Abstract:
An improved sanitary conveyor mechanism wherein the improvement is in the conveyor frame, including an elongated conveyor support and a plurality of frame members, each including an aperture formed therethrough for receiving the elongated conveyor support so that a sanitary conveyor of various configurations may be assembled and, and perhaps most importantly, easily cleaned.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to conveyors including a motor-driven endless conveyor belt for transporting articles and mounted on legs above a support surface of the type and construction suitable for use where conditions of high cleanliness are required such as, for example, in the food industry and in the pharmaceutical industry. The invention is particularly characterized by the construction of its principal frame elements, those elements comprising an elongated conveyor support extending longitudinally along the length of the conveyor and a plurality of frame members mounted on the conveyor support in spaced apart relation to each other and including structural features whereby guide rails for the articles being conveyed, the endless belt itself, and support legs may be attached without enclosing the conveyor such that all structural elements can be easily and efficiently cleaned to maintain an extremely sanitary working environment. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     It is, of course, well known in the prior art to construct conveyor mechanisms including a motor-driven endless conveyor belt for transporting articles and mounting that mechanism on legs above a support surface. However, when such conveyors are used for handling, transporting, or packaging food products and pharmaceuticals, maintaining the cleanliness of the conveyor is a necessity. Most such prior art conveyor mechanisms are of a construction that effectively encloses substantial portions of the conveyor with panels or covers, and this is frequently done for purposes of structural integrity, and, sometimes, in order to protect the operators from moving parts. While safety and structural integrity are certainly important, maintaining such state-of-the-art conveyor mechanisms at the required level of cleanliness becomes both a laborious and expensive operation. 
     Not only is it necessary essentially to disassemble the conveyor mechanism for cleaning, but also additional time and effort must then be expended to re-assemble the conveyor. In reality, the additional time and expense are frequently minimized by not removing all side panels and covers, necessarily resulting in inadequate, if not improper, cleaning of the equipment. If the conveyor is being used to handle raw food products, this necessarily increases the likelihood of contamination. Such would, of course, also be true with regard to any product wherein the maintenance of a high degree of cleanliness is required. 
     While there have been attempts to overcome these problems of cleaning sanitary conveyor mechanisms, in actuality present solutions are inadequate. It is therefore clear that there remains a great need in the art for an improved sanitary conveyor mechanism and frame system that will adequately and safely support the required equipment and that is capable of assembly in a variety of configurations, while permitting thorough, hygienic cleaning of the conveyor with virtually no disassembly required. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to an improved sanitary conveyor frame used in combination with a sanitary conveyor mechanism including a motor-driven endless conveyor belt for transporting articles and mounted on legs above a support surface. The improvement comprises an elongated conveyor support extending longitudinally along the length of the conveyor and the plurality of frame members, each one of the frame members being mounted on the conveyor support in spaced apart relation to another of the frame members. The frame members each comprise a support aperture formed therethrough, with the support aperture being dimensioned and configured to receive the conveyor support in surrounding, supporting relation thereto. Each of the frame members further comprise a plurality of arms extending outwardly from the support aperture along a first plane that is substantially normal to the axis of the support aperture. Formed at the end of each of the arms is a leg that is disposed in substantially parallel relation to the axis of the support aperture. 
     Each of the frame members further comprise a plurality of first connector apertures, with one first connector aperture being formed between each of the arms and the support aperture. As will be described in a preferred embodiment of the invention, below, these first connector apertures are used, in combination with standard connectors such as, for example, nuts and bolts, to assemble various configurations for the conveyor system and to provide for the attachment of upper guide rails for the articles being conveyed and leg brackets for the attachment of support legs. 
     Formed through each of the legs of each support member is a second connector aperture, and these second connector apertures are provided for attachment of track guides, again by any suitable fastening means such as, for example, nuts and bolts, to receive and retain the endless conveyor belt, operatively, on the sanitary conveyor mechanism. 
     The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified in the constructions hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the improved conveyor support and frame members. 
     FIG. 2 is a fragmentary elevation of a segment of the sanitary conveyor showing an upper guide rail support and a leg bracket. 
     FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line  3 — 3  of FIG.  2 . 
     FIG. 4 is a fragmentary elevation of a segment of the sanitary conveyor showing a pair of upper guide rail supports. 
     FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line  5 — 5  of FIG.  4 . 
     FIG. 6 is a fragmentary side elevation of the sanitary conveyor mechanism. 
     FIG. 7 is a top, plan view illustrating a segment of a curved sanitary conveyor. 
     FIG. 8 is a perspective view similar to that of FIG. 1 showing a second preferred embodiment for the improved conveyor support and frame members. 
    
    
     Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the drawings. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Attention is first invited to the view of FIG. 6, illustrating, in a fragmentary side elevation, a sanitary conveyor mechanism, generally indicated as  10 , including the improved frame of this invention. A motor  10  drives endless conveyor belt  14  as by sprockets  16  and drive chain  18 . Movement of conveyor belt  14  is accomplished as by drive roller  20  and one or more idler rollers  22 . The conveyor  10  is disposed on a support surface (not shown) by adjustable legs  24 . Disposed above conveyor belt  14  are preferably a pair of article guide rails  26 , only one of which is visible in the elevation view of FIG.  6 . 
     The view of FIG. 1 illustrates a preferred embodiment for the improved elongated conveyor support  28  and frame members, generally indicated as  30 . As shown in the view of FIG. 1, elongated conveyor support  28  defines a substantially square cross-section, and a corresponding support aperture  32  is provided through each of the frame members  30  to receive conveyor support  28  therethrough in surrounding, supporting relation. The view of FIG. 8 illustrates a second preferred embodiment for the elongated conveyor support  28 ′ which defines a substantially circular cross-section. According to this second preferred embodiment, frame members  30 ′ each comprise a corresponding circular support aperture  32 ′. All structural elements of the second preferred embodiment of FIG. 8 are identified by the same reference numeral as those elements in the view of FIG. 1, with the addition of a prime mark. 
     Returning to the view of FIG. 1, each of the frame members  30  further comprise a plurality of arms  34  extending outwardly from support aperture  32 , and a corresponding plurality of legs  36  formed at the distal end of each arm  34 , with legs  36  extending in a plane that is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of elongated conveyor support  28 . Of course, one can also see that each of the arms  34  defines a plane that is substantially normal to the longitudinal axis of support  28 . A first connector aperture  38  is formed through each of the frame members  30  between each of the arms  34  and the support aperture  32 . 
     A second connector aperture is formed through each of the legs  36 , and the utility of first connector aperture  38  and second connector apertures  40  is demonstrated hereinafter. With regard to the view of FIG. 8, one can see that a plurality of second connector apertures  40 ′ may be provided in legs  36 ′. 
     Attention is now invited to the views of FIGS. 2 and 3, and it can be seen that FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, side elevation detail taken from the view of FIG.  6 . Of course, FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line  3 — 3  of FIG. 2. A pair of legs  24  are shown in the sectional view of FIG. 3, and a leg brace  42  may be provided for increased strength and stability. Legs  24  are attached between an opposed pair of frame members  30 ′ using a leg bracket generally indicated as  44 . 
     Each of the leg brackets  44  is of a substantially U-shaped configuration having opposed parallel sides  46  and an interconnecting bracket base  48 . A plurality of leg bracket apertures are formed through each of the sides  46  and are dimensioned and configured to correspond to first connector apertures  38 ′ of frame members  30 ′. This permits attachment of leg bracket  44  between the pair of frame members  30 ′ by any suitable means such as, for example, bolts  50  and nuts  52 . Legs  24  are attached to bracket base  48  as by passing bolts  50  through apertures formed in bracket base  48  and leg plate  54 , securing leg plate  54  to bracket base  48  by a nut  52  on each of the bolts  50 . Turning to the views of FIGS. 4 and 5, one can see that the improvement provided by the sanitary conveyor frame of this invention may further comprise a plurality of upper guide rail supports, generally indicated as  56 . Each upper guide rail support  56  is of a substantially L-shaped configuration and comprises a plurality of guide support apertures formed through shorter leg  58  with those apertures being dimensioned and configured to correspond to first connector apertures  38  of frame member  30 . Thus, upper guide rail supports  56  may be attached to frame members  30  as by bolts  50  and nuts  52 . 
     Longer leg  60  of each of the upper guide rail supports  56  comprises a guide leg  62  formed at its distal end, and a rail aperture is formed through guide leg  62 . As best seen in the view of FIG. 4, a rail bracket  64  may be attached to guide leg  62  for receiving and holding article guide rail  26  therethrough. While opposed pairs of upper guide rails supports  56  are illustrated in the views of FIGS. 4 and 5, only a single upper guide rail support  56  is shown in the views of FIGS. 2 and 3. 
     However, as can clearly be seen in the views of FIGS. 2 and 3, upper guide rail support  56  may be operatively attached to a frame member  30 ′ even when a leg bracket  44  is also attached to the same frame member  30 ′. Of course, it is to be understood that a structure substantially similar to that shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 could be accomplished utilizing a frame member  30 , as shown in the FIGS. 4 and 5. 
     The views of FIGS. 4 and 5 further illustrate the attachment of a plurality of track guides  66  to legs  36  of frame members  30 . Track guides  66  are attached to legs  36  by any suitable fastener such as flathead bolts  68  and nuts  52 . The track guides are configured so as to receive and retain endless conveyor belt  14  thereon in operative relation. Of course, as shown in the views of FIGS. 2 and 3, track guides  66  are also attachable to legs  36 ′. 
     The rather schematic top plan view of FIG. 7 is provided to illustrate the use of variety of frame members  30  and  30 ′, in combination with segments of elongated conveyor support  28 , to permit the construction of sanitary conveyor mechanisms  10  of virtually any necessary or desirable length or configuration. 
     Having thus set forth preferred embodiments for the improved sanitary conveyor frame of this invention, it is also to be noted that, according to known industry standards, antimicrobial materials would preferably be utilized on conveyor belt  14  and all joints between the segments of belt  14 . Referring to the view of FIG. 6, it can be seen and appreciated that the improvement provided by the present invention results in a sanitary conveyor mechanism having virtually no hidden, covered nor enclosed parts where organic material might collect, thereby detracting from the sanitary condition of the mechanism. Furthermore, routine cleaning and maintenance of a sanitary conveyor mechanism constructed in accord with this invention is not only easier, but also much more efficient. 
     It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained and, since certain changes may be made in the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. 
     It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall there between. 
     Now that the invention has been described,