Conveyors
AssigneeMauri Brothers & Thomson (N.Z.) Limited
InventorsJohn Latimer, Neil Fortune
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A slatted endless plastics conveyor belt preferably with draining slots therethrough is supported over its conveying distance on a bed of runners and passes about end sprockets engaging directly with the belting and one set of which is driven. The edge of the belt is specially shaped to provide a bearing face supported on an inclined step in the side wall of the housing. This arrangement confines the product on the belt while it is "worked" by transverse mechanical manipulators at intervals along the conveying length. The conveyor is used in a food processor principally for processing curd or curd and whey in the cheese industry.
Claims11
A conveyor comprising:
- an endless plastics conveying belt made of a plurality of members pivotally interconnected in end to end relationship to form a belt having upper and lower flights;
- a bed of runners extending below said upper flight of said belt to support the upper flight of said belt along its length;
- sprocket means at each end of said belt between said flights around which said belt travels to drive said belt;
- drive means operatively engaged to one of said sprocket means to rotate said one sprocket means to drive said belt;
- side members extending along the longitudinal edges of said belt;
- and
- an inclined support step integral with each side member extending under the respective longitudinal edge of said belt to support said longitudinal edge with part of said step extending above said belt, so that said part of said step and a part of said side member above said step provide a confining means for a product being conveyed and allow said belt to move up and down the inclined surface on the step to accommodate dimensional variations in said belt.
A food processor comprising:
- a housing;
- a conveyor operatively mounted in said housing comprising,
- an endless plastics conveying belt made of a plurality of members pivotally interconnected in end to end relationship to form a belt having upper and lower flights,
- a bed of runners extending below said upper flight of said belt to support the upper flight of said belt along its length,
- sprocket means at each end of said belt between said flights around which said belt travels to drive said belt,
- drive means operatively engaged to one of said means to rotate said one sprocket means to drive said belt,
- side members integral with said housing extending along the longitudinal edges of said belt, and
- an inclined support step integral with each side member extending under the respective longitudinal edge of said belt to support said longitudinal edge with part of said step extending above said belt, so that said part of said step and a part of said side member above said step provide a confining means for a product being conveyed and allow said belt to move up and down the inclined surface on the step to accommodate dimensional variations in said belt;
- product inlet means in said housing adjacent one end of said conveyor belt to facilitate delivering product onto said belt;
- product outlet means in said housing adjacent the other end of said conveying belt to facilitate discharging product from said belt;
- and
- a plurality of rotatable product manipulators within said housing at spaced intervals above the top surface of said upper flight of said belt adapted to engage with and move product on the top surface of said belt with respect to said top surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.