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US 5,311,983 AGranted
Conveyor frame with drive housing
AssigneeTekno, Inc.
InventorRobert T. Clopton
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A conveyor using roller chain to carry products has a drive housing which is in line with its modular frame and which can be removed by moving the drive housing vertically relative to the drive frame.
Claims12
A conveyor frame for a chain-driven conveyor, comprising:
- an elongated frame member, defining parallel, elongated upper and lower chambers, each of said chambers including a pair of rails for receiving a chain, and each of said chambers defining left and right sides, a top, and a bottom, wherein the top of said upper chamber defines an elongated opening;
- and wherein said frame member defines at least one elongated guide-receiving slot which opens outwardly from either its top or one of its sides, said guide-receiving slot having a substantially rectangular cross-section with a length in the direction in which it opens and a width at substantially right angles to the length, with the length being at least equal to the width, said guide-receiving slot being adapted to receive an off-the-shelf piece of sheet material to be used as a guide for guiding products as they are carried along the conveyor;
- and further comprising a drive housing for enclosing the drive shaft and drive sprocket of the conveyor, said housing having a top and left and right sides aligned with the top and left and right sides of said conveyor frame and defining a guide-receiving slot which is aligned with the guide-receiving slot of said frame member.
A conveyor, comprising:
- a frame member, defining left, right, and top surfaces and defining at least one elongated, T-shaped slot in its left and right surfaces;
- a drive housing, defining left, right, and top surfaces aligned with the left, right, and top surfaces of said frame member and defining at least one elongated, T-shaped slot in its left and right surfaces, said left and right T-shaped slots in said drive housing being aligned with the corresponding left and right T-shaped slots in said frame member to form two pairs of aligned T-shaped slots;
- and
- a connector member for each of said pairs of aligned, T-shaped slots, each connector member being adapted to slide along its respective slot so as to extend into the corresponding T-shaped slots in the drive housing and the frame member, connecting those members together and keeping them in alignment.
1 more element
A conveyor, comprising:
- a conveyor frame, defining a top surface and left and right side surfaces;
- a drive housing having a top surface and left and right outer side surfaces;
- said drive housing being mounted on said conveyor frame such that said drive housing can be installed on and removed from said conveyor frame by moving solely in a vertical direction and such that the outer left side surface of said drive housing is in line with the left side surface of said conveyor frame;
- the outer right side surface of said drive housing is in line with the right side surface of said conveyor frame;
- and the top surface of said housing is in line with the top surface of said conveyor frame.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.