Support roller and workpiece conveying system

A workpiece support and conveying system comprising:

• at least two support rollers defining a working plane in which a bottom surface of a workpiece substantially resides, each of said support rollers including
• (a) an axle;
• (b) a mandrel supported on said axle by linear bearings, said mandrel capable of rotational movement and lateral movement relative to said axle;
• (c) a brush including a plurality of fibers, said brush attached to said mandrel, said brush having a fiber density sufficient to generally support the workpiece in said working plane while simultaneously allowing portions of the workpiece extending angularly from said bottom surface to infiltrate between said fibers.

A workpiece support and conveying system comprising:

• at least two support rollers defining a working plane having a predetermined variable transverse dimension or width, each of said support rollers comprising;
• (a) an axle;
• (b) a mandrel rotatably supported on said axle and adapted for axial movement along said axis;
• (c) a brush assembly comprising a plurality of fibers attached to the mandrel having a fiber density sufficient to generally support the workpiece in the working plane while allowing portions of the workpiece extending angularly to infiltrate the fibers;
• (d) the axial length of each said brush assemblies being of a predetermined length so that when two support rollers assemblies are in a side by side relationship, the transverse width of the working plane may be expanded to a dimension greater than the predetermined length of each brush assembly when the assemblies are moved in opposite directions on their respective axles.

A workpiece support and conveying system comprising:

• at least two support rollers, each of said support rollers comprising;
• (a) an axle;
• (b) a mandrel rotatably supported on said axle and adapted for axial movement along said axis;
• (c) a brush assembly having a predetermined axial length and comprising a plurality of fibers attached to the mandrel having a fiber density sufficient to generally support the workpiece in the working plane while allowing portions of the workpiece. extending angularly to infiltrate the fibers;
• (d) a plane tangent to the periphery of two adjacent brush assemblies defining a horizontal working plane generally parallel to the axis of rotation of the brush assemblies, the transverse width of the working plane expandable to a dimension greater than the axial length of each of the brush assemblies by moving the brush assemblies of adjacent assemblies axially on the axle in opposite directions.