Sliding belt turn conveyor

An endless belt assembly for a belt turn conveyor, said belt turn conveyor including a support frame, a bracket secured to the support frame, a support beam cantilevered from the support frame by the bracket, upper and lower generally horizontal bearing tracks and upper and lower generally vertical bearing tracks being provided on the bracket, said endless belt assembly comprising:

• an endless belt;
• a plurality of spaced bearing assemblies secured to said endless belt, said bearing assemblies including rollers for engaging the generally vertical bearing tracks on the bracket for retaining said endless belt on the support beam;
• and
• an elongated, generally flat strip of low friction flexible material secured to said endless belt, said elongated strip of low friction flexible material for engaging the upper and lower horizontal bearing tracks on the bracket for restraining the vertical movement of said endless belt.

A belt turn conveyor comprising:

• a bracket for securing to a support frame;
• upper and lower generally horizontal bearing tracks and upper and lower generally vertical bearing tracks being provided on said bracket;
• a support beam supported by said bracket;
• an endless belt;
• a plurality of spaced bearing assemblies secured to said endless belt, said bearing assemblies including rollers engaging said generally vertical bearing surfaces on said bracket for retaining said endless belt on the support frame;
• and
• an elongated, generally flat strip of low friction flexible material secured to said endless belt, said elongated strip engaging said upper and lower horizontal bearing surfaces on said support bracket for restraining vertical movement of said endless belt.

A belt turn conveyor comprising:

• a bracket adapted for securing to a vertical support, said bracket having a central member;
• first and second vertical bearing surfaces and first and second horizontal bearing surfaces being provided on said bracket;
• a belt support surface supported by said bracket;
• an endless belt riding on said support surface, said endless belt having an upper portion riding over said support surface and a lower portion riding under said support surface, said endless belt having a longitudinal proximate edge portion;
• and
• a plurality of bearing devices mounted to proximate edge portion of said endless belt, a first set of bearing devices positioned to engage said first and second vertical bearing surfaces for restraining lateral movement of said endless belt, at least one of said plurality of bearing devices comprising an elongated strip of low friction flexible material secured to said proximate edge portion of said endless belt to engage said first and second horizontal bearing members for restraining vertical movement of said endless belt.

A belt turn conveyor comprising:

• a T-shaped bracket mountable to a rigid vertical support;
• upper and lower generally vertically oriented bearing surfaces and upper and lower generally horizontally oriented bearing surfaces provided on said T-shaped bracket;
• a support beam supported from said bracket;
• an endless belt riding on said support beam, said endless belt having an upper portion riding over said support beam and a lower portion riding under said support beam, said endless belt having a proximate edge portion;
• a plurality of bearing assemblies mounted to said proximate edge portion of said endless belt engaging said upper and lower generally vertical bearing surfaces for resisting lateral movement of said endless belt;
• and
• at least one bearing device mounted to proximate edge portion of said endless belt engaging said upper and lower generally horizontal bearing surfaces for resisting vertical movement of said endless belt.

A belt turn conveyor including a conveyor support, said conveyor turn conveyor comprising:

• a T-shaped bracket having a flange and a web, said flange for securing to the conveyor support;
• a first member supported by said T-shaped bracket, said first member including a first and second bearing surfaces;
• a second member supported by said T-shaped bracket, said second member including a third bearing surface;
• a support beam supported by said T-shaped bracket;
• an endless belt riding on said support beam, said endless belt having a proximate edge portion;
• and
• a plurality of bearing assemblies mounted to said endless belt on said proximate edge portion, a first set of said plurality of bearing assemblies bearing on said first and second bearing surfaces of said first member for resisting lateral movement of said endless belt, a second set of said plurality of bearing assemblies bearing on said third bearing surface of said second member for resisting vertical movement of said endless belt.