Conveyor for transporting workpieces

A conveyor for transporting workpieces through heat-exchange zones, comprising at least one supporting structure which includes a pair of transversely spaced and linked conveyor sections together forming a channel having an open side, said conveyor sections each having a workpiece-supporting surface elongated in the direction of transport and together bounding said open side;

• and means for lifting and lowering the workpieces relative to said workpiece-supporting surfaces of said conveyor sections and for moving the workpieces in said transport direction, including a support beam elongated in said direction of transport and being movably mounted in said channel, workpiece-lifting members mounted for above said beam shifting and lifting movement relative to said channel, a lifting element extending along and beneath said support beam and converging upwardly towards the same in direction of the elongation thereof, and a wedge-shaped raising element having a planar upper face which extends parallel to an underside of said support beam and which raising element is actuated by said lifting element so as to move said workpiece-lifting members through said open side and thereby lift the workpieces off said workpiece-supporting surfaces and transport the workpieces in said direction of transport.