Slides for endless belt conveyors
Slides for use on an endless belt conveyor belt and wear pads for use on slides for endless belt conveyors.
This application claims priority to Canadian Patent Application No. 2,527,295, filed on Nov. 17, 2005 and Canadian Patent Application No. 2,552,065, filed on Jul. 14, 2006, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to slides for endless belt conveyors and wear pads for use on slides for endless belt conveyors.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Slides, which have been referred to as idlers have been used for some time to support conveyor belts. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,854,593 issued to Boudreau et al on Feb. 15, 2005, discloses a slide referred to therein as a pad-type idler, for slidably supporting a continuous conveyor belt. The pad-type idlers are supported on a metal support above a base. When conveying a liquid-containing substance, e.g. in the food processing industry, liquid falls onto the slides where it accumulates. The presence of a liquid between the belt and the slides results in drag (skin friction drag) between the belt and the slides which causes the belt to slow down or stop.
U.S. Pat. No, 5,799,780 issued to Steeb et al (hereinafter Steeb) on Sep. 1, 1998, discloses a slide, referred to therein as a wear bar, for slidably supporting a continuous conveyor belt. The first embodiment of Steeb is a feed idler assembly, which includes a generally U-shaped frame defined by a base, a pair of legs on opposite ends of the base and a pair of shorter intermediate supports between the legs. Plates are attached to the top ends of the legs of the intermediate supports. Wear bars are attached to the tops of the plates. A conveyor belt sliding over the wear bars forms a trough which is useful for conveying materials in the manufacturing and mining industries.
The fixed wear bars of Steeb are intended to replace rotatable idler rollers. The Steeb patent discloses two different types of wear bars, namely those used for a feed idler assembly (see
In one aspect, the invention relates to a wear pad for use on a slide of an endless track conveyor belt comprising an elongated body having a flat top surface for slidably supporting a conveyor belt during travel of the belt over the top surface between leading and trailing edges of the top surface; and a plurality of grooves in said top surface extending between the leading and trailing edges of the body for discharging liquid falling onto the top surface, whereby drag between the wear pad and the belt is reduced.
In another aspect, the invention relates to a slide for use on an endless belt conveyor, said slide comprising a crossbar extending perpendicular to the path of travel of the endless belt; and a wear pad on said crossbar for supporting said belt during travel of the belt, said wear pad extending perpendicular to said path of travel; a spacer between said pad and said crossbar for spacing said pad from said crossbar; and retaining means for retaining said pad and spacer on said crossbar.
In another aspect, the invention relates to a slide for use on an endless belt conveyor, said slide comprising a crossbar extending perpendicular to the path of travel of the endless belt; the top of said crossbar having a hole therethrough; a wear pad on said crossbar for supporting said belt during travel of the belt, said wear pad extending perpendicular to said path of travel and having a threaded hole therethrough, a synthetic fluorine-containing resin bolt in said threaded hole extending through said hole in said crossbar; and locking means for retaining said pad on said crossbar.
In another aspect, the invention relates to a return slide for use on an endless belt conveyor, which includes a pair of rollers and an endless belt extending around said rollers, said slide comprising a base for extending perpendicular to the path of travel of the endless belt beneath said rollers; and a wear pad on said base for supporting said belt during travel of the belt beneath said rollers, said wear pad having a top surface which is convex along its length for positioning beneath an endless belt with the pad extending perpendicular to said path of travel.
In another aspect, the invention relates to a hanger assembly used for suspending a return slide from an endless belt conveyor frame comprising a hanger plate having a top end for suspending the hanger from the conveyor frame; a bottom end for supporting one end of a return slide; a keyhole slot in said bottom end for receiving a bar for connecting the hanger plate to one end of a return slide; and a clip for locking said bar in said slot.
In another aspect, the invention relates to a hanger assembly used for suspending a return slide from an endless belt conveyor frame comprising a hanger plate having a vertical top end portion; a flange on said top end portion for suspending the hanger from the conveyor frame; a web connected at one end to a lower end of said top portion for extending inwardly towards one end of a conveyor slide; a vertical bottom end portion connected to a second end of said web, a keyhole slot in said bottom end portion for receiving a bar for connecting the hanger plate to one end of a return slide; and a clip for locking said bar in said slot.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSThe invention is described below in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Referring to
During travel over the top of the pulleys 3 and 4, the belt 1 is supported by transition slides 14 and troughing slides 15. When passing beneath the pulleys 3 and 4 the belt is supported by return slides 17. Each of the transition and troughing slides 14 and 15 includes a frame defined by a tubular base 18 with plates 19 on the ends thereof for mounting the assembly on the main frame 10 of the conveyor. The top ends of vertical center posts 21 extending upwardly from the middle of the base 18 are interconnected by a crossbar 22.
A wear pad 24 in accordance with the present invention is mounted on the crossbar 22. Inclined wear pads 25 are mounted on arms 26 connected to and extending outwardly and upwardly from the ends of the crossbar 22. Inclined side posts 28 extend between the base 18 and the arms 26 for supporting the latter. The basic difference between the transition and troughing slide assemblies 14 and 15 is the angle of the inclined wear pads 25 with respect to the horizontal. The troughing wear pads and the supporting arms 26 have a greater inclination for forming a deep material conveying trough. The wear pads 24 and 25, which are formed of a Teflon (trade-mark for polytetrafluoroethylene) composite, are similar to the pads disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 6,854,592, issued Feb. 15, 2005.
The pad 24 can optionally include cylindrical or frusto-conical wear indicators of the types described in applicant's Canadian Patent Application 2,327,646 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,854,593, respectively and which are incorporated herein by reference.
Referring to FIGS. 2 to 6, the wear pad 24 in accordance with the present invention is basically an elongated rectangular parallelepipedic body with a flat, rectangular bottom surface 29 and a flat rectangular top surface 30 over which the belt 1 slides. The top of the front and rear ends 31 (the leading and trailing ends in the direction of belt travel) of the pad 24 are beveled. Holes 32 in the pad 24 receive bolts 33 for mounting the pad on the crossbar 22. The pad is spaced apart from the crossbar 22 by a pair of spacers 35. The bolts 33 extend through the spacers 35 and the crossbar 22. Nuts 36 are threaded onto the bottom ends of the bolts 33 beneath the crossbar 22.
As mentioned above, when conveying liquid-containing material, e.g. in the food processing industry, liquid tends to accumulate on the wear pads 24. The liquid literally sucks the belt 1 against the pads 24 which can slow down or stop the belt. Drag on the belt by the liquid is reduced by providing a plurality of grooves or channels 38 extending between the leading and trailing edges (in the direction of belt travel) in the top of each pad 24. Liquid landing on the pads 24 is discharged via the grooves 38. While the dimensions of the pad 24 and the grooves 38 are not critical, in a thirty inch long pad, three 0.25 by 0.25 inch grooves 38 spaced slightly over an inch apart in the center of the pad are effective. Of course, additional grooves with different dimensions can be used in the top of the pad 24.
The wear pad 24 can also be mounted on the arms 26 in place of the wear pads 25.
It will be appreciated that while the wear pad of the present invention has been described in a particular environment, i.e. on a specific slide assembly, the wear pad can be used on different endless belt conveyor slides. Moreover, the number of grooves and the dimensions thereof can vary depending upon, inter alia, the belt width and the speed of belt travel over the pads.
Referring to
Referring to FIGS. 8 to 14, in another embodiment, wear pad 32 and crossbar 34 can be used in place of wear pads 24 and 25 and crossbar 22 and arm 26 respectively in a conveyor assembly of the type shown in
The wear pad 32 has a rectangular main top surface 36 which contacts the belt 4. The top side edges 38 of the wear pad 32 are bevelled while the bottom surface 40 is rectangular. Two threaded holes 42 are provided in the wear pad 32 for receiving a bolt 44. The bolt 44 is made from Teflon suitable for use in the food industry. The bolt 44 includes a threaded section 46 and a cylindrical head 46. The base 48 includes a bore 50 therethrough for receiving a cotter pin 52.
The wear pad 32 can optionally include cylindrical or frusto-conical (indicated by 33) wear indicators of the types described in applicant's Canadian patent no. 2,327,646 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,854,593 respectively and which are incorporated herein by reference.
The crossbar 34 is made from steel and is generally c-shaped in cross section and includes two holes 54 (one toward each end of the crossbar 34 in a similar fashion to holes 30 in crossbar 10) for receiving bolts 44.
To mount the wear pad 32, a bolt 44 is screwed into each threaded hole 42.
The wear pad 32 is then mounted on the crossbar 34 by dropping the base 48 of the bolts 44 into the holes 54. A cotter pin 52 inserted into each bore 50 prevents the wear pad 32 from being removed from the crossbar 34.
With reference to
The base 130 is suspended from the sides 13 of the conveyor frame 10 by hangers 137. As best shown in
A keyhole slot 147 in the bottom end 143 of the hanger receives one end 148 of a short bar 149, the other end 150 of which supports one end 151 of the slide base 130. In the use position, the outer end 148 of the bar 149 is horizontal, and the inner end 150 is inclined slightly upwardly to match the slope of the base 130. The outer end 148 of the bar 149 includes diametrically opposed flats, i.e. notches 153 for locking the bar in the slot 146.
Referring to
If the return slide or a portion thereof is to be replaced, the slide can be removed from the hangers 137 by removing the screws 61 and lifting the slide. The bars 149 cause the clips 55 to pivot around the rivets 65 to release the slide. The rivets 65 are long enough to permit the clip to rotate, but sufficiently short that when rotated by the bars 149 the bottom arm 57 of the clip remains in position covering the bottom end of the keyhole slot 147. When the bars 149 are inserted in the slots 147 and lowered, the bars engage the arms 57 to cause the clips to rotate to the bar locking positions. The screws 61 are replaced in the holes 59 to lock the return slide in the hangers 137.
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art to which the present invention relates that the clip 55 can be used with hangers for suspending straight return slides or even roller assemblies from a conveyor frame.
Claims
1. A wear pad for use on a slide of an endless track conveyor belt comprising an elongated body having a flat top surface for slidably supporting a conveyor belt during travel of the belt over the top surface between leading and trailing edges of the top surface; and a plurality of grooves in said top surface extending between the leading and trailing edges of the body for discharging liquid falling onto the top surface, whereby drag between the wear pad and the belt is reduced.
2. The wear pad of claim 1, wherein said leading and trailing edges of said body are beveled, and said grooves extend between said beveled edges.
3. The wear pad of claim 2, wherein said grooves are parallel and spaced apart by a distance greater than their width.
4. The wear pad of claim 3, wherein said grooves have square cross sections.
5. A slide for use on an endless belt conveyor, said slide comprising a crossbar extending perpendicular to the path of travel of the endless belt, a wear pad on said crossbar for supporting said belt during travel of the belt, said wear pad extending perpendicular to said path of travel, a spacer between said pad and said crossbar for spacing said pad from said crossbar; and retaining means for retaining said pad and spacer on said crossbar.
6. A slide according to claim 5, wherein said pad, spacer and crossbar each include a hole therethrough; a bolt extending through said pad, spacer and crossbar; a nut on said bolt for retaining said bolt, pad and spacer on said crossbar.
7. A slide for use on an endless belt conveyor, said slide comprising a crossbar extending perpendicular to the path of travel of the endless belt, the top of said crossbar having a hole therethrough, a wear pad on said crossbar for supporting said belt during travel of the belt, said wear pad extending perpendicular to said path of travel and having a threaded hole therethrough; a synthetic fluorine-containing resin bolt in said threaded hole extending through said hole in said crossbar, and locking means for retaining said pad on said crossbar.
8. A slide according to claim 7, wherein said bolt includes a threaded portion and a head; said locking means including a hole through said head and a cotter pin insertable in said hole.
9. A return slide for use on an endless belt conveyor, which includes a pair of rollers and an endless belt extending around said rollers, said slide comprising a base for extending perpendicular to the path of travel of the endless belt beneath said rollers; and a wear pad on said base for supporting said belt during travel of the belt beneath said rollers, said wear pad having a top surface which is convex along its length for positioning beneath an endless belt with the pad extending perpendicular to said path of travel.
10. The return slide of claim 9, wherein said base and pad are bowed upwardly along their entire length.
11. The return slide of claim 10 including longitudinally extending grooves in side edges of said pad; and inverted L-shaped brackets connecting said pad to said base.
12. The return slide of claim 11, wherein said base is generally C-shaped, including a top wall and two downwardly extending side walls.
13. The return slide of claim 9, including hangers for suspending the base from a conveyor frame beneath the rollers and belt, each of said hangers including a slot; and a bar for extending into said slot and beneath said base.
14. A hanger assembly used for suspending a return slide from an endless belt conveyor frame comprising a hanger plate having a top end for suspending the hanger from the conveyor frame; a bottom end for supporting one end of a return slide; a keyhole slot in said bottom end for receiving a bar for connecting the hanger plate to one end of a return slide; and a clip for locking said bar in said slot.
15. The hanger assembly of claim 14, including a flange on said top end of the plate for connecting the hanger to the conveyor frame; and an inclined web connecting said top end to said bottom end of the plate.
16. The hanger assembly of claim 14, wherein said bar includes an inner end for supporting one end of said return slide; an outer end for extending through said keyhole slot in the hanger plate; and opposed grooves in said outer end for securing the bar in said slot.
17. The hanger assembly of claim 16, wherein said clip is generally C-shaped including a horizontal top arm for straddling said out end of said bar and a lower arm, whereby, when the clip is placed on the bar and secured to said hanger plate, the bar is locked in said keyhole slot by said top arm of the clip.
18. The hanger assembly of claim 17, wherein the clip is pivotally connected to said hanger plate for rotation between a closed position in which said top arm straddles said bar and an open position in which the lower arm covers a bottom end of said keyhole slot.
Type: Application
Filed: Nov 17, 2006
Publication Date: May 17, 2007
Inventor: Jean-Marc Boudreau (Bathurst)
Application Number: 11/600,887
International Classification: B65G 15/40 (20060101);