Conveyors: power-driven – Conveyor section – Live roll
Reexamination Certificate
2000-07-17
2001-10-30
Walsh, Donald P. (Department: 3651)
Conveyors: power-driven
Conveyor section
Live roll
C198S853000, C198S850000, C198S845000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06308823
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to conveyors and drive mechanisms for conveyors, and more particularly to a padded chain for conveying articles or driving rollers in a conveying system such as an accumulation conveyor.
2. Related Art
Over the yeas, various combinations of chain and rubber or plastic pads or belts have been devised and used to drive the rollers in a roller conveyor. These devices include a chain drive wherein a pad or high friction member is a continuous band, similar to a belt, mounted to the chain links wherein the links are positioned horizontally with respect to the conveyor rollers as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,176,246 to Wiggers et al. They also include devices where an elastic belt is mounted to a chain wherein the chain rollers are parallel to the rollers of a conveyor as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,074,085 to Bodewes. It is also known to use individual pads, one of which is mounted on each link of the chain as disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,458,809 to White et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,906,267 to Heit et al.
One of the limitations of devices such as the horizontal continuous belt of the Wiggers et al. patent or roller mounted pads as in the Bodewes and White et al. patents is that the chain is incapable of a reverse wrap. Consequently, the drive chain can only effectively move the rollers in a single direction.
A known solution to the “reverse wrap” problem is found in padded chains wherein individual pads are mounted exterior of and parallel to the links. An example of this construction is shown in
FIGS. 1 and 2
, illustrating a padded conveyor drive chain
60
manufactured by Rapid Industries. The drive chain
60
comprises a plurality of interconnected conventional links
62
. An elastomeric pad
64
is mounted on each side of the chain
60
on consecutive links
62
by pins
66
extending laterally through the links
62
, securing the pads
64
by an external link-shaped washer
68
. Each pad
64
is roughly trapezoidal shaped, thereby enabling the chain
60
to wrap in both directions.
One of the limitations of the padded chain of
FIGS. 1 and 2
is that spaces exist between the respective pads
64
, generating significant noise and uneven motion as the chain
60
interacts with the rollers
50
as part of the chain conveyor
10
,
12
,
14
. They also may not provide adequate “gripping” if the chain were to be used as a conveyor itself, moving articles requiring special handling such as furniture or appliances.
These and other limitations of known padded chain conveyors remain significant problems in the industry.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A padded chain according to the invention is particularly suited to function as a propelling member for articles or for another conveyor, and finds application especially practical for accumulation conveyors. The propelling member typically comprises a roller chain of the type having pins extending laterally therefrom. A plurality of high friction pads is secured to the laterally extending pins. Each pad has an elongated upper surface, longer than the distance between two adjacent pins, and a cutout portion at each end of the pad. Each cutout portion defines an inside face that overlaps the inside face of an adjacent pad so that the roller chain can be reverse-wrapped around a sprocket, and the upper surface will maintain a substantially continuous contact surface regardless of the direction of wrap.
Other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the ensuing description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
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Deuble Mark A.
Rader, Fishman, Grauer & McGarry
Stevens Design & Fabrication, Inc.
Walsh Donald P.
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