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US 6,484,870 B2Granted
Dual belt conveyor system
OwnerJohn N. Bohnker, David Hoffmaninventors
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A dual belt conveyor includes a pair of flexible endless loop conveyor belts arranged at an incline with a lower flight of the upper belt in face-to-face conveying relationship with an upper flight of the lower belt to retain and convey granular material between the belts. Drive pulleys are connected to both belts to move the belts at the same speed, and the conveying flights of the belts are journaled through a trough which forces the belts into a curved concave orientation between the side edges with the upper belt biased downwardly into engagement with product on the lower belt to retain product therebetween.
Claims14
A dual belt conveyor, comprising:
- a lower, flexible endless loop belt arranged at an incline and having an upper flight, a lower return flight, and opposing edges;
- an upper, flexible, endless loop belt with a lower flight, an upper return flight, and opposing edges, arranged with a portion of the lower flight in face-to-face conveying relationship with a portion of the lower belt upper flight from a lower end to an upper end of the face-to-face conveying portion of the belts;
- drive means for moving the belts at the same speed;
- and
- trough means supporting the lower belt upper flight in an orientation curved concavely from edge to edge from proximal the lower end to proximal the upper end;
- said trough means engaging the upper belt lower flight edges to cause the upper belt lower flight to curve from edge to edge generally parallel to the lower belt upper flight;
- and
- said trough means engaging the upper belt lower flight to bias the upper belt lower flight against the lower belt upper flight, to retain granular product therebetween through the length of the face-to-face conveying portion of the belts.
5 more elements
A dual belt conveyor, comprising:
- a lower, flexible endless loop belt arranged at an incline and having an upper flight, a lower return flight, and opposing edges;
- an upper, flexible, endless loop belt with a lower flight, an upper return flight, and opposing edges, arranged with a portion of the lower flight in face-to-face conveying relationship with a portion of the lower belt upper flight from a lower end to an upper end of the face-to-face conveying portion of the belts;
- drive means for moving the belts at the same speed;
- and
- trough means supporting the lower belt upper flight in an orientation curved concavely from edge to edge from proximal the lower end to proximal the upper end;
- said trough means engaging the upper belt lower flight edges to cause the upper belt lower flight to curve from edge to edge generally parallel to and biased against the lower belt upper flight, to retain granular product therebetween through the length of the face-to-face conveying portion of the belts;
- said trough means including an elongated, generally U-shaped trough having a base portion connecting lower ends of generally upright legs, said base portion supporting the lower belt upper flight, and upper portions of the legs engaging the upper belt lower flight edges to bias the same downwardly against the lower belt upper flights.
4 more elements
A dual belt conveyor, comprising:
- a lower, flexible endless loop belt arranged at an incline and having an upper flight, a lower return flight, and opposing edges;
- an upper, flexible, endless loop belt with a lower flight, an upper return flight, and opposing edges, arranged with a portion of the lower flight in face-to-face conveying relationship with a portion of the lower belt upper flight from a lower end to an upper end of the face-to-face conveying portion of the belts;
- drive means for moving the belts at the same speed;
- and
- trough means supporting the lower belt upper flight in an orientation curved concavely from edge to edge from proximal the lower end to proximal the upper end;
- said trough means engaging the upper belt lower flight edges to cause the upper belt lower flight to curve from edge to edge generally parallel to and biased against the lower belt upper flight, to retain granular product therebetween through the length of the face-to-face conveying portion of the belts;
- wherein said trough means includes an elongated cylindrical tube having a predetermined diameter and circumference, and wherein the width of the belts as measured between their opposing side edges, is greater than the diameter of the tube;
- wherein the width of the belts is greater than one-half the circumference of the tube;
- and
- wherein the width of the belts is less than the circumference of the tube.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.