Conveyor component with flexible hub and conveyor assembly
AssigneeLaitram, L.L.C.
InventorsMatthew Vulpetti, Ryan Hale
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A conveyor component for use in a conveyor includes a flexible hub for mounting a shaft and a continuous rim connected to the flexible hub for contacting a conveyor belt. The flexible hub includes a peripheral gap that can be widened using an expansion tool to enlarge a shaft-receiving opening formed by the flexible hub. Positioning tabs on a radially inner surface of the flexible hub move into engagement with a groove on the shaft when the conveyor component is in a relaxed state and the peripheral gap is contracted and out of engagement with the groove when the peripheral gap is expanded, and the flexible hub is flexed.
Claims19
A component for a conveyor, comprising:
- a flexible hub with an axially-extending shaft opening, the flexible hub comprising a first clamping portion that opens in a first radial direction to form a first peripheral gap and a second clamping portion that opens in a second radial direction opposite the first radial direction to form a second peripheral gap;
- and
- a rim connected to the flexible hub, the rim having a periphery for contacting a conveyor belt.
An assembly for a conveyor comprising:
- an axially-extending shaft having
- a main portion with a circular cross section and
- a first mounting portion having a first mounting groove in a peripheral surface of the shaft and a second mounting groove in the peripheral surface of the shaft offset and opposite the first mounting groove;
- a component mounted on the shaft, the component having
- a flexible hub forming an axially-extending shaft opening having a non-uniform, non-circular cross section and an oblique mounting opening having a circular cross section and extending along an axis that is oblique to the axially-extending shaft opening, and
- a rim connected to the flexible hub for contacting a conveyor belt.
In a conveyor system, a method of mounting a roller having a flexible hub on a shaft having offset and opposing peripheral grooves, the flexible hub having a first clamping portion open in a first radial direction and a second clamping portion open in a second radial direction, comprising the steps of:
- angling the roller to align an oblique mounting opening in the flexible hub with the shaft;
- sliding the shaft through the oblique mounting opening until flat end walls of the flexible hub are below the peripheral grooves in the shaft;
- rotating the roller about the shaft to bring the shaft into contact with bottoms of the clamping portions forming the flexible hub;
- and
- further rotating the roller about the shaft to open the clamping portions and push the shaft into an axially-extending shaft opening of the flexible hub.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.