MODULAR IDLE ROLLER BELT FOR CONVEYOR OF ARTICLES

• US 20140346014A1
• Filed: 09/03/2012
• Published: 11/27/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/02/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rexnord Flattop Europe SRL (Regal Rexnord Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Rexnord Flattop Europe SRL (Regal Rexnord Corp.)
• Inventors: Andreoli, Andrea, Coen, Daniele
• Granted Patent: US 9,302,850 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 198/779
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 13/02 having driven rollers
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 15/30 Belts or like endless load-carriers co-operating with rails or the like B65G21/22; co-operating with rollers B65G39/20
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 17/061 the load carrying surface being formed by profiles, rods, bars, rollers or the like attached to a single traction element B65G17/24 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 17/08 the surface being formed by the traction element
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 17/40 Chains acting as load-carriers

Abstract

A modular roller belt (100,200) for transporting articles is proposed. The belt comprises a plurality of modules (105) for transporting the articles, and a plurality of hinge pins (110), each for hinging adjacent modules of the belt about a corresponding geometric axis (GAX). Each module comprises at least one roller (115a,115b,115c,115d) and at least one mounting pin (1201,1202) for mounting the at least one idle roller to the respective module; the at least one roller is freely rotatable about a respective rotation axis (RAX1, RAX2) defined by the corresponding mounting pin. In the solution according to one or more embodiments of the present invention, the rotation axis of facing rollers of adjacent modules along a belt moving direction (x) and the geometrical axis of the hinge pin located there between are spaced apart, in a direction orthogonal to a moving direction (sN) of the respective module, a vertical distance (H) such that a minimum distance between the outer surface of these rollers and the outer surface of the corresponding hinge pin is less than or equal to 3 mm.

Claims

1. A modular roller belt for a conveyor of articles, said belt comprising:

a plurality of modules including a first module for conveying the articles; and

a plurality of hinge pins, each hinge pin of said plurality of hinge pins having a hinge pin outer circumference and hinging said first module to an adjacent modules of the plurality of modules around a corresponding geometric axis, wherein said first module includes an upper surface and at least one roller rotatably mounted above said upper surface for rotation about a rotation axis, said at least one roller having a roller outer circumference, in a vertical direction orthogonal to a flowing direction, a lower portion of said roller outer circumference overlapping an upper portion of said hinge pin outer circumference.

2. The modular roller belt according to claim 1, wherein in said orthogonal direction, said at least one roller and an adjacent rollers of said adjacent module is at least partially at the same height position as the hinge pin hinging said adjacent modules.

4. The modular belt according to claim 1, wherein the at least one rollers mounted on the first module is between hinge pins hinging said first module to adjacent modules.

5. The modular roller belt according to claim 1, wherein said first module includes a fixing body having a first side portion, a second side portion, and a central portion between the first side portion and the second side portion, said first side portion and said central portion delimiting a first roller-holder region of the module and said second side portion and said central portion delimiting a second roller-holder region of the module, and wherein the at least one roller includes at least one first roller within the first roller-holder region and at least one second roller within the second roller-holder region, said first and second roller-holder regions including through holes adapted to the insertion of respective mounting pins for idler mounting of the at least one first roller and of the at least one second roller, respectively.

6. The modular roller belt according to claim 5, wherein each one of said first side portion, second side portion and central portion comprises includes respective front holed ends and respective rear holed ends for receiving the hinge pins, at least one of said front holed ends of each module being hinged to at least one rear holed end of the following module in the flowing direction of the belt.

7. The modular roller belt according to claim 1, wherein the at least one roller of said first module defines a support surface (FSURF) for supporting the articles to be conveyed, and wherein the first modules defines an engagement surface (BSURF) opposite the support surface, said engagement surface including at least one flare adapted in use to engage motion transmission elements for the movement of the belt.

8. The modular roller belt according to claim 1, wherein at least one of a mounting pins rotatably mounting said at least one roller and said hinge pins are of plastic material.

9. The modular roller belt according to claim 1, wherein said rotation axis is defined by a mounting pins having a maximum diameter less than 3 mm.

10. The modular roller belt according to claim 5, wherein the belt comprises at least one aligned sequence of first modules, in said aligned sequence the front holed ends of the first side portion, the second side portion and the central portion of each first module being hinged to the rear hole ends of the first side portion, the second side portion and the central portion, respectively, of the corresponding following adjacent module in the flowing direction of the belt.

11. The modular roller belt according to claim 5, wherein the belt comprises at least one staggered sequence of first modules, in said staggered sequence the rear holed end of the central portion of at least one module being hinged to the front holed ends of the first portions of a pair of previous adjacent modules in the forward direction of the belt.

12. The modular roller belt according to claim 11, further comprising a plurality of half-modules each one being arranged substantially laterally to said at least one staggered sequence of first modules for uniformly delimiting the support surface of the belt.

13. The modular roller belt according to claim 1, wherein said rotation axis is defined by a mounting pin and a diameter of the mounting pins is less than ⅓

of the diameter of the roller.

14. The modular roller belt according to claim 1, wherein a length of the at least one rollers is at least twice a diameter of the at least one roller.

17. The modular belt according to claim 1, in which the rotation axis of said at least one roller of said first module and an adjacent roller of an adjacent modules hinged to said first module along a forward direction of the belt and the geometric axis of the hinge pin hinging said first module to said adjacent module are spaced apart, along a direction orthogonal to a flowing direction of the first module, by a vertical distance such that a minimum distance between the outer surface of such rollers and the outer surface of the corresponding hinge pin is 3 mm or less.

3. (canceled)

15. (canceled)

16. A modular roller belt module comprising:

a body having an upper surface;

a hinge pin intermeshed with said body for hingedly connecting said body to an adjacent body about a hinge axis, said hinge pin having a hinge pin outer circumference;

a roller rotatably mounted above said upper surface for rotation about a rotation axis, said roller having a roller outer circumference, wherein in a vertical direction orthogonal to a flowing direction of said body, a lower portion of said roller outer circumference overlapping an upper portion of said hinge pin outer circumference.