Tubular conveyor with cleated belt
AssigneeAG Growth International Inc.
InventorsArthur Stenson, Ronald Klassen
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A conveyor comprising a support frame, an inclined tube mounted to the support frame, a hopper at a lower end of the tube for receiving material, a spout at an upper end of the tube for discharging the material, a running plate extending inside the tube, and a cleated belt, supported by the running plate, that conveys the material from the hopper to the spout through the tube. The cleated belt comprises a plurality of spaced-apart cleats and wherein each cleat has a base extending transversely to a direction of travel of the belt and curved sides that curve upwardly and outwardly from the base.
Claims27
A conveyor comprising:
- a support frame;
- an inclined tube mounted to the support frame;
- a hopper at a lower end of the tube for receiving material;
- a spout at an upper end of the tube for discharging the material;
- a running plate extending inside the tube;
- and
- a cleated belt, supported by the running plate, that conveys the material from the hopper to the spout through the tube, wherein the cleated belt comprises a plurality of spaced-apart cleats and wherein each cleat has a base extending transversely to a direction of travel of the belt and curved sides that curve upwardly and outwardly from the base, wherein each of the curved sides has a first radius of curvature curving from the base to a curvature-transition point and a second radius of curvature curving from the curvature-transition point to a top of the cleat, wherein the second radius of curvature is greater than the first radius of curvature.
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A method of conveying material, the method comprising:
- loading the material into a hopper;
- conveying the material up a tubular conveyor having a tube and a cleated belt running over a running plate in the tube, wherein the cleated belt comprises a plurality of spaced-apart rubber cleats on a canvas belt and wherein each cleat has a base extending transversely to a direction of travel of the belt and curved sides that curve upwardly and outwardly from the base wherein edges of the canvas belt fold when the belt runs through the tube such that the curved sides of the cleats match the inside curvature of the tube to convey the material up the conveyor;
- and
- discharging the material from a spout at an upper end of the tube.
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A cleated belt for a conveyor, the belt comprising:
- a canvas belt;
- and
- a plurality of spaced-apart cleats integrally formed with the canvas belt;
- wherein each cleat has a base extending transversely to a direction of travel of the belt and curved sides that curve upwardly and outwardly from the base;
- wherein the belt is two-ply canvas and wherein the cleats are rubber, and wherein the cleats are molded directly into the belt;
- wherein each of the curved sides has a first radius of curvature curving from the base to a curvature-transition point and a second radius of curvature curving from the curvature-transition point to a top of the cleat, wherein the second radius of curvature is greater than the first radius of curvature.
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Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.