Stop piece
AssigneeTetra Laval Convenience Food GmbH & Co. KG
InventorsNorbert Ernst Christmann, Gerhard Fries
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A movable spring end of a compression spring being stopped on a guide spindle by a special stop piece. The stop piece which is designed nonelastic and can therefore be manufactured of a nonrusting material, it thereby guarantees a hygienically satisfactory device, in particular when contacting food. The stop piece can be used particularly advantageously in tensioning pieces on conveyor chains, which are suited for the transport of packaging foil bands in packaging machines.
Claims18
A tensioning piece in a food packaging transporting device, comprising at least two spaced apart plates extending from a conveyor chain, each of said plates having a bore therethrough coaxially aligned with each other, a guide spindle coaxially received in said bores, an annular holding groove being provided in a periphery of said guide spindle intermediate said plates, a stop piece received in said groove, and a compression spring encircling said guide spindle and providing a spring force for clamping and subsequent transporting of a packaging material, one of said plates and said stop piece forming abutments for said spring, said stop piece comprising,
- (a) a flat, base plate having an outer edge and an annularly cylindrical collar extending coextensively with said spring and being oriented adjacent said outer edge of said base plate and enclosing at least a portion of one end of said spring;
- and
- (b) said base plate having an inner edge resting in said annular holding groove, a feed slot extending through said base plate from said outer edge to said inner edge of said base plate, a width of said feed slot being conformed to a diameter of said annular holding groove and said feed slot being dimensioned such that said stop piece is freely movably without becoming jammed in said annular holding groove.
A linked chain for clamping and transporting a food packaging foil band, comprising a plurality of chain links, a bearing block fastened to at least one of said plurality of chain links, said bearing block having a first plate and a second plate extending outwardly relative to said at least one chain link, said first plate and said second plate having bores therethrough, a guide spindle having a bolt segment axially movably received in said bores and a clamping segment positioned at an end of said bolt segment on one side of said first plate and is adapted to contact said one side of said first plate to thereby limit movement of said guide spindle in a first axial direction, said bolt segment having an annular groove axially spaced from said clamping segment, a stop piece received in said annular groove, said stop piece including a flat base and a collar extending generally transverse of said base and toward said plate, and a spring means for continuously urging said guide spindle in said first axial direction, said spring means abutting a second side of said first plate and said base of said stop piece said collar securing said spring means against radial displacement, whereby said clamping segment clamps a foil band against said one side of said first plate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.