Roller conveyor gap blocker

A gap blocker for a roller conveyor including rollers for conveying an object in a downstream longitudinal direction and a gap between the rollers, the gap blocker comprising:

• a body to be positioned in the gap;
• an upper blocking portion of the body having upstream and downstream contact portions configured to contact the rollers above a narrowest portion of the gap;
• a resilient lower portion of the body having upstream and downstream lower protrusions for contacting the rollers, the resilient lower portion of the body having a deflected configuration wherein the resilient lower portion is narrower than the narrowest portion of the gap to permit the resilient lower portion of the body to be advanced through the narrowest portion of the gap and into an operative position below the narrowest portion of the gap;
• the resilient lower portion of the body having an undeflected configuration wherein the upstream and downstream lower protrusions are below the narrowest portion of the gap;
• and
• upstream and downstream clearance surface portions of the resilient lower portion of the body intermediate the upper blocking portion of the body and the upstream and downstream lower protrusions along a height of the body, the upstream and downstream surface portions of the resilient lower portion of the body configured to be in clearance with the rollers with the body in the operative position.

A roller conveyor comprising:

• rollers rotatable to convey an object in a downstream, longitudinal direction, the rollers having outer diameters;
• a gap between the rollers;
• a drive member extending around the rollers to transfer rotation of one of the rollers to the other roller, the drive member having upper and lower portions extending across the gap spaced apart from one another, the drive member having a distance between the upper and lower portions of the drive member;
• a gap blocker supported in the gap by the first and second rollers, the gap blocker having an upper blocking portion above a narrowest portion of the gap, a lower portion below the narrowest portion of the gap, and an intermediate portion extending in the narrowest portion of the gap;
• the gap blocker having a height that is less than the outer diameter of either of the rollers and that is less than the distance between the upper and lower portions of the drive member so that the gap blocker is in clearance with the drive member.

A roller conveyor comprising:

• upstream and downstream rollers, the upstream and downstream rollers having outer diameters;
• a drive belt to contact the upstream and downstream rollers, the drive belt being movable to rotate the upstream and downstream rollers and cause the upstream and downstream rollers to convey the object in a downstream, longitudinal direction;
• a gap between the upstream and downstream rollers;
• a gap blocker supported in the gap by the upstream and downstream rollers, the gap blocker having an upper blocking portion above a narrowest portion of the gap, the gap blocker having a lower upstream member including an upstream free end portion to contact the upstream roller and a lower downstream member including a downstream free end portion to contact the downstream roller;
• wherein the lower upstream member and the lower downstream member are shiftable toward each other relative to the upper blocking portion to a deflected configuration to facilitate removal of the gap blocker from the gap;
• and
• wherein the gap blocker has a height that is less than the outer diameter of either of the upstream and downstream rollers so that the gap blocker is in clearance with the drive belt.