The invention relates generally to power-driven conveyors and, more particularly, to conveyor belts having article-engaging rollers that rotate in a direction oblique to the direction of belt travel.
Conveyor belts with rollers that rotate on axles oblique to the direction of belt travel are being used more and more in material handling applications such as accumulating, accelerating, sorting, singulating, diverting, and switching articles. The purpose of the obliquely oriented axles is to provide an oblique axis of rotation for the rollers. Other modular conveyor belts have rollers mounted on hinge pins, whose primary purpose is to interconnect rows of belt modules together at hinge joints so the belt can articulate about sprockets. Rollers may be mounted on the hinge rods at openings formed in the belt along the rods. But, because the hinge rod resides in the belt perpendicular to the direction of belt travel, the rollers on the rods rotate only in the direction of belt travel. Although these belts are suitable for accumulating and accelerating products, they are not able to divert, sort, singulate, or switch because the rollers rotate only in the direction of belt travel.
These shortcomings and others are addressed by a conveyor belt embodying features of the invention. One version of such a conveyor belt comprises rods, such as hinge rods, disposed perpendicular to the direction of belt travel. The conveyor belt further comprises axles, each of which is mounted on a corresponding one of the rods. Each of the axles has a cylindrical outer bearing surface that defines a central axis oblique to the direction of belt travel. A roller is mounted on each axle for rotation on the outer bearing surface about the central axis of the corresponding axle. Each of the axles has a bore oblique to the central axis for receiving the corresponding rod.
Another version of the conveyor belt comprises belt modules arranged in a series of rows. Each row has spaced apart hinge elements with aligned apertures along leading and trailing ends. The hinge elements along a leading end of a row are interleaved with the hinge elements along the trailing end of a leading row to form a lateral passageway between consecutive rows perpendicular to the direction of belt travel. Hinge rods, each received in one of the lateral passageways, connect the rows into an endless belt. The hinge elements are spaced apart non-uniformly along each end to provide one or more large openings disposed between laterally consecutive interleaved hinge elements and traversed by the hinge rods. A plurality of axles, each disposed in a corresponding large opening and having a cylindrical outer bearing surface that defines the central axis. A bore through the axle oblique to the central axis receives a corresponding one of the hinge rods. The conveyor belt further comprises a plurality of rollers, each mounted on a corresponding axle for rotation on the outer bearing surface about the central axis of the corresponding axle.
These aspects and features of the invention, as well as its advantages, are explained in more detail in the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings, in which:
A portion of a conveyor belt embodying features of the invention is shown in
As best shown in
The axle may be a one-piece axle 32′ as shown in
As best shown in
Another version of roller assembly is shown in
For best results, the axle is preferably stationarily affixed on the hinge rod. The axle of
Another interference feature is shown in
Although the invention has been described in detail with reference to a few preferred versions, other versions are possible. For example, the axles are shown mounted on hinge rods, but could be mounted on any rods or pins supported in the belt. As another example, the rectangular keyed structure of
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