Conveyer belt assembly

Abstract: A low cost, self contained endless conveyor belt assembly (10) includes a flat conveyor bed (14), an endless conveyor belt (12) and a plurality of frame members (16-19) mounted thereto. The bed mounted frame members (16-19) support and house a drive shaft (24) which includes sprockets (26) for engaging the front inside radius of the endless conveyor belt (12) and a remote mounted drive motor (28). The self contained conveyor belt assembly (10) is adjustably mounted to complemental frame rails (34), one of which includes the drive motor (36) to which can be coupled the drive pulley (39) of the endless conveyor belt (12).

Description: The present invention relates to conveyor belt assemblies, and, more particularly, to self-contained endless conveyor belt assemblies which can be readily integrated into support frames or rails which contain-drives for powering and motorizing the conveyor belt assemblies, and in alignment with such drives to provide conveyor systems of various sizes as needed for different uses. The U.S. Patent 4,925,009, discloses a conveyor formed from a number of sections. Each section has a drive end and a follow end. The drive end comprises a frame which includes an end support. The end support and an additional blank support support the conveyor with respect to the ground surface. Furthermore, the drive end comprises a male connecting bracket, which enables the drive end to be interconnected with the follow end of another "downstream" section of the conveyor. Furthermore, each section comprises a wooden plank having an end tray mounted to respective ends of the plank, wherein the end trays are adapted to accommodate roller assemblies on which a conveyor belt is mounted. The support frame is mounted via the connecting bracket to the end tray at the drive end and inasmuch supports the wooden plank and a tray construction. Also attention is drawn to the U.S. Patent 3,944,054 which discloses a multi purpose conveyor having parallel frame sides and held rigidly in position by a conveyor bottom plate. Each frame side can receive at its ends either splice plate or bearing mounts, respectively. The splice plates are mounted to the ends of the frame sides in order to enable the mounting of further conveyor frame portions in order to extend the overall length of the conveyor module. Bearing mounts can be mounted to the frame sides in order to accommodate rolls to support and drive a conveyor belt. The above cited prior art conveyor systems are relatively susceptible to faults with respect to a proper alignment of the conveyor-support structure. In accordance with the present invention, an endless conveyor belt assembly as set forth in claim 1 is provided, which amongst other things includes spanner assemblies including means thereon for supporting a flat bed and wherein bed mounted frame members matingly engage the spanner assemblies in order to provide desired alignment and rigidness of the construction. Further general objects of the present invention are to provide an improved, endless conveyor belt assembly, and especially which is self contained, except for a support for the assembly which motorizes the conveyor belt, and which may be constructed from low cost, easy to manufacture, light-weight materials (plastics), and which is easy to install and align with a support structure so as to integrate one or more of such conveyor belt assemblies into an integrated conveyor system. Briefly, in accordance with one feature of the present invention, a self contained endless conveyor belt assembly is provided having a conveyor bed mounted to a plurality of frame members. A light-weight conveyor belt is disposed on the conveyor bed so as to pass over the bed and around the frame members. A drive shaft, journalled between the bed mounted frame members, carries a sprocket for engaging the conveyor belt and is attachable in aligned relationship with drive motor. The motor may be in a support for the assembly, preferably rails between which the assembly is disposed and to which it is attached in aligned relationship. One or more such assemblies are mounted to the support to provide an integrated conveyor system. The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from a reading of the following description in connection with the accompanying drawings in which: FIG. 1 is a schematic view of one prior art conveyor, the view showing a misaligned support frame; FIG. 2 is a partially exploded, perspective view showing the top front of a low cost, self-contained endless belt conveyor assembly according to the present invention and motorized side rails of a support for the assembly; FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the assembly, shown in FIG. 2, without the conveyor belt, side rails of the support which carry a drive motor; FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the assembly shown in FIG. 3; FIG. 5 is a cross-section view taken along line 5-5 in FIG. 2; FIG. 6 is a partially broken away front view showing the assembly and side rails also shown in FIG. 2; and FIG. 7 is a schematic illustration of a work station comprising a plurality of conveyor belt assemblies according to the present invention mounted in motorized side rails. Refer now more particularly to FIG. 1, there is shown a prior art endless conveyor belt system which suffers from misalignment which occurs between the side frame rails A & B. For example, although frame rails "A" and "B" as shown are parallel to each other, they are not in alignment with each other which results in the center lines of the bearings being misaligned with respect to each other. Consequently, any drive shaft journalled between those bearings will be "cocked" from one side to the other resulting in poor performance and, in many instances, early bearing failure. The cited US-A-4 925 009 overcomes this situation, by means of bearing support flanges being incorporated in the self-contained end tray structure. As illustrated in FIGS. 2-6, the endless conveyor belt assembly 10 of the present invention generally includes an endless conveyor belt 12 which is preferably constructed from a plastic material, such as polypropylene. Belt 12 is positioned on a flat conveyor bed 14 which is also may be constructed from a plastic material, such as polyethylene. A plurality of bed mounted frames 16, 17, 18 and 19 are generally mounted by way of screws 15 to the leading edge of conveyor bed 14, such as is illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. Each bed mounted frame 16-19 includes a flat upper surface 20, a rounded, or curved, portion 21 and a ramped section 22, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5. Similar to the previously described conveyor belt 12 and bed 14, bed mounted frames 16-19 also may be constructed from a plastic material, such as, for example, polypropylene. The frames 16-19 and the bed may be an integral or unitary structure; for example, they may be molded from plastic as a monolithic part for use in the assembly 10. As best seen in FIG. 2 and 3, the leading pair of bed mounted frames 16 and 17, include bearings 23 for supporting and journalling a drive shaft 24. The shaft carries a first sprocket or pulley 25 for engaging conveyor belt 12. A second sprocket 39 is also carried on and rotatable with the shaft 24. This sprocket engages, via belt 38, a drive motor 36 which is fixedly mounted to one of a pair of support frames or rails 34, 35. As best illustrated in FIGS. 2-5, a pair of spanner assemblies 26, comprising elongate V-shaped members 28 and threaded shafts 30 are positioned beneath the conveyor bed 14. V-shaped members 26 are configured such that the upper portions thereof contact and support the undersurface of bed 14. Further, it will be seen that one leg of each V-shaped member 28 mates against the ramped portion 22 of bed mounted frames 16-19, and may be attached thereto and/or also to the bed 14. End threaded shafts 30 disposed between the legs of members 28 are fitted through apertures (not shown) in support rails 34, 35. While V-shaped members have been described, they may be in the form of tubular (hollow) members, in other geometric shapes (e.g., cylindrical), and preferably which are of a size to match or mate against the frames 16-19 and/or the bed 14. Consider the conveyor belt assembly 10 of the present invention in more detail. It will be seen that bed mounted frames 16, 17, 18 and 19 are fixed to bed 14 with screws 15, as such that their flat upper surfaces 20 are substantially flush with the upper surface 40 of elongate bed 14. That is, the flat surfaces 20 of each individual bed mounted frames 16-19 is coplanar with and provide extensions of the bed's upper surface 40. Each flat surface 20 extends to the rounded portion 21. As best shown in FIG. 5, endless conveyor belt 12 is guided by the surfaces 20 and 21 along its endless path. The belt 12 traverses across surface 40, and flat surfaces 20 and is guided around rounded portion 21 of the bed mounted frames 16, 17, 18 and 19. Belt 14 is driven by the sprocket 25 which is mounted on and rotated by drive shaft 24. The sprocket teeth engage with complementing ribbed members 42 formed on the underside of plastic conveyor belt 12 see FIG. 5. The second sprocket 39 on an end of drive shaft 24 is connected through the belt or chain 39 connection to electric motor 28. Endless conveyor belt 12 is thereby driven, with lateral meandering controlled by the rails 34, 35, to track along flat bed 14 and over and around side frames 16, 17, 18 and 19. Rounded portions 21 of side frames 16-19 defines the inside radius of the turns of the plastic conveyor belt at the end of its track. The plastic conveyor belt 12 is properly and automatically tensioned by the principle known as "catenary sag". The weight of the belt which is left unsupported in the return side of the conveyor results in the catenary sag. Thus, weight of the unsupported belt produces the tension necessary to keep the belt wrapped on the sprocket 25 and in guided relationship with the arc defined by the round surfaces 21 of the frames 16-19. Should any elongation of the belt occur, due to aging, wear, etc., catenary sag will provide automatic adjustment to maintain proper tension. The alignment of the assembly 10 is facilitated because it is light in weight, and because sufficient tolerance for adjustment, longitudinally along the rails 34, 35 or up and down (vertically) or tilted, is provided by the space inside the members 28 between the shaft 30 and the inside walls of the members 28. Initial adjustment positions elongate V-shaped members 28 generally against the complementing ramp portion 22 of bed mounted frames 16-19. The belt 39 may be connected between drive shaft sprocket 26 and sprocket 39 on motor shaft 28a. Final alignment is made by shifting the assemblies with respect to the threaded shafts 30 which are fixed in apertures in the rails 34, 35. The belt aligned in x and y (longitudinally along the rails 34, 35) may be (vertically) and may be horizontal or tilted. The assembly 10 is then aligned with the motor shaft 28a. In aligned position, there is sufficient tension in the drive belt 39. The ends of the members 28 are clamped against the rails 34, 35 by tightening nuts 300 on the threatened ends of the shafts 30 (see FIG. 6). The self-contained, flat bed conveyor 10 described above results in a conveyor system which is light weight, easily moved and transported to numerous task sites. Accordingly, flat bed conveyor belt assembly 10 may be easily combined with other conveyor systems, or set up as separate work stations which employ moving belts to transfer sub-assemblies or items requiring consecutive operations by different workers, as schematically illustrated in FIG. 7. Multiple conveyor belt assemblies 10 may . be utilized which are, in turn, mounted in to a common pair of extended frame support rails 34, 35. Further, in some applications it may be desirable to utilize a split flat bed over which a common belt travels. The parts of the split bed may be connected by bed mounted frames. Other variations and modifications, within the scope of the claims, will undoubtedly suggest themselves to those skilled in this art. The foregoing description therefore should be taken as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Claims: An endless conveyor belt assembly (10), which is mountable between support members (34, 35) comprising: a) an endless conveyor belt (12); b) a bed (14) supporting thereon said endless conveyor belt (12) for travel over a surface (40) of said bed (14), said bed having ends spaced from each other in the direction of travel of said belt (12) and side edges; c) frame members (16, 17, 18, 19) connected with said bed (14) at said ends thereof, said frame members (16, 17, 18, 19) having surfaces co-extensive with said surface (40) of said bed; d) a drive shaft (24) journalled in said frame members (16, 17, 18, 19) connected with said bed at one of said ends thereof, said drive shaft (24) having a drive member (25) engagable with said belt (12) and a driven member (39) for receiving driving power for said endless conveyor belt; and e) a pair of spanner assemblies (26) including means thereon for supporting said flat bed (14) and matingly engaging said bed mounted frame members (16, 17, 18, 19) for mounting said assembly (10) between said support members. The assembly of claim 1 wherein said frame members (16, 17, 18, 19) have guide surfaces (20) for said belt (12) and generally flush with said surface of said bed. The assembly of claim 2 wherein said guide surfaces of said frame members include round portions (21) for engaging and guiding said belt (12) around arcs at ends of its endless path of travel, said round portions (21) being adjacent said surfaces (20) which are flush with said surface (40) of said bed. The assembly of one of claims 1-3 wherein four frame members (16, 17, 18, 19) are provided, each being disposed at a different corner of said bed. The assembly of claims 1-4 wherein said spanner assemblies each comprise a tubular member (28) defining an inside space, a shaft (30) adapted to extend between said support members (34, 35), said shaft (30) being smaller than said inside space so as to permit movement of said assembly (10) into an aligned relationship, and means (300) engagable with said shaft (30) for clamping said tubular members (28) to said support members to fix said assembly (10) to said support members in said aligned relationship. The assembly of claim 5 wherein said tubular members (28) are V-shaped in cross-section and are in contact with said bed. The assembly of claim 5 or 6 wherein said bed mounted frame members (16, 17, 18, 19) include means thereon for engaging and positioning said tubular members (28) with respect to said bed. The assembly of claim 7 wherein said engaging and positioning means on said bed mounted frame members comprise ramped surfaces (22) formed thereon, said ramped surfaces (22) abutting against a mating surface of said tubular members (28). The assembly of any of claims 1-8 wherein said bed mounted frame members (16, 17, 18, 19), said bed (14) and said conveyor belt (12) are molded substantially exclusively from plastic. The assembly of claims 1-9 wherein said frame members and said bed are a one piece unitary structure. The assembly according to Claim 1 wherein said surface (40) of said bed is flat. The assembly of one of claims 1-11, further comprising a bearing in said frame members providing the exclusive rotational support for said drive shaft. The assembly of one of claims 1-12 wherein said frame members on which said drive shaft are journally spaced laterally with respect to the direction of travel of said belt and each contains a separate bearing exclusively journalling said drive shaft. The assembly of claim 1 wherein said spanner assemblies (26) include as part of said assembly mounting members which are attachable over a range of displacement of said assembly in X and Y coordinates to said support members, X being in the direction of travel of said belt and Y being in a direction perpendicular to said surface of said bed.

Inventors: FERGUSON GREGORY A, FERGUSON, GREGORY A.
Applicants: PREC HANDLING DEVICES INC, PRECISION HANDLING DEVICES, INC.
Application year: 1995
Main classification: B65G21
IPC codes: B65G15, B65G21