Powered roller conveyor systems
AssigneeKPC-Master's Craft International, Inc.
InventorRichard Floyd Anderson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A power roller conveyor system includes a section having a slide mechanism that engages a loop that is driven by an external motor. The loop slides along a surface of the slide mechanism. The slide mechanism maintains the loop in frictional engagement with surfaces of rollers of the conveyor, whereby the rollers are directly driven by the loop. A wheel may bridge a directly driven roller and another roller that is not driven. The other roller and driven roller bridged by the wheel may be separated by an intermediate roller. The section may be a straight section, a 90 degree curved section, or a 180 degree curved section.
Claims19
A section of a power roller conveyor, comprising:
- (a) a plurality of rollers;
- (b) an endless loop driven either directly or indirectly by a motor and traveling along the section and in engagement with at least a subset of the plurality of rollers;
- (c) a slide mechanism defining a groove within which the endless loop slides while traveling in engagement with the subset of rollers;
- and
- (d) a wheel arranged to engage a roller of the subset of rollers driven by the loop and to engage a roller not in engagement with the loop, whereby the roller not in engagement with the loop is indirectly driven by the loop.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.