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US 4,044,649 AGranted
Conveyor mechanism
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorFrank A. Wilder
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A conveyor mechanism comprises a sprocket having a plurality of concave cutouts and receiving an endless chain of elements, each element having a convex surface, each of said cutouts having a supplemental indexing cutout associated therewith and each of said elements having a supplemental indexing projection thereon, said indexing cutouts and projections mutually interfitting and precluding rotation of each element in the respective sprocket cutout.
Claims6
A conveyor system comprising:
- a sprocket;
- and
- a chain of conveyor elements;
- each of said conveyor elements having a body portion including:
- a convex cylindrical surface having a first radius defining a longitudinal axis,
- a projecting leading rigid arm having a distal first portion of a pivot means,
- a projecting trailing rigid arm having a distal second portion of a pivot means for coupling with the first portion of a pivot means of the leading arm of the next succeeding element said arms having a mode of operation such that immediately adjacent arms mutually pivot about a common axis;
- said sprocket including:
- a hub having a longitudinal axis,
- a pair of spaced apart plates fixed on said hub and having a plurality of pairs of longitudinally aligned concave recesses therein congruent with and for seating the convex surface of a respective element body portion,
- said hub having a like plurality of surfaces, one adjacent each of said pairs of sprocket concave recesses, for underlying and abuting the leading and trailing arms of a respective element when its body portion is seated in a respective pair of sprocket concave recesses.
8 more elements
In a conveyor system comprising:
- a sprocket;
- a chain of conveyor elements;
- and
- a pair of longitudinally spaced apart guide channels;
- each of said conveyor elements having a body portion including:
- a convex cylindrical surface having a first radius defining a longitudinally extending first axis,
- a projecting leading arm having a distal first portion of a pivot means,
- a projecting trailing arm having a distal second portion of a pivot means for coupling with the first portion of a pivot means of the leading arm of the next succeeding element in said chain,
- a pair of longitudinally spaced apart legs, each having a proximal portion and a longitudinally extending distal portion, said distal portions for respectively interengaging said channels,
- a sprocket including:
- a pair of longitudinally spaced apart plates having a plurality of pairs of longitudinally aligned first concave recesses therein congruent with and for seating the convex surface of a respective element body portion;
- the improvement wherein:
- said pair of longitudinally spaced apart plates of said sprocket additionally includes:
- a like plurality of pairs of longitudinally aligned second concave recesses, each pair of second recesses respectively enlarging a pair of said first recesses, for respectively seating at least a respective portion of each of said legs, for locking said respective element against rotation about its respective first axis within the respective pair of first recesses.
11 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.