Positive-drive spiral conveyor with overlapping cage-bar caps
AssigneeLaitram, L.L.C.
InventorsCasper Fedde Talsma, Alejandro J. Talbott, Oscar R. Coto
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Overlapping cage-bar caps in a spiral belt conveyor. The cage bars of a spiral-conveyor cage are covered along the majority of their length by a main cage-bar cap fastened to the cage bar at the exit of the belt from the spiral. At the belt's entrance to the spiral, an entrance cage-bar cap overlaps a portion of the main cage-bar cap and the cage bar. The overlap is great enough to prevent a gap from forming along the length of the cage bar between the main cage-bar cap and the entrance cage-bar cap.
Claims14
A spiral conveyor comprising:
- a cylindrical drive cage extending from a bottom to a top and having a plurality of parallel cage bars extending in length from the bottom to the top of the drive cage forming a periphery radially outward of an axis of rotation of the drive cage;
- a plurality of main cage-bar caps covering a major portion of the lengths of the cage bars,
- a plurality of entrance cage-bar caps overlapping a portion of the main cage-bar caps radially outward of the main cage-bar caps and disposed at the bottom or the top of the drive cage.
A cage-bar assembly for a spiral conveyor drive cage, comprising:
- a cage bar extending in length from a first end to a second end;
- a first cage-bar cap covering a majority of the length of the cage bar between the first and second ends;
- a second cage-bar cap having an overlapping portion covering a portion of the first cage-bar cap along the length of the cage bar at the first end.
A method for constructing a cage bar for a spiral conveyor, comprising:
- covering a first length of a cage bar from a first end to a second end with a first cage-bar cap;
- overlapping a portion of the first cage-bar cap at the first end of the cage bar with a second cage-bar cap;
- fastening the second cage bar cap to the cage bar.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.