Primary belt cleaner tensioning system with internal torsion spring

Abstract

A primary belt cleaner tensioning system that permits the adjustment of contacting force of a scraper blade on a conveyor belt surface. The system utilizes a torsion spring contained within a mounting tube and rotatable shaft which not only protects the torsion spring from the environment but also allows the spring length to be sufficiently long to have enhanced deflection during tensioning. As the blade wears and tension is released, a significant amount of the initially-applied tension is retained in the system, thereby eliminating the need to retension the system over the life of the blade as is required for prior art blade tensioning systems. A tension applicator allows the user to initially tension the system and use of shaped retainers and end caps allow one end of the torsion spring to be fixed to different types of hollow shafts while the other end is coupled to the tension applicator.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.