Conveyor impact pillow

Abstract

An impact pillow for resiliently supporting a conveyor belt in an impact zone in a conveyor transfer point. The impact pillow includes a base wall, first and second side walls each extending upwardly from said base wall to a top edge, and first and second end walls each extending upwardly from said base to a top edge and between said side walls. A top wall extends from and between the top edges of the side walls and the end walls forming a support surface over which the conveyor belt slides. The top wall, base wall, end walls and side walls combine to form an integral shell having a closed cushioning chamber adapted to receive and contain a cushioning substance. The cushioning substance may be a gas, a fluid or a resilient solid material. The impact pillow resiliently supports the moving conveyor belt as material is loaded onto the conveyor belt at the transfer point and absorbs the impact forces generated on the conveyor belt during the loading process. Different types of cushioning substances may be utilized in the cushioning chamber to selectively adjust the resistance of the impact pillow to deformations from the impact forces.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.