Self-supporting conveyor belt with wire-formed spacers

A conveyor belt having a length, a portion of the length being arranged to follow a helical path including a plurality of stacked tiers;

• said belt comprising:
• a plurality of link members;
• a plurality of cross members extending between lateral edges of the belt and being attached to said plurality of link members;
• and
• a plurality of wire-formed spacers having a circular cross-section being secured to said belt for contacting an overlying belt tier to space and support adjacent tiers of the belt stack.

A conveyor belt having a length, a portion of which is arranged to follow a helical path including a plurality of stacked tiers;

• said belt comprising:
• a plurality of interconnected link members on opposite sides of the belt;
• a plurality of transverse rods connected to said link members to form a belt with two sides, the belt being collapsible or extendible along at least one of said sides to follow the helical path, at least some of the rods having ends which are free of protrusions or enlarged heads;
• a tab portion formed on at least some of of said link members on a portion thereof disposed away from center of the belt, the tab being attached to the end of one off said rods to pivotally interconnect said plurality of link members and
• a plurality of spacer members secured to the belt so as to support an overlying belt tier by contacting the transverse rods of said overlying tier, each spacer member comprising a wire member substantially in the form of a closed loop having vertical legs which are connected to a top leg for contacting the overlying tier, and wherein an end of each vertical leg is secured to said belt such that the vertical legs are spaced apart a greater distance at a top portion of the closed loop than at a portion of the loop adjacent the belt.

A conveyor belt having a length, a portion of which is arranged to follow a helical path including a plurality of stacked tiers;

• said belt comprising:
• a plurality of interconnected link members on opposite sides of the belt;
• a plurality of transverse rods connected to said link members to form a belt with two sides, the belt being collapsible or extendible along at least one of said sides to follow the helical path, at least some of the rods having ends which are free of protrusions or enlarged heads;
• a tab portion formed on at least some of said link members at an area of the link disposed away from a center of the belt, the tab being attached to the end of one of said rods to pivotally interconnect said plurality of link members;
• and
• a plurality of wire-formed spacers having a circular cross-section being secured to said belt for contacting an overlying belt tier to space and support adjacent tiers of the belt stack.

A conveyor belt having a length, a portion of the length being arranged to follow a helical path including a plurality of stacked tiers;

• said belt comprising:
• a plurality of link members;
• a plurality of cross members extending between lateral edges of the belt and being attached to said plurality of link members and
• a plurality of wire-formed spacers secured to said belt for contacting an overlying belt tier to space and support adjacent tiers of the belt stack;
• wherein each of the wire-formed spacers includes an elongated wire member having two ends secured to the belt adjacent one of the link members such that the two ends are offset with respect to each other along a direction across the width of the belt to provide the spacer with a wide base for lateral stability.

A conveyor belt having a length, a portion of which is arranged to follow a helical path including a plurality of stacked tiers;

• said belt comprising:
• a plurality of interconnected link members on opposite sides of the belt;
• a plurality of transverse rods connected to said link members to form a belt with two sides, the belt being collapsible or extendible along at least one of said sides to follow the helical path, at least some of the rods having ends which are free of protrusions or enlarged heads;
• and
• a tab portion formed on at least some of said link members on a portion thereof disposed away from a center of the belt, the tab being attached to the end of one of said rods to pivotally interconnect said pluralities of link ends, and wherein a cap member is removably secured to the tab portion of at least some of said link members.

A conveyor belt having a length, a portion of which is arranged to follow a helical path including a plurality of stacked tiers;

• said belt comprising:
• a plurality of interconnected link members on opposite sides of the belt;
• a plurality of transverse rods connected to said link members to form a belt with two sides, the belt being collapsible or extendible along at least one of said sides to follow the helical path, at least some of the rods having ends which are free of protrusions or enlarged heads;
• a tab portion formed on at least some of said link members on a portion thereof disposed away from a center of the belt, the tab being attached to the end of one of said rods to pivotally interconnect said plurality of link members;
• and
• means for extending the thickness of at least of said plurality of rods so that the rod is substantially coextensive with at least one link member to form a smooth surface on the underside of the belt to allow a guide rail to move along the underside of the belt between said wire member and an outer edge of the belt without getting caught on said link.