Claims
- 1. A splice sleeve for housing, gripping, and connecting sequential guide rails to a conveyor line having a radius turn, comprising:
- an elongated central member having a guide rail housing portion and a support flange;
- a first tension bar having a guide rail housing portion and a supporting flange, the bar being located adjacent a first end of the central member and arranged to form with the central member a first housing area for gripping a first guide rail;
- a second tension bar having a guide rail housing portion and a supporting flange, the second bar being located on a second end of the central member to form with the central member a second housing area for gripping a second guide rail;
- a retainer for clamping together the flanges of the central member and the first bar to secure the first guide rail within the first housing area;
- a retainer for clamping together the flanges of the central member and the second bar for gripping a second guide rail within the second housing area; and
- an elongated shim to be positioned between the flanges of the central member and said first tension bar to enlarge the first guide rail housing area so that the first guide rail can be loosely gripped, but may be manually slid endwise within the first housing area.
- 2. A splice sleeve as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second length of the second guide rail housing is greater than the first length of the first guide rail housing.
- 3. A splice sleeve as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first guide rail is adapted to be flush fixed within the first guide rail housing area and cannot be slid by a force applied by a person's bare hand.
- 4. A splice sleeve as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second guide rail is fixed within the second guide rail housing area and can be slid by a force applied by a person's bare hand.
- 5. A splice sleeve as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first and second retainers further comprise hand tightening devices to allow hand adjustability of the retainers.
- 6. A splice sleeve as claimed in claim 1, wherein an extension guide rail is located between the first tension bar and the second tension bar.
- 7. A splice sleeve as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shim has a thickness of approximately one sixteenth of an inch.
- 8. A splice sleeve as claimed in claim 1 wherein the shim has a thickness of approximately one inch.
- 9. A splice sleeve as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shim includes a first hole and a second hole formed on opposing ends of the shim.
- 10. A splice sleeve as claimed in claim 9, wherein the first and second holes of the shim are respectively symmetrically located with a first hole and a second hole formed on the central member and a first hole and a second hole formed on the second tension bar.
- 11. A splice sleeve as claimed in claim 10, wherein the second retainer comprises a pair of bolts which respectively extend through the holes in central member and through the holes in the shim and then through the holes in the second tension bar and are secured by a pair of bolts.
- 12. A splice sleeve as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first retainer comprises a pair of bolts which respectively extend through a third and fourth hole in central member and through a first and second hole in the second tension bar and are secured by a pair of bolts.
- 13. A splice sleeve as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shim can be interchanged between the first and second guide rail housing areas.
- 14. A splice sleeve comprising a C-shaped guide rail channel formed by an elongated central member and a tension bar for gripping a guide rail to a conveyor line having a radius turn, said bar and said central member having supporting flanges each with a hole therethrough; and an elongated shim having a hole, the shim being arranged between the central member and the tension bar flanges such that the holes in the shim, central member and tension bar align to allow a retainer to be placed therethrough such that the guide rail channel can retain the guide rail when the retainer is fully tightened but the guide rail can be slid endwise within the guide rail channel by a force applied by a person's bare hand.
- 15. A splice sleeve as claimed in claim 14, wherein the shim has a unibody construction.
- 16. A splice sleeve as claimed in claim 14, wherein the shim thickness is approximately one sixteenth of an inch.
- 17. A shim as claimed in claim 14, wherein the shim has a length that is less than one-half the length of the central member.
- 18. A shim as claimed in claim 14, wherein an end of the shim is aligned flush with an end of the central member and an end of the tension bar.
- 19. A shim as claimed in claim 14 wherein the guide rail is adapted to slides in a direction parallel to the guide rail housing area.
- 20. A method for housing, gripping, and connecting sequential guide rails for use with a conveyor system having a radius turn, comprising:
- forming a first guide rail housing area by arranging a central member and a first tension bar in a generally C-shaped orientation;
- placing a first guide rail within said first guide rail housing area;
- securing the first guide rail within the first guide rail housing area with a first retention means;
- forming a second guide rail housing area by arranging the central member and a second tension bar in a generally C-shaped orientation with a shim placed between the central member and the second tension bar;
- placing a second guide rail within said second guide rail housing area; and
- securing the second guide rail within the second guide rail housing area with a second retention means.
RELATED CASES
This application is a continuation-in-part of copending application Ser. No. 08/934,861, filed Sep. 22, 1997.
US Referenced Citations (13)
Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Date |
Country |
335904 |
Mar 1959 |
SEX |
489838 |
Aug 1938 |
GBX |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
934861 |
Sep 1997 |
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