US 6,158,574 A · Roller conveyor

Abstract

A conveyor having a series of rollers in longitudinally spaced relationship along the length of two conveyor side rails, each roller extending across the space between the side rails. Each of the rollers has a drive gear mounted at one end. A set of idler gears is provided, each positioned so as to intermesh with adjacent drive gears, thus transmitting power to all of the rollers in the series. The rollers are readily removable through a slot in the top of each side rail, thus enabling convenient, independent replacement of each roller. The idler gears are mounted on shafts, which in turn are mounted in bearings bolted to the side rails. The idler gears and shafts are also readily removable individually without requiring removal of any other rollers, drive gears or idler gears. The shaft of one roller in the series is considered a main drive shaft and is coupled to a power unit. The conveyor is provided in discrete lengths so that it is usable in modular form. A lubricating oil bath is provided for the idler gears in each length, and can be filled and drained separately from the oil bath in an adjacent length of conveyor. A hinged lid and bolted bulkhead ends are provided for lubricating oil confinement and exclusion of dirt.

Claims21

Dependent claims

A roller conveyor, comprising:

a support frame extending in a longitudinal direction and including a pair of laterally opposing side rails defining a transverse region therebetween, at least one of said side rails defines a plurality of slots extending from a longitudinal edge thereof;
a plurality of roller members extending across said transverse region and longitudinally spaced along said support frame, each of said roller members has a first end portion and an opposing second end portion, each of said first and second end portions is rotatably connected to said support frame, said first end portion extends through a corresponding slot in said at least one of said side rails;
a first set of gears, each gear of said first set of gears is fixedly attached to a corresponding roller member at said first end portion;
a second set of gears, each gear of said second set of gears positioned so as to intermesh between corresponding adjacent gears of said first set of gears and rotatably connected to said support frame;
and
a gear drive operably connected to a gear of said first and second sets of gears.

3 more elements

A roller conveyor, comprising:

a support frame extending in a longitudinal direction and including a pair of laterally opposing side rails defining a transverse region therebetween;
a plurality of roller members extending across said transverse region and longitudinally spaced along said support frame, each of said roller members is rotatably connected to said support frame;
a first set of gears, each gear of said first set of gears is fixedly attached to a corresponding roller member and is positioned adjacent one of said side rails;
a generally U-shaped channel for containing a lubricant, said channel having opposing side walls connected by a bottom wall, said one of said side rails forming one of said side walls;
a second set of gears positioned below said first set of gears, each gear of said second set of gears is slidably received and rotationally secured to a corresponding shaft, said shaft is positioned between said opposing side walls and is rotatably connected to at least one of said side walls so as to allow each gear of said second set of gears to intermesh between corresponding adjacent gears of said first set of gears, said shaft defines an annular groove, a corresponding gear of said second set of gears is positioned between said annular groove and said one of said side rails and is axially retained on said shaft by a snap ring positioned in said annular groove;
and
a gear drive operably connected to a gear of said first and second sets of gears.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Roller conveyor

Life of this patent

Roller conveyor

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims21