Conveyors: power-driven – Conveyor section – Endless conveyor
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-13
2001-03-06
Bidwell, James R. (Department: 3651)
Conveyors: power-driven
Conveyor section
Endless conveyor
C024S03300F
Reexamination Certificate
active
06196378
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a conveyor belt connector and method having connecting elements which are disposed in a row and which are fastened to the conveyor belt ends, wherein the connecting elements are attached to the belt ends by means of fastening elements which pass through the connecting elements and through the conveyor belt, and having a tension relieving means or reinforcement which is attached to the conveyor belt in the region of a conveyor belt end by means of one or more connecting elements, wherein the tension means extends in the direction of conveying of the conveyor belt and the tension means is attached to the conveyor belt by means of additional fastening elements at a distance from the respective connecting element which attaches the tension means to the conveyor belt end.
It is known in principle from DE 42 35 759 A1 that the belt ends of conveyor belts and/or of conveyor belt parts can be connected by means of connecting elements which can be fastened to the belt ends. The connecting elements themselves are fastened to the strap ends by means of fastening elements in the form of screws, rivets or staples, for example. When U-shaped connecting elements are used, they are disposed so that their loops are situated in a meshing position at the belt ends. A coupling rod can then be inserted through the loops to make the connection. When connecting elements in the form of bridges are used, they bridge the joint location at the belt ends and are each fastened to the two belt ends.
A conveyor belt connector of the type cited at the outset is known from GB-A-1 102 993, in which, in order to increase the loading capacity of the conveyor belt connection, tension means are used in addition which are disposed in the direction of conveying, which are effective over the entire width of the conveyor belt, and which are fabricated from wires. The wires are attached to, and in particular are press-bonded to, the connecting elements and to a receiver plate which is disposed at a distance therefrom, wherein the connecting elements and the receiver plates are attached to the conveyor belt by means of fastening elements and by means of additional fastening elements. In this design, the thickness of the conveyor belt is not reduced in the end regions thereof. The connecting elements, the tension means and the receiver plates rest on both the top and bottom faces of the conveyor belt, so that the conveyor belt connector is subjected to considerable wear on both sides when the conveyor belt is in operation. The material which is conveyed by means of the conveyor belt comes into direct contact not only with the connecting elements but also with the tension means and the receiver plates. Since the thickness of the conveyor belt connector is greater than that of the conveyor belt, hard impacts always occur when the conveyor belt connector comes into contact with the driving or deflection drums of the conveyor belt, whereby considerable forces are transmitted into the conveyor belt connector. The increased wear on the conveyor belt connectors is particularly disadvantageous in the two edge zones of the conveyor belt, in which the connecting elements are subjected to higher stresses than are the connecting elements which are disposed further inward.
An edge protection device for a flexible belt formed from folding hooks is known from DE-PS 608 511. In this device, the limbs of a hinge of U-shaped cross section overlap the ends of the row of folding hooks on the top and bottom faces of the belt, and the bridge of the hinge is let into the sides of the belt, flush with the side faces thereof. The object of this design is to prevent the folding hooks at the outer edges of the belt connectors from coming loose again and again, so that one hook after another comes out due to the unequal distribution of tensile forces over the cross section of the belt. In order to transmit the forces at the ends of the flexible belt connectors far into the belt, further hinge halves of U-shaped cross section are attached to both sides of the edge protection hinge by joints which are aligned with the bridges. A disadvantage of this edge protection system is the use of joints which are freely disposed and which are thus extremely susceptible to wear and destruction. Moreover, the tension relieving forces are not transmitted into the further hinge halves directly, i.e., in the direction of conveying of the conveyor belt, but are transmitted via the external joint, due to which both the latter and the hinge halves have to withstand shearing and bending forces.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to further fashion a conveyor belt connector of the type cited at the outset so that it has a high loading capacity with respect to tear-out and breakage, and moreover so that its susceptibility to wear is minimal.
The object is achieved for a conveyor belt connector of the type cited at the outset by disposing the tension means or reinforcement solely in the two side regions of the conveyor belt, wherein the respective tension means is constructed as a reinforcing strap, and by providing the conveyor belt with at least one covering sheet, which is removed in the region of the strap.
By disposing the tension means solely in the two edge regions of the conveyor belt, it is ensured that the stresses on the conveyor belt which occur there, and which are particularly high, can be compensated for. The high tensile forces which act within the conveyor belt are transmitted into the conveyor belt at a distance from the connecting elements, and in fact they are transmitted directly and are thus transmitted in the direction of conveying, since the non-positive connection between the connecting elements and the additional fastening elements is affected directly via the tension means, which are oriented in the direction of conveying. In particular, those situations in which the conveyor belt is deformed can thus reliably be brought under control, for example in the transition from the troughed zone of the conveyor belt to the driving or deflection drum. In this transition zone, the curved conveyor belt assumes a substantially straight form and is subjected to extremely high tensile stresses at its edges. Due to the design of the conveyor belt connector according to the invention, breakage of the connecting elements is effectively prevented. By reducing the thickness of the conveyor belt by that of a covering sheet, and by disposing the straps on both sides of the conveyor belt, about the covering sheets on both sides, it is ensured that the tension-relieving straps and their fastening elements are displaced inward. Loading impacts during the operation of the conveyor belt and wear on the components of the conveyor belt connectors are thus considerably reduced. By selecting a strap as the tension means, it is ensured that the latter is only subjected to a low extent of wear, which is no higher than the wear on the conveyor belt.
According to one particular embodiment of the invention, provision is made for the thickness of the covering sheet which is removed to correspond to at least the thickness of the strap. This means that the outer face of the strap forms at least one plane with the outer face of the conveyor belt (in the region of the conveyor belt where the covering layer is not removed). Thus it is only the fastening elements of the connecting elements and of the straps which protrude in relation to the outer face of the conveyor belt. According to one particularly advantageous embodiment, the thickness of the covering sheet which is removed in each case is greater than the thickness of the strap, so that on its side remote from the strap the additional fastening element for the attachment of the strap substantially forms a plane with the outer face of the adjoining covering sheet of the conveyor belt. If the outer face of the fastening element for the respective connecting element also lies in this plane, joint edges in the region of the conveyor belt connector are e
Bidwell James R.
MATO Maschinen-und Metallwarenfabrik Curt Matthaei GmbH & Co. KG
Price Heneveld Cooper DeWitt & Litton
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