Conveyor belt stripper

Abstract

A conveyor belt cleaning assembly includes an array of stripper blocks which are coupled to a rigid crossbar by resilient connecting arms. The resilient connecting arms are characterized by high compressive strength, but exhibit a structural collapsing response to off center deflection forces which exceed a predetermined load level. The collapsed connecting arms thus provide a reduction in length of the stripper assembly in response to a belt reversing condition. One side of each connecting arm has the ability to collapse in response to a relatively low deflection force and the other side has the ability to deflect and withstand substantial compression loading without collapse. In the preferred embodiment, the connecting arms are constructed of a resilient material, such as polyurethane, with the body of each connecting arm being intersected by a large aperture, thereby defining a forward collapsible wall and a load bearing rear wall. A reduction in length of the entire connecting arm is achieved by collapsing the forward wall in response to the loading imposed by engagement of the stripper block against a reverse moving conveyor belt.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.