Roller and belt conveyor system

A roller and belt conveyor system for conveying an article comprising:

• a frame;
• a power drive assembly supported by the frame delivering rotational power to a plurality of roller assemblies supported by the frame, each roller assembly of the plurality of roller assemblies having a powered rotating shaft supporting a plurality of adjacent loose fit rollers, each loose fit roller having inner diameters greater than the outer diameter of the rotating shaft allowing slippage between the loose fit rollers and the powered rotating shaft, each loose fit roller further having a recessed surface forming a channel, the roller assemblies conveying the article over the length of the roller and belt conveyor system;
• and
• a plurality of staggered conveyor belt sections, each conveyor belt section supported by the recessed surface of one of the plurality of loose fit rollers of each of at least two of the plurality of roller assemblies, each conveyor belt section circumventing at least two adjacent roller assemblies, each conveyor belt section supported by at least one roller assembly that differs from the roller assemblies supporting adjacent conveyor belt sections, and in which each conveyor belt section is continuous with an inner perimeter determined by an equation 2α(x+πr2) where x is the distance between the rotational axes of a first of the at least two roller assemblies and the rotational axes of a last of the at least two roller assemblies supporting the conveyor belt section, r2 is a radius of the recessed surface of the loose fit roller and α is between about 1.00-1.05, and further in which the coefficient of friction between the powered rotating shaft and each loose fit roller controls the amount of driving force transmitted from the power drive assembly to each loose fit roller, the weight of the article and the surface area contact between the article and the conveyor belt sections determines the driving force available for conveying the article.

A conveyor system for conveying an article comprising:

• a frame;
• a plurality of powered rotating shafts supported by the frame transferring rotational power into linear motion for conveyance of an article;
• a plurality of adjacent rollers slidingly supported by the plurality of powered rotating shafts, each roller supported by the powered rotating shaft is a loose fit rollers, the plurality of loose fit rollers cooperating with the plurality of powered rotating shafts to form a plurality of adjacent roller assemblies;
• and
• a means for supporting the article between adjacent roller assemblies.