ARTICULATED, WHEELED CHAIN FOR INDUSTRIAL CONVEYORS

• US 3,575,282 A
• Filed: 10/21/1968
• Issued: 04/20/1971
• Est. Priority Date: 01/31/1968
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Gaiotto Alvise, Gaiotto Cesare
• Original Assignee: Gaiotto Alvise, Gaiotto Cesare
• Inventors: GAIOTTO CESARE, GAIOTTO ALVISE
• Application Number:
  US04/769,228
• Time in Patent Office: 911 Days
• US Class Current: 198/683
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 39/20 attached to moving belts or chains

Abstract

An articulated, wheeled chain for industrial conveyors having a plurality of U-shaped rigid elements which alternately lie in horizontal and vertical planes and are pivotally connected with each other by means of pins linking the knee of each element with the arm of the adjacent one. The pins are alternately perpendicular with one another and carry at their respective opposite ends a pair of wheels perpendicular to the related pin axis and adapted to engage with a track having a spider or square cross section. In this manner, the wheels are caused to always roll on the track without any sliding friction between track and wheels, even when the latter travel along curved track sections.

Claims

1. An articulated wheeled chain for industrial track conveyors, comprising a plurality of rigid elements, each element being linked with the two adjacent ones by means of pivot pins disposed perpendicular with one another and having their both ends fitted with track-engageable wheels of which the rotation planes are also perpendicular with one another, each rigid element formed being in the form of a strip metal plate of suitable thickness and bent generally U-sahpe at an angle of 180* arcuately in its central area to receive a bushing, thereby forming a knee with two spaced parallel arms extending therefrom, a sleeve bushing disposed in said knee to accommodate a related central portion of a first pin by which the rigid element is linked together with an adjacent one, while the opposite ends of said two parallel arms are each provided with a hole in coaxial alignment with one another to accommodate a central portion of a second pivot pin, whereby each element is linked together with another adjacent one, said bushing connected to the knee by means of a pair of oppositely spaced, centrally apertured plates, each of which lies in an oppositely recessed edge portion of the knee parallel with each other, thus forming parallel knee-closing walls with the opposite ends of said bushing engaging into the respective apertures of said plates, and said pin-attached wheels adaptable for engagement with a conveyor track secured at both ends thereof.

2. An articulated chain accOrding to claim 1 wherein tie rods adapted to attach a load are connected to and extend directly from each of the said pairs of plates engaging the respective bushes of each rigid element in the chain.