Abstract:
A method of using a conveyor dryer having a drying chamber and a conveyor disposed within the chamber for conveying a selected material through the chamber. A stationary conveyor support is disposed on each side of the conveyor for supporting the conveyor. A material guide is disposed adjacent each side of the conveyor for generally retaining material on the conveyor and wherein the conveyor support and material guide are disposed adjacent to each other such that they cooperate to form a generally air tight seal that minimizes the flow of air between the conveyor support and the material guide.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     The present application is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/358,968, filed Jul. 22, 1999 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,108,941. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to conveyor dryers of the type that are used to dry or condition various types of material. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Conveyor dryers are widely used to dry and condition various materials and products. Typically, these conveyor dryers include a drying or conditioning chamber having a moving conveyor disposed therein. A system is incorporated into the conveyor dryer for generating conditioned or heated air that is forced through the conveyor and the material supported on the conveyor. Thus as the conveyor moves through the conditioning chamber, air moving through the conveyor and the material thereon functions to selectively dry or condition the material. 
     In order to drive the conveyor, a link type drive chain is secured to each side of the conveyor and driven by an electric motor. Thus as the conveyor moves through the drying chamber, the side chains typically ride on a support rail. Further, in order to seal the sides of the chamber, the conveyor carries a traveling guide that extends upwardly and moves against a stationary seal. Thus, the traveling guide and the stationary seal are designed to form a generally air tight seal and to retain product about the conveyor. 
     There are many drawbacks and disadvantages to conventional conveyor system designs used in conveyor dryers. For example, the structure utilized to form the seal adjacent each side of the conveyor makes wear and tear a concern. The fact that such conventional designs require a traveling guide to continuously move against a fixed seal obviously indicates that there will be a limited life to these frictionally engaging components and in the end that can result in frequent shut downs for the conveyor dryer. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention entails a conveyor dryer that includes a conveyor system that includes a stationary conveyor support that supports the conveyor and also cooperates with one or more other structures to form an air tight seal. 
     More particularly, the present invention entails a conveyor dryer having a drying chamber and a conveyor disposed within the chamber for conveying material or product through the drying chamber. An air conditioning system for heating or conditioning the air and circulating the air through the conveyor and the material carried on the conveyor is also provided. A stationary conveyor support is disposed on each side of the conveyor for supporting the conveyor. This stationary conveyor support includes a support surface that engages a portion of the conveyor and supports the conveyor as it is pulled or moved along the conveyor supports. To retain material on the conveyor, a material guide is disposed adjacent the conveyor for generally retaining material on the conveyor as it moves through the drying chamber. The conveyor support is particularly disposed adjacent and in conjunction with the material guide such that the two components cooperate to form an air seal that minimizes the flow of air between the conveyor support and the material guide. 
     In one particular embodiment of the present invention, the conveyor support includes an elongated non-metallic structure disposed on each side of the conveyor that includes a slot or opening formed in the inboard side thereof. A side portion of the conveyor projects into the slot and is confined therein. In use, the conveyor is effectively moved or pulled through the inboard slots formed in the non-metallic conveyor supports. At the same time, a material guide depends downwardly and extends adjacent the elongated conveyor support in such a fashion that the conveyor support and material guide form a generally air tight seal. 
     It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a conveyor dryer with a relatively simple conveyor system. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide a conveyor system for a conveyor dryer that minimizes air and product leakage. 
     Another object of the present invention entails providing a conveyor dryer with a conveyor system that eliminates the conventional traveling guide. 
     Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent and obvious from a study of the following description and the accompanying drawings, which are merely illustrative of such invention. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view of the conveyor dryer of the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a fragmentary cross sectional view of a portion of the conveyor dryer illustrating the conveyor support system of the present invention. 
     FIG. 2A is a cross sectional view of the conveyor support. 
     FIG. 3 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view showing the conveyor support system. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     With further reference to the drawings, and particularly FIG. 1, the conveyor dryer of the present invention is shown therein and indicated generally by the numeral  10 . Conveyor dryer  10  basically comprises a housing structure that includes a top  12 , opposed sides  14  and a bottom  16 . In addition the conveyor dryer  10  includes opposed ends (not shown). 
     Formed internally within the conveyor dryer  10  is a drying or conditioning chamber indicated generally by the numeral  18 . The drying or conditioning chamber  18  is formed or surrounded by an intermediate upper wall  30  that together with the top of the housing  12  forms an upper plenum  20 . In addition the drying chamber  18  is designed so as to include a number of interchangeable panels that permit airflow to be directed in various directions through the drying chamber. In the set up illustrated in FIG. 1, there is provided an interchangeable panel  32  along the upper right side of the drying chamber  18  and an interchangeable panel  34  along the lower left side of the drying chamber. To permit air to flow through the drying chamber, there is provided an upper side opening  36  and a lower side opening  38 . 
     The conveyor dryer also includes a system for generating and circulating a system of heated or conditioned air. In this regard, disposed about an upper side portion of the housing structure of the conveyor dryer  10  is a burner unit indicated generally by the numeral  27 . Disposed opposite the burner unit  27  is a recirculation fan system  28 . As illustrated in FIG. 1, the burner unit  27  generates heat and a system of air is pulled or moved across the burner unit through the upper plenum  20 . This system of air is directed downwardly through a side plenum  22  into and through the lower right opening  38  into the drying chamber  18 . Once the system of heated or conditioned air moves through the opening  38 , the air moves generally upwardly through the conveyor  40  and the material thereon and out the upper side opening  36  into side plenum  24 . There the air is circulated or moved upwardly past the burner unit  27 . This recirculation pattern is continued while the conveyor  40  and the material thereon move from one end of the conveyor dryer  10  to the other end. It should be appreciated that the air pattern through the drying chamber can be reversed by simply rearranging the interchangeable panels  32  and  34 . For example, instead of the air being moved upwardly through the conveyor  40 , by selectively rearranging the interchangeable panels, the air can be directed into the drying chamber  18  above the conveyor  40  and then downwardly through the conveyor and the material contained thereon and out a side opening underneath the conveyor after which the air is recirculated back around past the burner unit  27 . 
     Details of the conveyor dryer  10  are not discussed herein because such is not per se material to the present invention and conveyor dryers are commercially available and their designs are appreciated by those skilled in the art. For example, conveyor dryers of the type disclosed herein are manufactured and sold by Aeroglide Corporation of Cary, N.C. 27511. 
     A conveyor indicated generally by the numeral  40 , is disposed within the drying or conditioning chamber  18  and includes opposite side portions  40   a . It is seen in FIG. 1 where the conveyor  40  includes an upper run disposed within the drying chamber  18  and a lower run that extends below the bottom  16  of the conveyor dryer  10 . In conventional fashion, the conveyor  40  is of the endless type, such as an I-link or woven belt, and is typically driven by an electric motor or other power source from one end of the conveyor dryer. 
     Turning to FIGS. 2,  2 A and  3 , there is shown therein a support structure for supporting the conveyor  40 . With particular reference to FIG. 2, the support structure for supporting one side of the conveyor  40  is shown therein. It is understood that a like structure would be disposed on the opposite side of the drying chamber  18  for supporting the other side of the conveyor  40 . Viewing the conveyor support structure as illustrated in FIG. 2, it is seen that there is provided a plurality of vertical frame members  50  that would typically be longitudinally spaced along one side of the drying chamber  18 . Secured to the inboard side of the vertical frame members  50  is an elongated angle iron railing  52 . The angle iron railing  52  extends from the front end to the rear end of the conveyor dryer  10 . Mounted to the respective vertical frame members  50  is a material guide  54  that can be constructed of sheet metal selectively bent to yield the configuration shown in FIG.  2 . Note that the material guide  54  includes a sidewall  54   a  and formed about the lower terminal end of the sidewall  54   a  is an L-shaped configuration that comprises segments  54   b  and  54   c . Disposed below the material guide  54  and supported on the angle iron railing  52  is a conveyor support indicated generally by the numeral  56 . The conveyor support  56  includes a series of elongated members aligned in end-to-end relationship along the angle iron railing. In FIG. 3, the respective sections of the conveyor support  56  are denoted by  56   a ,  56   b , and  56   c . As seen in FIG. 2, each section of the conveyor support  56  assumes a generally C-shaped configuration and as such is open from the inboard side. More particularly, each section of the conveyor support  56  includes an open receiving area  58  that is adapted to receive a side portion  40   a  of the conveyor. The receiving area  58  includes a base  58   a , an end wall  58   b , and an upper surface or wall  56   c  (FIG.  2 A). Disposed below the receiving opening  58  is a wear opening  60  that is open from the outboard side of the conveyor support  56 . The wear opening  60  enables one to inspect the wear of the conveyor support  56  from a position outside of the drying chamber  18 . 
     In a preferred design, the sections that form the conveyor support  56  would be constructed of a non-metallic material such as “Teflon”. Alternatively, other materials such as thermal plastic, nylon and wood could possibly be used to support the conveyor  40 . 
     As illustrated in FIG. 2, the sections that form the conveyor support  56  serve two basic functions. First the conveyor support  56  actually receives and holds side portions  40   a  of the conveyor  40  as the conveyor is moved through the drying chamber. It is important to appreciate that the sections that comprise the conveyor support  56  are generally stationary. Thus the side portions  40   a  of the conveyor are actually pulled or moved through the receiving area  58  or slot formed in the conveyor support. More particularly, each side portion  40   a  of the conveyor lies on and frictionally engages the bottom  58   a  of the receiving area  58  as the conveyor is pulled or moved through the drying chamber. In addition, the sections of the conveyor support  56  serve a sealing function. As illustrated in FIG. 2 the sections of the conveyor support  56  lie under the L-shaped segments  54   b  and  54   c  of the material guide  54 . In other words, the lower terminal portion of the material guide tends to wrap around the upper and outboard sides of the conveyor support  56  so as to form a generally airtight seal as well as a seal that retains material or product being conveyed on the conveyor  40 . It should be appreciated that the seal formed does not form an absolute air tight seal. The use of the term “air tight” means that the seal does inhibit air from moving between the conveyor support  56  and the material guide  54  but that a small amount of leakage could be expected. 
     It is contemplated that in one embodiment of the present invention, that only one section of the conveyor support  56  on each side would actually be secured to an associated frame structure. In this regard and as illustrated in FIG. 3, the upstream most conveyor support section  56   a  may be pinned by a locking pin  62  to an adjacent frame structure. The trailing sections  56   b  and  56   c  of the conveyor support would simply be disposed end-to-end and would essentially be confined between the side portion  40   a  of the conveyor  40  and the lower terminal end of the material guide  54 . Thus the trailing sections  56   b  and  56   c  as shown in FIG. 3 can move slightly both fore and aft and laterally back and forth. 
     Therefore, it is appreciated that the present design eliminates the troublesome side chains that are conventionally associated with conveyors found in conveyor dryers. In addition, the conventional traveling guide that retains material and product on the conveyor is also eliminated. In short, there are no moving parts to the conveyor support structure or to the sealing structure that extends along the sides of the conveyor. 
     The present invention may, of course, be carried out in other specific ways than those herein set forth without departing from the spirit and the essential characteristics of the invention. The present embodiments are therefore to be construed in all aspects as illustrative and not restrictive and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalency range of the appended claims are intended to be embraced therein.