VARIABLE ANGLED-ROLLER BELT AND CONVEYOR
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A conveyor comprising:
- one or more conveyor belts forming a continuous conveying surface extending longitudinally in a direction of belt travel and laterally in width from a first side to a second side and further forming an underside opposite the conveying surface;
a plurality of rollers arranged in the one or more conveyor belts with salient portions of the rollers protruding beyond the continuous conveying surface and the underside;
a bearing surface underlying the one or more conveyor belts with the salient portions of the rollers protruding beyond the underside in rolling contact with the bearing surface as the one or more conveyor belts advance longitudinally in the direction of belt travel;
wherein the one or more conveyor belts are divided laterally into one or more longitudinal lanes in which all the rollers in a longitudinal lane are arranged to rotate on oblique axes forming at least two different acute angles measured in the same direction from the direction of belt travel.
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Abstract
A conveyor constructed of a single belt or a plurality of abutting belts arranged side by side in the conveyor, in which the belt or belts have rollers arranged to rotate on axes oriented at multiple angles oblique to the direction of belt travel. A gradual or monotonic, stepped change in the axes of the rollers across the width of the conveyor can be used to make a conveyor capable of converting a mass flow of articles into a single stream of separated articles.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A conveyor comprising:
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one or more conveyor belts forming a continuous conveying surface extending longitudinally in a direction of belt travel and laterally in width from a first side to a second side and further forming an underside opposite the conveying surface;
a plurality of rollers arranged in the one or more conveyor belts with salient portions of the rollers protruding beyond the continuous conveying surface and the underside;
a bearing surface underlying the one or more conveyor belts with the salient portions of the rollers protruding beyond the underside in rolling contact with the bearing surface as the one or more conveyor belts advance longitudinally in the direction of belt travel;
wherein the one or more conveyor belts are divided laterally into one or more longitudinal lanes in which all the rollers in a longitudinal lane are arranged to rotate on oblique axes forming at least two different acute angles measured in the same direction from the direction of belt travel. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A conveyor comprising:
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one or more conveyor belts forming a continuous conveying surface extending longitudinally in a direction of belt travel and laterally in width from a first side to a second side and further forming an underside opposite the conveying surface;
a plurality of rollers arranged in the one or more conveyor belts with salient portions of the rollers protruding beyond the continuous conveying surface and the underside;
a bearing surface underlying the one or more conveyor belts with the salient portions of the rollers protruding beyond the underside in rolling contact with the bearing surface as the one or more conveyor belts advance longitudinally in the direction of belt travel;
wherein the rollers are arranged to rotate on oblique axes forming at least two different acute angles measured in the same direction from the direction of belt travel and wherein the acute angle measured from the longitudinal centerline midway between the first and second sides of the one or more conveyor belts for each roller is described by a function α
(w), where w is the lateral position of the roller across the width W of the belt measured from the longitudinal centerline (w=0) between the first side (w=−
W/2) and the second side (w=+W/2). - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A conveyor comprising:
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one or more conveyor belts forming a continuous conveying surface extending longitudinally in a transport direction and laterally in width from a first side to a second side and further forming an underside opposite the conveying surface;
a plurality of rollers arranged in the one or more conveyor belts with salient portions of the rollers protruding beyond the continuous conveying surface and the underside;
a bearing surface underlying the one or more conveyor belts with the salient portions of the rollers protruding beyond the underside into contact with the bearing surface, wherein relative motion between the one or more conveyor belts and the bearing surface causes the rollers to rotate;
wherein the rollers are arranged to rotate to exert at least three differently directed force vectors oblique to the transport direction to articles conveyed atop the salient portions of the rollers protruding beyond the conveying surface. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A conveyor comprising:
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a modular conveyor belt including a series of rows of one or more belt modules extending longitudinally in a direction of belt travel from a first end to a second end and connected together first end to second end at hinge joints into a modular conveyor belt extending laterally in width from a first side to a second side and in thickness from an outer surface to an inner surface and defined by a longitudinal centerline midway between the first and second sides;
a plurality of rollers disposed in at least some of the rows and having salient portions protruding beyond the outer and inner surfaces of the belt;
a bearing surface underlying the modular conveyor belt with the salient portions of the rollers protruding beyond the inner surface in rolling contact with the bearing surface as the modular conveyor belt advances longitudinally in the direction of belt travel;
wherein the rollers are arranged to rotate on axes defining with the longitudinal centerline at least three distinct acute angles.
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20. A modular conveyor belt comprising:
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a series of rows of one or more belt modules extending longitudinally from a first end to a second end and connected together first end to second end at hinge joints into a modular conveyor belt extending laterally in width from a first side to a second side and in thickness from an outer surface to an inner surface and defined by a longitudinal centerline midway between the first and second sides;
a plurality of rollers disposed in at least some of the rows and having salient portions protruding beyond the outer and inner surfaces of the belt;
wherein the rollers are arranged to rotate on axes defining with the longitudinal centerline at least three distinct acute angles. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23)
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Specification