Conveyor system

In a conveyor system for loading or unloading bulk material into and from large containers, particularly ships, and including a gantry, boom means having one end thereof mounted on said gantry for pivotal movement of said boom means about a horizontal axis in a vertical plane, a leg means adapted to extend from one end thereof downwardly from generally the other end of said boom means along a vertical axis, a short transverse leg means mounted at one end thereof on the other end of said vertical leg means and extending generally horizontally outwardly therefrom and having bulk material pickup means on the other end thereof, means for pivotally connecting the other end of said boom means to the one end of said vertical leg means while allowing said vertical leg means to maintain its vertical orientation regardless of the position of said boom means and for rotating said vertical leg means and transverse leg means about the vertical axis relative to said boom means, and conveyor belt means movably carried by said gantry, said boom means, said vertical leg means and said transverse leg means for conveying the bulk material between said pickup means and said gantry;

• the improvement in combination therewith, characterized by providing a simplified construction of said conveyor system for providing both loading and unloading operations and eliminating the necessity of plural conveyor belts, of:
• said conveyor belt means comprising a single flexible continuous conveyor belt having inner and outer sides and defining conveying and returning segments extending between said gantry and said pickup means, spaced-apart flexible corrugated walls mounted on said conveyor belt and extending generally outwardly from said outer side generally along and inwardly of the outer edges of said conveyor belt, and a plurality of spaced-apart cleat means mounted on said conveyor belt and extending generally outwardly from said outer side transversely between said corrugated walls for defining with said conveyor belt and said corrugated walls bucket-shaped compartments for conveying the bulk material;
• separate spaced-apart guide means respectively carried by said connecting means and by said vertical leg means at generally the other end thereof for receiving, guiding and maintaining each of the conveying and returning segments of said conveyor belt at the locations of said guide means in predetermined desired positions and planes relative to each other regardless of the rotational position of said leg means, each of said guide means comprises at least one elongate roll rotatably mounted in fixed angular position on said respective connecting means and vertical leg means and positioned for transversely abutting said inner side of said conveyor belt, and two stub rolls for each of the conveying and returning segments of said conveyor belt and positioned for transversely abutting said outer side of said conveyor belt opposite said elongate roll along the outer edges of said conveyor belt and outwardly of said corrugated walls and rotatably mounted in fixed angular position on said respective connecting means and vertical leg means;
• whereby, said guide means carried by said connecting means will remain and maintain the portion of said conveyor belt passing therethrough in a fixed angular position with respect to the vertical axis through said leg means, and said guide means carried by said vertical leg means will rotate and rotate the portion of said conveyor belt passing therethrough with said leg means;
• spacer means carried by said vertical leg means for rotation relative thereto about the vertical axis therethrough and positioned between said guide means and between said conveying and returning segments of said conveyor belt for rotating with said conveyor belt, and said conveyor belt being unrestrained between said guide means;
• whereby, said conveyor belt will twist between said guide means with rotation of said leg means relative to said boom means and said conveying and returning segments will be maintained in generally spaced-apart relationship by said spacer means;
• said boom means, said connecting means and said leg means comprise tubular members carrying said conveyor belt, said guide means and said spacer means therewithin for conveying the bulk material substantially within an enclosure;
• and
• means for selectively driving said conveyor belt in forward and reverse directions for loading and unloading bulk material.