Conveyors
AssigneeLineal Thermotech Limited
InventorKeith Cawley
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A conveyor having a conveyor belt, preferably of flexible steel mesh, constrained to conform to a helical conveyor path in which the tiers of the helical path are arranged one above the other with a minimum vertical spacing appropriate to the product to be conveyed, wherein the tiers on the outside of the helix are supported by a fixed helical guide and on the inside of the helix the tiers are self-supporting, one tier being supported by the tier underneath by an arrangement of upstanding spacer plates mounted to articulated links which define or support the inner longitudinal edge of the conveyor belt.
Claims7
An endless conveyor having a conveyor belt, a portion of the length of which is caused to follow a helical conveying path comprising a plurality of tiers stacked on top of one another, including a fixed helical guide supporting the outside edge of the conveyor belt on the helical conveying path, and the inside edge of the conveyor belt being supported one on top of one another by an arrangement which includes articulated links, at least some of which are equipped with spacers in the form of upstanding plates, the tops of which, at any one tier, engage the underside of the links or plates associated with the next tier above, whereby the tiers are supported one on the other, and means whereby the inside edge of the conveyor is driven from an internal drum or capstan.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.