Conveyor belt with variable spacing
AssigneeWire Belt Company of America
InventorDavid L. Greer
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The conveyor belt includes a plurality of links having alternating wide linking portions and narrow linking portions. The wide and narrow linking portions preferably form an undulating shape. In one embodiment, the conveyor belt is a flat wire conveyor belt having linking rods extending through apertures in the alternating wide and narrow linking portions. In another embodiment, the conveyor belt is a balanced weave belt having wire links woven around linking rods to form the wide and narrow linking portions.
Claims20
A conveyor belt comprising:
- a plurality of links, each of said plurality of links being linked with at least one adjacent link in said conveyor belt, each of said plurality of links comprising:
- a first end and a second end;
- and
- a plurality of linking portions between said first end and said second end, said plurality of linking portions being linked with respective linking portions in said at least one adjacent link, said plurality of linking portions including alternating wide linking portions and narrow linking portions, wherein said narrow linking portions and wide linking portions alternate from proximate said first end to proximate said second end of each said plurality of links, said wide linking portions having a width greater than a width of said narrow linking portions, said narrow linking portions and said wide linking portions being linked with respective narrow linking portions and wide linking portions in said at least one adjacent link.
A flat wire link for use in a conveyor belt, said flat wire link comprising:
- a first end and a second end;
- and
- a plurality of linking portions between said first end and said second end, each of said plurality of linking portions including apertures for receiving a linking rod for linking said linking portions to adjacent flat wire links in said conveyor belt, at least some of said plurality of linking portions include alternating wide linking portions and narrow linking portions, said wide linking portions having a width greater than a width of said narrow linking portions.
A flat wire conveyor belt comprising:
- a plurality of flat wire links, each of said plurality of flat wire links comprising:
- a first end and a second end;
- and
- a plurality of linking portions between said first end and said second end, said plurality of linking portions including alternating wide linking portions and narrow linking portions, wherein said narrow linking portions and wide linking portions alternate from proximate said first end to proximate said second end of each said plurality of wire links, said wide linking portions having a width greater than a width of said narrow linking portions, each of said plurality of linking portions having an aperture extending therethrough;
- and
- a linking rod extending through said aperture in each of said plurality of linking portions to link each of said flat wire links to adjacent flat wire links, said linking rod secured at first and second rod ends to edges of said belt.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.