Patent ID: 7367447

Claim:
A modular plastic conveyor belt of the type with projections or knuckles extending in fore and aft directions from each module of a multiplicity of modules assembled together, assembly of the belt in a wide variety of widths and lengths, with the projections of adjacent module rows interdigited and retained together along hinge lines, the belt being without connecting rods or pins extending through the interdigited projections, and comprising: each module having a center section and a plurality of said projections or knuckles extending integrally from the center section in first and second sets that extend in opposite directions from each of two ends of the center section, forward and aft relative to travel of the belt, the projections of the first set having, on each of substantially all such projections, an integral pivot post extending laterally along said hinge line and part way through a space formed with a neighboring projection of the first set, and the projections of the second set having, on each of substantially all such projections, a recess in a lateral side of the projection positioned to be engaged by a pivot post of a projection of the first set, and the projections, pivot posts and recesses being so configured and arranged that to assemble serially adjacent modules together in adjacent module rows, or to disassemble such modules, the modules of the adjacent rows must be angled such that the modules of one row turn down angularly relative to the modules of the adjacent row, until the first projections with pivot posts can interdigit with the second projections and engage the posts in the recesses of the second projections, and such that the modules of the adjacent rows are locked together when returned toward a common planar configuration.