IDLER ROLLER DEVICE FOR TROUGHED CONVEYOR BELTS

• US 3,648,824 A
• Filed: 09/04/1970
• Issued: 03/14/1972
• Est. Priority Date: 09/04/1970
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Norton Frederick Allan City of St Catharines Judicial District of Niagara North Executor of The Estate of Alice EDNA Speck Dec'D
• Original Assignee: Charles D. Speck
• Inventors: Speck, Charles D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Aegerter, Richard E.
• Application Number:
  US05/069,586
• Time in Patent Office: 557 Days
• Field of Search: 198/192,202,201,191
• US Class Current: 198/501
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 39/09 Arrangements of bearing or sealing means
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 39/10 Arrangements of rollers on a single axle B65G39/04
• CPC Class Codes: F16C 13/00 Rolls, drums, discs, or the like guide rollers in feeding webs B65H27/00; calender rolls, bearings therefor D21G1/02; rotary drums or rollers for heat-exchange or heat-transfer apparatus F28F5/02; Bearings or mountings therefor

Abstract

A pair of urethane idler rollers having center bearing holes with but one entrance journaled on, and enclosing the upper metal bearing portions of upwardly inclined shafts, each supported at one end. The shafts and rollers thereon extend upwardly and outwardly in opposite directions to engage the inclined sides of a troughed conveyor belt and skewed backwardly at a slight angle from a normal to its direction of movement. Movement of the troughed belt rotates and imposes a downward thrust on the skewed rollers to keep them from falling off, prevent the bearing surfaces from becoming exposed, and allow the belt to flex and shift relative to rollers without axially displacing the rollers.

Claims

1. An idler roller device adapted to be supported by a primary conveyor support and to supportingly engage opposite upwardly inclined side portions of a troughed conveyor belt, comprising:

means, fixed to the primary conveyor support, including a pair of upwardly, outwardly and backwardly inclined support shafts each supported at one end from which the support shafts extend in substantially opposite directions to opposite upper ends of the support shafts for supporting a pair of rollers under and in supporting engagement with the said opposite upwardly inclined side portions of the belt and for rotation by the belt about axes and bearing surfaces of the support shafts inclined both upwardly adjacent the inclined side portions and backwardly from a direction of movement of the troughed conveyor belt and a vertical plane normal to the direction of movement; and

a pair of idler rollers rotatably mounted on the upwardly and backwardly inclined support shafts, each roller having a center bearing hole into which one of the inclined support shafts extends, a single entrance into the center bearing hole, at one end of the roller, by which the roller is inserted over the upper end of one of tHe support shafts, and an end wall at an opposite end of the roller enclosing the upper end of one of the support shafts;

whereby the rollers rotate freely about upwardly, outwardly and backwardly inclined axes, the belt rotates and contacts the rollers at an angle and thereby exerts a downward thrust to maintain the rollers on the support shaft, prevents the rollers from being displaced axially during the movement of the troughed conveyor belt and exposing the bearing surfaces of the shafts, and the rollers can be easily slipped on and off the bearing shafts for servicing.

2. An idler roller device according to claim 1 wherein the bearing shafts and the rollers have smooth bearing surfaces engaging one another, and one of the smooth bearing surfaces is a metal surface engaging a urethane surface.

3. An idler roller device according to claim 2 further comprising:

axial thrust bearing means, having at least one convex surface, between the upper ends of the shafts and the end walls within the center bearing holes of rollers, for providing a substantially reduced area of contact for reducing friction, heat, and wear between the shafts and the downwardly thrusted rollers.

4. An idler roller device according to claim 3 wherein the axial thrust bearing means comprises:

spherical ball bearings in the center bearing holes between the end walls and the upper ends of the bearing shafts.

5. An idler roller device according to claim 4 wherein the rollers are made of urethane material and the bearing shafts are made of metal.

6. An idler roller device according to claim 5 further comprising:

lubricating means for introducing lubricant into the center bearing holes, to, and in between the bearing surfaces of the shafts and the rollers.

7. An idler roller device according to claim 6 wherein the lubricating means comprises:

a grease fitting fixed to the end wall of each of the rollers and a small hole extending from the grease fitting through the end wall into the center bearing hole with an exit end of the small hole offset from the central axis of the roller.

8. An idler roller device according to claim 7 wherein the means for supporting a pair of rollers further comprises:

a support bracket adapted to be fixed to the primary conveyor support in substantially a horizontal position under the troughed conveyor belt and to which the one end of each of the bearing shafts is fixed.

9. An idler roller according to claim 8 wherein the inclined bearings shafts are backwardly inclined from the vertical plane at an angle of 1* to 10*.

10. An idler roller device according to claim 9 wherein the bearing shafts and the rollers are inclined upwardly at an angle of 5* to 70* from a horizontal plane.