Conveyor belt having insertable & selectable conveying member

A module having a conveying surface of a selected shape for forming a modular conveyor belt, said belt comprised at least in part of a plurality of modules having such a selectively shaped conveyor surface, each of said modules of said conveyor belt having identical pitch dimensions and pivot ends adapted to be connected end-to-end and side-by-side, and said modules being integrally molded from a plastic material, and each module of said plurality having a selectively shaped conveying surface comprising:

• a base member having a first and second plurality of integrally molded pivot ends joined by and formed integral with an intermediate section, and having a top portion and a bottom portion to form a top and bottom side of said intermediate section, said top side defining a recess and a overhang extending over said recess and said first and second pluralities of pivot ends connected parallel to and at a spaced distance from each other such that said conveyor belt may be connected end-to-end and side-by-side;
• said base member further including means for receiving a driving force, at least a component vector of which is, orthogonal to a pair of pivot axis through said first and second pluralities of pivot ends, and also substantially parallel to a first plane common to said pair of pivot axis to move said module in a direction perpendicular to said pivot axis;
• a conveying member having a bottom attaching portion for being positioned in said recess and retained in a fixed location by said overhang of said base member, said conveying member having a selected shape so as to provide a conveying surface of a selected shape and having a dimension extending between said first and second pivot ends which is fully within said intermediate section;
• and
• said conveying member being adapted for selective insertion and removal from said recess of said base member such that said selected shape of said conveying surface is suitable for handling various shaped items.

A module having a selectable conveying surface for forming a modular conveyor belt, said conveyor belt comprised at least in part of a plurality of modules having said selectively shaped conveying surface, each of said modules of said conveyor belt having identical pitch dimensions and pivot ends adapted to be connected end-to-end and side-by-side, and said modules being integrally molded from a plastic material, and comprising;

• a base member including a first and second plurality of pivot ends joined by and formed integral with an intermediate section, each of said first and second plurality of pivot ends defining a pivot axis, and each of said pivot ends of a plurality connected parallel to and at a spaced distance from each other by said intermediate section, and said intermediate sections having a top portion and a bottom portion for forming a top side and a bottom side of said base member, the pitch of the module being equal to the length of the intermediate section plus a first and second pivot end, and the width of the module being determined by the number of connected pivot ends;
• said pivot axis defined by each of said first pivot ends of said base member being aligned coaxially and comprising a first plurality of coaxially aligned pivot ends and said pivot ends defined by each of said second pivot ends being aligned coaxially and comprising a second plurality of pivot ends and such that said pivot axis of said first and second pluralities define a common first plane, the thickness of said first and second pivot ends being less than the spacing between adjacent pivot ends such that said first and second pluralities of pivot ends are suitable for intermeshing with similar first and second pluralities of pivot ends of another module so that the pivot axis of the pivot ends of such intermeshed modules are also coaxial and suitable for being connected end-to-end and side-by-side;
• said base member further including means for receiving a driving force at least a component vector of which is, orthogonal to said pivot axis and substantially parallel to said common first plane to move said module in a direction perpendicular to said pivot axis, said top side of said base member defining a recess and a overhang extending over said recess for attaching a conveying member;
• a conveying member having a bottom attaching portion for being positioned in said recess and retained in a fixed location by said overhang on said top side of said base member, said conveying member further defining an upper portion of a selected shape such that when attached to said top side of said base member a conveyor belt may be formed having a conveying surface of a selected shape and having a dimension extending between said first and second pivot ends which is fully within said intermediate section;
• and
• said conveying member being adapted for selective insertion and removal from said recess to join said conveying member and said base member to provide a conveying belt comprised at least in part of such modules for conveying items of selected shapes by said conveying belt.