Patent ID: 8365899

Claim:
A hitch guard system comprising: a plurality of hitch guard members each having a substantially flat, upper surface for generally spanning a gap formed in a conveyor belt traveling over adjacent conveyor belt rollers and in a longitudinal travel direction such that each hitch guard member has upstream and downstream edges that, at the upper surface, extend linearly in a lateral direction across the conveyor belt; a lower mounting bar for extending laterally across the belt between the adjacent conveyor belt rollers in the conveyor belt gap; and a lower detachable connection between each of the hitch guard members and the lower mounting bar with the detachable connection being located below the upper surface of each of the corresponding hitch guard members and being configured to fix the upper surfaces of the hitch guard members against shifting in the longitudinal direction and to allow side edges extending between the upstream and downstream edges of adjacent hitch guard members to abut one another to avoid accumulation of debris under the hitch guard members.