Self-cleaning drive mechanism for driving conveyor belts

Abstract

An improved self-cleaning drive mechanism for driving a conveyor belt including a rotatable drive gear having a plurality of receiving grooves adapted to engage and drive the conveyor belt, the plurality of receiving grooves being disposed along a periphery of the rotatable drive gear, and a rotatable cleaning wheel having a plurality of cleaning members positioned to engage the plurality of receiving grooves as the rotatable drive gear is rotated. The plurality of cleaning members are sized to engage the plurality of receiving grooves and displace debris in the plurality of receiving grooves when the plurality of receiving grooves are engaged by the plurality of cleaning members. In one embodiment, the plurality of cleaning members may include a plurality of cleaning teeth disposed along a periphery of the rotatable cleaning wheel, the plurality of cleaning teeth extending radially outwardly from the rotatable cleaning wheel to engage the rotatable drive gear. In another embodiment, the cleaning wheel may include a plurality of cleaning rods that are disposed between and supported by a first support plate and a second support plate.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.