Sprung pin conveyor roller bearing
AssigneeBlue Arc Engineering, LLC
InventorBritt Calloway
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A roller bearing end hub has a housing that internally houses a plane bearing, pin, and spring. The spring is biased against the plane bearing which is rotatably connected with the pin. The housing includes two half-housings which are configured to be mated together. The bearing is formed of a shape similar to the housing interior. The pin is smaller than an attached axle stub and the spring does not directly interact with the pin such that the amount of friction between the pin and bearing is minimized.
Claims30
An apparatus, comprising:
- a roller including
- an axle stub about which the roller rotates, the axle stub being retractable in a linear direction to facilitate replacement of the roller, and
- a bearing coupled to the axle stub in a rotatable manner, the bearing being moveable in the linear direction within the roller as the axle stub retracts.
A method of manufacturing a roller, comprising:
- inserting a pin of an axle stub into a pin opening of a bearing;
- and
- loading the bearing into a bearing cavity of a housing, wherein the bearing cavity is longer than the bearing to allow the bearing to slide in a linear direction within the bearing cavity.
A method of installing a roller into a conveyor frame, comprising:
- retracting an axle stub of the roller by compressing the axle stub against a bearing in which a portion of the axle stub is rotatably received, wherein the bearing moves in a retraction direction during said retracting;
- aligning the axle stub with an axle stub receptacle in the conveyor frame;
- and
- inserting the axle stub into the axle stub receptacle by extending the axle stub in an extension direction, wherein the bearing moves with the axle stub in the extension direction during said inserting.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.