Patent ID: 8042682

Claim:
A drive arrangement for use with a conveyor assembly having a continuous conveyor belt supported by a conveyor frame having a pair of spaced side members, the drive arrangement comprising: a driven rotatable element extending between the pair of spaced side members and located at one end of the conveyor frame, the rotatable element including an axial keyway; a plurality of drive sprockets positioned along the rotatable element for engaging the conveyor belt to transmit a drive force between the rotatable element and the conveyor belt, each of the drive sprockets being freely movable along a longitudinal length of the rotatable element; and a drive sprocket retention system disposed between the drive sprockets and the rotatable element to substantially maintain a desired spacing between the drive sprockets, wherein the retention system includes a plurality of keys arranged in an end-to-end relationship in the axial keyway, each key having a recessed portion received and retained between a slot formed in one of the drive sprockets and the driven rotatable element without threaded fasteners, wherein the plurality of keys create the desired spacing between the plurality of drive sprockets.