Conveyors: power-driven – Conveyor section – Endless conveyor
Patent
1986-08-26
1988-02-16
Spar, Robert J.
Conveyors: power-driven
Conveyor section
Endless conveyor
B65G 1508
Patent
active
047249528
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a belt conveyor having a conveyor belt which is flexible in the transverse direction and which, along part of its path of travel, is twisted about its own axis from a lower guide roller to an upper guide roller for forming a tube for conveying goods, the belt running over the guide rollers in a transversely substantially straightened state.
For the closed conveyance of bulk goods, belt conveyors having a conveyor belt formed into a tube are previously known in the art. The rim or edge portions of the conveyor belt are then held together by mutually engaging means on the very rim portions or by external means. One example of the latter technique is a tube which is formed from a belt of uniform cross-sectional shape by means of a plurality of sets of rollers with a large number of rollers distributed around the periphery of the tube. In this way, the tube will be closed by a considerable overlap of the inner side of the belt on the outer side thereof, whether the belt is twisted about its own axis or not. In the case of a twisted belt, it is known to make the overlap extend throughout the entire circumference of the tube, such that the thickness of the tube wall will always be twice the thickness of the belt.
The considerable overlap in the last-mentioned conveyors entails a relatively low transport capacity as compared with conveyors whose rim portions are held together by engagement means provided on the rim portions of the belt, i.e. for the same belt width and belt velocity. However, the manufacturing costs for belts having such engagement means are comparatively high and there is a risk that the engagement means will be clogged by the goods conveyed so as to be unable to perform their retaining function properly.
The object of the present invention therefore is to provide a belt conveyor of the type mentioned in the introduction to this specification, which has a simple construction and is relatively inexpensive, and yet ensures a high transport capacity.
The contemplated belt conveyor should also be especially well suited for a more or less vertical conveyance of goods.
According to one aspect of the invention, this object is achieved by a belt conveyor which is characterized in that the guide rollers, in dependence upon the pitch of the belt in the twisted part thereof, are so inclined in relation to the centre line of the tube that the two edge portions of the belt in the twisted part thereof engage each other substantially edge to edge.
The belt according to the invention may be extensible, e.g. by consisting of an elastic material such as rubber, but the extensibility of the edge portions of the belt is suitably less in the longitudinal direction of the belt than the extensibility of the rest of the belt. The belt may however have the same elasticity in the longitudinal direction throughout the entire cross-section and consist e.g. of rubber with a uniform reinforcing fabric throughout the entire width and length of the belt.
In a first embodiment, the edge portions of the belt have substantially inextensible reinforcements for taking up longitudinal tensile forces in the belt. The longitudinal portions of the belt adjacent its edge portions will thus follow helical lines having a smaller diameter, i.e. the diameter of the cylinder surface in which the helical lines are contained, than longitudinal belt portions located at a greater distance from the two edge portions of the belt.
In a second embodiment in which the belt has a constant extensibility throughout the cross-section, the entire belt is however contained in substantially the same cylinder surface, possibly with the exception of the outer edge portions which then project outside this cylinder surface.
By the orientation of the guide rollers according to the invention, the belt will have no or only a slight tendency to move axially on the guide rollers and, without the use of any particular sets of guide rollers for forming and maintaining the tube, it will pass over the rollers in the transversely substant
REFERENCES:
patent: 3338383 (1967-08-01), Hashimoto
patent: 4535884 (1985-08-01), Suppan
patent: 4565285 (1986-01-01), Koistinen
patent: 4625860 (1986-12-01), Kawasaki et al.
Loodberg Jan A. T.
Wall Arne E.
AB Scaniainventor
Dayoan D. Glenn
Spar Robert J.
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