Conveyors: power-driven – Conveyor section – Endless conveyor
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-28
2002-04-16
Ellis, Christopher P. (Department: 3651)
Conveyors: power-driven
Conveyor section
Endless conveyor
C198S813000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06371283
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to conveyors, and more particularly to a modular sanitary conveyor especially adapted for use in applications in which strict sanitary standards must be met, such as the food industry.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Conveyors are typically used for the transport of many articles including produce and food products between various processing stations. In many food processing industries, the food processing plant is laid out in a particular manner and the requisite conveyors are installed to meet the particular layout requirements. If any change in the plant layout or disposition of the processing stations is required, the old conveyors are discarded or reconstructed or a new custom set of conveyors must be built and installed at a substantial cost.
Sanitation is a primary consideration in the food processing industry, and the conveyors must be maintained in a clean and hygienic condition to meet basic sanitary standards. Cleaning of the conveyors requires considerable down-time of the equipment.
When conventional conveyors with endless belts are used, it is usually very time-consuming to clean the conveyors because the inside of the belt, the end rollers and all other conveyor parts covered by the belt are very difficult or impossible to clean in an acceptable way. In some instances the conveyors have ledges, pockets and various surfaces which accumulate debris from the food being processed, and some portions of the conveyors may be difficult to access.
There are several patents that disclose various modular conveyors and belt tensioning apparatus.
Fleckenstein et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,993,185 discloses a sanitary conveyor for use in strict sanitary environments that has a quick belt release whereby the belt and the conveyor may be cleaned without removing the belt from the conveyor. The shaft of the drive roller is fixed in slots at the forward end of the conveyor bed and the shaft of the idler roller at the tail end extends through slots at the tail end and its outer ends are fixed in collars. The rollers rotate on the fixed shafts. Belt tensioning and slack off toggle clamp mechanisms disposed on the exterior of each side contact the collars to apply pressure to the collars and thus the roller shaft and apply tension to the belt or are retracted from contact with the collars to relax tension to enable the conveyor, and both sides of the belt to be cleaned without disassembly or removal of the belt from the conveyor.
Mattos, U.S. Pat. No. 4,007,827 discloses a modular conveyor particularly adapted for food processing installations including a plurality of pedestals arranged along a single line and removably connected to a plurality of aligned beams and laterally-spaced side rails to support a plurality of belt-supporting rollers. The conveyor can be adjusted to a cleaning position where the conveyor belt is opened for interior cleaning while still permitting the belt to be driven by its usual driving mechanism.
Bryant, U.S. Pat. No. 4,803,804 discloses a telescopic belt tensioner that includes a pair of housings mounted to the sides of a conveyor bed. Each housing has an outer tube telescopically mounted in it, and an inner tube telescopically received within the outer tube. The inner tube includes means for rotatably supporting a conveyor belt roller. Bolt and nut means between the inner and outer tubes reciprocate the inner tube with respect to the outer tube to provide fine adjustment of the belt tension. A quick release mechanism between the housing and outer tube provides rapid adjustment of belt tension. The quick release mechanism comprises a lever mounted to the housing and a hook mounted to the outer tube, with a pivotable link connecting the lever and hook.
Dorner et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,174,435 discloses a conveyor construction including a frame having a pair of side rails with each side rail having a longitudinal T-shaped slot. A plurality of cross members are connected between the side rails and support a bed plate. An endless belt rides on the bed plate and is trained over an adjustable spindle assembly which is located at an end of the conveyor. The spindle assembly includes a spindle journalled between a pair of side members that are mounted for sliding movement in the T-slots of the respective side rails. A ratchet and pinion mechanism interconnects the conveyor frame with the spindle assembly and acts to move the spindle assembly longitudinally of the frame to tension the belt. A belt tracking mechanism is associated with each side of the spindle assembly and includes a cam member which is engaged with the respective side member of the spindle assembly. Individual rotation of the cam members serve to properly track the belt on the bed plate. To attach components to the conveyor frame, spring loaded nuts are slidably mounted in the T-slots of the side rails and the components are attached to the spring loaded nuts.
The present invention is distinguished over the prior art in general and these patents in particular by a modular sanitary conveyor having a longitudinal conveyor bed unit slidably received and supported on a support stand and a drive motor unit slidably received and supported on the side of the bed unit. The bed unit has longitudinal side panels on laterally opposed sides with longitudinal slots extending inwardly from the forward and tail ends. A drive roller is removably and rotatably mounted in removable unitary drive roller bearings mounted in or adjacent to the slots at the forward end of the side panels and an end roller is removably mounted in unitary end roller bearings slidably mounted in or adjacent to the slots at their tail end. One or more idler rollers are removably and rotatably supported at each end between the side panels. A manually operable belt tensioning and release mechanism removably mounted on the inner side of the side panels is releasably connected with each end roller bearing to slidably move the end roller bearings and end roller away from the drive roller to apply tension to an endless belt entrained around the rollers, and toward the drive roller to release belt tension and allow the belt to be cleaned or removed laterally from the bed unit.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a modular sanitary conveyor that is particularly useful in applications in which strict sanitary standards must be met, such as the food industry, and all of the components can be steam cleaned.
It is another object of this invention to provide a modular sanitary conveyor having a unitized conveyor bed unit that easily and quickly slides laterally onto and off of, and is supported on a mobile support stand in horizontal or inclined disposition.
Another object of this invention is to provide a modular sanitary conveyor having a drive motor unit that easily and quickly slides laterally onto and off of, and is securely supported on either side of a unitized conveyor bed unit.
Another object of this invention is to provide a modular sanitary conveyor having a drive roller and an end roller removably and rotatably supported in unitary bearing members which are formed of low friction material that is approved by the FDA for food grade service.
Another object of this invention is to provide a modular sanitary conveyor having unitary roller supporting bearing members formed of low friction material that are slidably mounted at each end of the conveyor bed unit and are easily and quickly installed and removed from the conveyor bed unit.
Another object of this invention is to provide a provide a modular sanitary conveyor having a manually operable belt tensioning and release mechanism removably mounted on the inner sides of the conveyor bed unit that moves the end roller away from the drive roller to apply tension to an endless belt entrained around the rollers, and toward the drive roller to release belt tension and allow the belt to be removed laterally from the bed unit.
A further object of this invention is to
Roddy Kenneth A.
Tran Khoi H.
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