central axis oblique to the direction of belt travel;
- a plurality of rollers, each mounted on one of the axles for rotation on the outer bearing surface in a direction oblique to the direction of belt travel.
A conveyor belt comprising:
- a series of rows of one or more belt modules, each row having spaced apart hinge elements with aligned apertures along leading and trailing ends with the hinge elements along the leading end of a row interleaved with the hinge elements along the trailing end of a leading row to form a lateral passageway between consecutive rows perpendicular to a direction of belt travel;
- a plurality of hinge rods received in the laterally passageways to connect the rows into an endless belt;
- wherein the hinge elements are spaced apart non-uniformly along each end of the rows to provide one or more large openings disposed between laterally consecutive interleaved hinge elements and traversed by the hinge rod;
- a plurality of axles disposed in the large openings, each axle having a cylindrical outer bearing surface defining a central axis and having a bore oblique to the central axis, the bore receiving one of the hinge rods;
- a plurality of rollers, each mounted on one of the axles for rotation on the outer bearing surface in a direction oblique to the direction of belt travel.
A method for providing a conveyor belt with rollers that rotate on axes oblique to the direction of belt travel, the method comprising:
- supporting rods across the width of a conveyor belt perpendicular to the direction of belt travel;
- mounting axles having cylindrical outer bearing surfaces defining axes on the rods with the axes oblique to the direction of belt travel;
- mounting a roller on each axle to rotate around the cylindrical outer bearing surface oblique to the direction of belt travel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.