Patent ID: 7806254

Claim:
A belt conveyor comprising: a frame assembly supporting a plurality of zone assemblies, each of said zone assemblies comprising a removable belt module removably mounted to said frame assembly; each said removable belt module having a removable belt module frame, a drive pulley and at least one other pulley rotatably supported by said removable belt module frame and separate from said frame assembly, said removable belt module further having a continuous belt reeved around said drive pulley and said at least one other pulley; said removable belt module being separable from said frame assembly in order to replace one or both of said removable belt module and said continuous belt, wherein said belt remains under tension upon separation of said removable belt module from said frame assembly, thereby reducing conveyor down time when replacing said belt; and wherein said zone assembly further comprises a motor mounted to said frame assembly separate from said belt module, and a power transmission device that is adapted to interconnect said drive pulley with said motor and is adapted to be at least partially removable to separate said removable belt module from said frame assembly.