Patent ID: 6533102
Filing Date: 2003-03-18
Classification: B05B,B65G,Y02P

Abstract:
Device for cleaning a conveyor belt, which conveyor belt runs around a roller and includes an upper active branch and a lower return branch , said device being used to remove substances deposited on the conveyor belt and comprising:a vessel containing a solvent for the substances and a distributing means to distribute the solvent onto a portion of the return branch of the conveyor to soften the substances deposited on the conveyor, a first scraping unit and a second scraping unit in succession along the return branch for scraping and cleaning the return branch to remove the substances with the solvent for subsequent recovery and removal , and enclosing means for enclosing, in a closed environment which is isolated from an external environment, the portion of the return branch of the conveyor and associated parts of said first and second units in contact with the solvent, in order to prevent or limit evaporation and dispersion of the solvent in the external environment wherein the first and the second scraping units of the return branch of the conveyor comprise respective first and second cylinders which are parallel to the return path of the conveyor, wherein the first cylinder is opposite the roller, wherein peripheries of the first and second cylinders rotate in an opposite direction to that of the return branch of the conveyor and touch the return branch to remove substances therefrom, wherein a scraper blade is provided to scrape removed substances from the first cleaning cylinder which were scraped from the return branch and to transfer the removed substances by gravity into a recovery and removal trough, wherein the peripheries of said first and second cylinders are positioned close to each other, and wherein a space between the first and second cylinders is closed upwardly by the return branch of the conveyor, is closed downwardly, and is closed laterally by walls which form a seal with said first and second cylinders and which walls are arranged so that the walls essentially form an enclosure with the return branch of the conveyor such that said space forms said vessel which is thus isolated from the external environment and into which the solvent required for the process of cleaning the conveyor is made to flow.