Abstract:
A wheel roller for a chain conveyor of an automated carwash has a direct connection of the wheels to the carrier link. The wheel roller contains a carrier link and a roller frame supported by the carrier link. The roller frame has a plurality of pins rigidly connected to the carrier link. A plurality of wheels is supported by the pins of the roller frame. Because the roller frame is rigidly connected (e.g. welded) to the carrier link, the wheels cannot rotate about the carrier.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the priority, under 35 U.S.C. §119, of U.S. provisional patent application No. 62/132,776, filed Mar. 13, 2015, the prior application is herewith incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to wheel rollers used in conveyors of automated vehicle carwashes. Carwash conveyors convey rollers along a pathway defining the automated carwash. The rollers are configured to engage wheels of a vehicle, and convey a vehicle from an entrance to an exit. The rollers are attached to an endless, conveyor chain and rotate between the entrance and the exit. 
     Carrier links are an integral part of the roller chain used in conveyor based carwash applications. More specifically, the carrier link attaches the rollers to the conveyor chain. The rollers presently available in the market for log chains require the welding of different components to create the carrier link. 
     Known roller assemblies generally comprise a long bent bar that has a first end for carrying the rollers and a second end having a carrier link for attaching into a chain. The long bent bar and the related carrier link are subject to excessive wear and tear during operation and are subject to high failure rates. There is a need in the market place for a roller assembly that is more robust and thus has a reduced amount of wear points subject to failure. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a wheel roller that overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art devices and is more robust in design and has a longer service life between failures. 
     With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a wheel roller. The wheel roller contains a carrier link and a roller frame supported by the carrier link. The roller frame has a plurality of pins rigidly connected to the carrier link. A plurality of wheels is supported by the pins of the roller frame. Because the roller frame is rigidly connected (e.g. welded) to the carrier link, the wheels cannot rotate about the carrier link and therefore the wheel roller is more robust than known prior art wheel rollers. 
     In accordance with an added feature of the invention, the roller frame has two pins and one of the pins is directly and rigidly connected to the carrier link. Ideally, the roller frame has two pins and both of the pins are directly and rigidly connected to the carrier link. 
     In accordance with an additional feature of the invention, the carrier link has an upper section with a first end and a second end. The first end has a vertically oriented wall and one of the pins is rigidly connected to the vertically oriented wall. 
     In accordance with another feature of the invention, the roller frame has a top brace plate with a first end and a second end. The second end of the upper section of the carrier link is rigidly connected to the second end of the top brace plate. 
     In accordance with a further feature of the invention, the carrier link has a bottom link section, an upper section and an intermediate section connecting the upper section to the bottom link section. Ideally, the carrier link is formed as a unitary part. 
     In accordance with an added additional feature of the invention, the plurality of wheels is four wheels and none of the four wheels can pivot about the carrier link. In this manner, the carrier link is not subjected to the forces and thus wear and tear of the pivoting wheels. 
     In accordance with yet another feature of the invention, the bottom link section has a first width, the intermediate section has a second width and the upper section has a third width. The third width is greater than the second width, and the first width is greater than the third width. 
     In accordance with another added feature of the invention, the carrier link has exactly four openings formed therein. In this manner, the carrier link can be added in existing conveyors chains with limited effort. 
     In accordance with still a further feature of the invention, the carrier link has a first length FL and the roller frame has a second length SL, where SL/FL&lt;1.5. Ideally, the ratio of SL/FL is less than 1.2. This results in a compact design of the wheel roller. 
     In accordance with another feature of the invention, the carrier link has a lower part with a shape selected from the group consisting of a C-shape and a chain link shape. 
     In accordance with a feature of the invention, the carrier link is welded to the roller frame at three separate points. 
     In accordance with a concomitant feature of the invention, the plurality of wheels is four wheels disposed on the pins so as to partially overlap the carrier link. With this feature an even more compact and robust wheel roller is possible. 
     Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims. 
     Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a wheel roller with a forged carrier link and a log-chain wheel roller, it is nevertheless, not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims. 
     The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING 
         FIG. 1  is a diagrammatic, perspective view of a wheel roller according to the prior art; 
         FIG. 2  is a diagrammatic, perspective view of a carrier link used in the wheel roller shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a direct connect wheel roller according to the invention; 
         FIG. 4A  is a top plan view of the wheel roller of  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 4B  is a front view of the wheel roller of  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 4C  is a perspective view of the wheel roller of  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 4D  is a side-elevational view of the wheel roller of  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIGS. 5 and 6  are perspective views of the carrier link shown in  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 7A  is a top plan view of the carrier link shown in  FIG. 5 ; 
         FIG. 7B  is a side view of the carrier link shown in  FIG. 5 ; 
         FIG. 7C  is a sectional view of the carrier link taken along the line VIIC-VIIC shown in  FIG. 7B ; 
         FIG. 8  is diagrammatic, perspective view of a log-chain wheel roller having an improved carrier link according to the invention; 
         FIGS. 9-11  are perspective view of the carrier link for the log-chain wheel roller shown in  FIG. 8 ; and 
         FIG. 12  is a perspective view of a three-piece carrier link. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring now to the figures of the drawings in detail and first, particularly to  FIG. 1  thereof, there is shown a known prior art wheel roller  1 . The wheel roller  1  has wheels  2  supported on a wheel frame  3  having pins  4  for holding the wheels  2 . At a front end, a carrier link  5  is attached to one of the pins  4  supporting its respective wheels  2 . As can be seen in  FIG. 1 , the wheels  2  are held on the pins  4  by a bolt or screw  24  and washer  25  combination housed in a recess  26  formed in the wheels  2 . 
       FIG. 2  shows a perspective view of the carrier link  5 . The carrier link  5  is formed of a link  6 , two vertically extending ears  7  with openings  8  for receiving one of the pins  4 , and a link connecting pin  9 . A chain is formed from a plurality of links  6  (without the ears  7 ) being connected together by the respective link connecting pins  9 . Within the chain every X th  link (e.g. 8, 10, 12, 16 th  link), for example, is formed as the carrier link  5  carrying one of the wheel rollers  1 . Thus a chain is formed carrying a plurality of wheel rollers  1 . Unfortunately, the ears  7  are subject to high wear and tear resulting in a high incident of failure due to the fact that the wheels  2  and the wheel frame  3  can pivot about the forward or frontal pin  4  connected to the carrier link  5  thus stressing the ears  7 . In addition, the elongated wheel frame  3  is also susceptible to a higher rate of failure than desired due to its elongated nature and the stress along the elongated wheel frame  3 . 
       FIG. 3  shows a design of a direct connect wheel roller  10  according to the invention. As is immediately apparent there is no elongated wheel frame  3 . More specifically, the wheel roller  10  has wheels  11  supported on a roller frame  12 . The roller frame  12  has wheel support pins  13  for supporting the wheels  11  via a nut and washer combination (see also  FIGS. 4A-4D ). In addition, the roller frame  12  has a central reinforcement  14  being a top brace plate  14 . Disposed beneath the roller frame  12  is a forged carrier link  15 . The forged carrier links  15  form a chain by interconnecting with each other. More specifically, the forged carrier links  15  form a #78 chain or an 88 series chain on which the wheel roller  10  is transported. 
       FIGS. 4A-4D  show further views of the wheel roller. Specifically,  FIG. 4A  shows the pins  13  for holding the removed wheels  11 . The pins  13  are formed ideally of metal and have a given length L being ideally 5.8 inches. This thus leads to an overall compact wheel roller  10  having an overall length W of approximately 8.5 inches (defined by the pins  13 ), a length L of approximately 5.8 inches (defined by the roller frame  12 ), and a H of approximately 4.33 inches without the wheels. 
     The forged carrier link  15  is independently shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 . The forged carrier links  15  each have a link section  16  that can be connected to another respective link section  16  thus forming a chain. The link section  16  has frontal legs  17  each with an opening  18 . The front legs  17  are spaced apart for providing a pocket  19  for receiving rear legs  20  of an adjacent link section  16 . The rear legs  20  also have openings  21  for receiving a non-illustrated pin for connecting adjacent link sections  16  to each other. As can be clearly seen, the rear legs  20  are disposed closer together than the front legs  17  so that they may be nestled in the pocket  19  of a neighboring carrier link  15 . The carrier link  15  also has an upper section  22  for supporting the wheel support pins  13  and the roller frame  12 . The upper section  22 , in one embodiment, is welded to each of the wheel support pins  13  and the roller frame  12  at weld points W 1 , W 2  (see  FIG. 4C ). Other forms of joining are also possible including a single cast piece. Therefore, the upper section  22  takes a form that is adapted to the form of the roller frame  12  and its associated pins  13 . The carrier link  15  is preferably manufactured out of a metal and is case hardened. The carrier link  15  further has a narrowed intermediate section  32  connecting the upper section  22  to the link section  16 . 
     With such a connection between the carrier link  15  and the roller frame  12  one has what is termed a “direct connection” as the wheels  11  do not (e.g. cannot) pivot about the carrier link  15  (e.g. a direct connect roller). In this manner, less operational stress and thus less wear and tear is experienced by the carrier link  15 . Therefore, the wheel roller  10  is more robust than that of the prior art (e.g. wheel roller  1 ). In addition, the need for an elongated roller support frame is dispensed with and this part is now more robust and subject to less failures. 
       FIGS. 7A-7C  show various views of the carrier link  15  and its associated dimensions so that one has an appreciation for the compact design of the carrier link  15 . The carrier link  15  has an overall height CL-H being ideally 89.9 mm, an overall length CL-L of 125.06 mm, and a link length CL-LL of ideally 98.45 mm. Of course the ideal lengths, widths and heights can vary significantly depending on the specific application and the desired design forms. 
     The upper section  22  of the carrier link  15  has a rear or first end  26  being defined by a vertically oriented wall and a front or second end  27  which is perpendicular to the rear end  26 . A top surface  28  runs between the first and second ends  26 ,  27 . A first portion  29  of the top surface  28  runs at a given angle and then transitions to a second portion  30  that runs at a less sharp angle. The second end  27  of the upper section  22  is fastened (e.g. welded) to a front end  31  of the top brace plate  14 . 
       FIG. 8  shows a second type of wheel roller assembly more specifically what is known in the art as log chain wheel roller  40  with forged carrier links  41 . The inventive design has been tested under tensile load surpassing open log chain link standards; and extensive field testing was also done to ensure the quality of the carrier link  41 . The log-chain wheel roller assembly  40  has the carrier link  41  supporting a wheel frame  42  having pins  43  for holding rollers or wheels  44 . 
     An object of the second embodiment is to reduce wear and extend the life of both the rollers  44  and the connecting chain links  41 . The object is achieved in that the carrier link  41  is forged out of a metal alloy and is case hardened. The selected alloy and hardness are specifically configured to properly match the properties of most log chains in the market and therefore reduces wear and extends the life of both the rollers and the connecting chain links. The forging process allows for a consistent material, which is a key factor in life expectancy and performance of the carrier link. This is the first forged carrier link  41  for log chains in the industry. 
     The forged carrier link  41  must be contrasted with that of prior art construction techniques. More specifically, if the forged carrier link  41  were constructed using prior welding technology it would have been composed of three pieces as shown in  FIG. 12 . Instead of being forged as a single piece unit, a welded carrier link  50  would consist of an open chain link  51 , a brace plate  52  with a profile of the chain link  51 , and a flat bar piece  53  all welded together. Due to the three piece welded construction the log-chain carrier link has a higher than desired failure rate.