Connections for scraper-chain conveyors

In a channel section for a scraper-chain conveyor which is composed of upper and lower components (1, 7) each having a pair of interconnected side walls (2, 8);

• an improved means for detachably connecting the components together, said connecting means comprising:
• a side plate (6) fixed to one of the side walls of the lower component and projecting alongside an associated side wall of the upper component, recesses (12) defined in said associated side wall of the upper component, said recesses having base surfaces (29), locking members (10) having upper regions provided with projecting noses (22) received within the recesses to engage with the base surfaces, means (14) on the side plate defining sockets, fixing elements (11) with screw-threaded shanks (19) and heads (15), the heads of the fixing elements being located by the sockets with complementary surfaces (20, 21) of the heads of the elements and within the socket engaging one another, apertures (24, 26) in the locking members receiving and locating the fixing elements and presenting their shanks to receive nuts (30) which can be tightened to clamp the upper component firmly down onto the lower component, wherein the fixing elements are generally T-shaped and the heads of the fixing elements have inclined surfaces (20) for engaging inclined complementary surfaces (21) in the sockets, wherein surfaces (28) of parts of the fixing elements engage with inclined lower surfaces (27) of the apertures, and wherein the inclined lower surfaces of the apertures incline in the opposite direction to the inclined surfaces of the sockets.