Patent ID: 8387781

Claim:
A conveyor assembly comprising: (1) a continuous conveyor belt extending about a head pulley and a tail pulley to have a carry side and a return side for the belt, wherein the conveyor assembly has a loading zone where material is loaded onto the carry side of the belt and a transport zone between the loading zone and the head pulley; (2) a plurality of conveyor belt supports positioned along the length of the belt for supporting carry and return sides of the conveyor belt, the conveyor belt support comprising: (a) a return roller structure extending across the width of the belt and supported by a belt support on one side of the conveyor assembly; (b) a return roller on the return roller structure; (c) a releasable support apparatus adapted to support the other side of the return roller structure on the opposite side of the conveyor assembly, whereby upon release of the releasable support apparatus, the return roller structure can be removed from the opposite side of the conveyor assembly, the belt support including a shaft support by the belt support on the one side of the conveyor assembly and extending to the opposite side of the conveyor assembly, the shaft being adapted to slidably receive the return roller structure from the opposite side of the conveyor assembly, the return roller support including a tubular member adapted to be received on the shaft, the releasable support apparatus including a holding bracket having a recess adapted to have the return roller structure pass through the recess onto the shaft for supporting the end of the return roller structure, when the return roller is moved into operative position to support the return side of the belt, the releasable support apparatus further including a rotatable member for rotating the return roller structure to have the return roller in operative position and a locking mechanism for releasing holding the rotatable member to the holding bracket, whereby when the locking mechanism is released and the rotatable member is rotated, the return the return roller structure can be removed from the opposite side of the conveyor assembly.