Conveyor belt having rollers that displace objects

• US 7,360,641 B1
• Filed: 04/13/2007
• Issued: 04/22/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/13/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Laitram LLC
• Original Assignee: Laitram LLC
• Inventors: Fourney, Matthew L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bidwell; James R.
• Application Number:
  US11/735,068
• Time in Patent Office: 375 Days
• Field of Search: 198/779, 198/853, 198/781.08, 198/370.01, 198/370.09, 198/781.04
• US Class Current: 198/779
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 17/24 comprising a series of rollers which are moved , e.g. over a supporting surface, by the traction element to effect conveyance of loads or load-carriers
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 17/32 Individual load-carriers
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 17/40 Chains acting as load-carriers

Abstract

In one embodiment, a conveyor belt includes multiple roller sets, each roller set including a first roller and a second roller, the first and second rollers being placed in contact with each other such that driving of one of the rollers in a first angular direction causes rotation of the other roller in a second, opposite angular direction.

Claims

1. A conveyor belt comprising:

multiple roller sets, each roller set including a first roller and a second roller, the first and second rollers being placed in contact with each other such that driving of one of the rollers in a first angular direction causes rotation of the other roller in a second, opposite angular direction, wherein the first and second rollers have axes of rotation that are arranged at an angle relative to a longitudinal direction of the conveyor belt.

2. The conveyor belt of claim 1, wherein the first and second rollers are arranged in a vertically-stacked orientation in which the first roller is a bottom roller and the second roller is a top roller that is positioned above the bottom roller.

3. The conveyor belt of claim 1, further comprising conveyor belt modules that support the roller sets.

4. The conveyor belt of claim 3, wherein the conveyor belt modules include an inner space in which the roller set is positioned.

5. The conveyor belt of claim 3, wherein the conveyor belt modules comprise top and bottom surfaces and wherein a portion of the first roller extends beyond the bottom surface and a portion of the second roller extends beyond the top surface.

6. The conveyor belt of claim 1, wherein at least some of the first and second rollers are configured so as to create a gearing effect such that an outer surface one of the rollers travels at a faster speed than an outer surface of the other roller in a second, opposite angular direction.

7. A conveyor belt comprising:

a plurality of conveyor belt modules that are arranged in rows across a width of the conveyor belt and in columns along a longitudinal direction of the belt and that form at least a portion of the conveyor belt, each module comprising a body including a top surface, a bottom surface, and an inner opening that extends from the top surface to the bottom surface, each module further comprising a roller set including a top roller and a bottom roller positioned within the opening in a vertically-stacked orientation in which the top and bottom rollers are placed in contact with each other with the top roller positioned above the bottom roller, wherein a portion of each top roller extends beyond the top surface of its associated module body and a portion of each bottom roller extends beyond the bottom surface of its associated module body;

wherein the bottom rollers can be driven during operation of the conveyor belt through contact with a drive mechanism disposed below the conveyor belt, the contact between the bottom rollers and the drive mechanism causing the bottom rollers to rotate in a downstream direction and contact between the bottom rollers and the top rollers causing the top rollers to rotate in an upstream direction.

8. The conveyor belt of claim 7, wherein each roller is supported within its conveyor belt module on a roller shaft.

9. The conveyor belt of claim 8, wherein each roller shaft is substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the conveyor belt such that the rollers rotate in directions aligned with the longitudinal direction of the conveyor belt.

10. The conveyor belt of claim 8, wherein each roller shaft is arranged at an angle relative to a longitudinal direction of the conveyor belt.

11. The conveyor belt of claim 8, wherein the roller shafts of the first and second rollers are parallel to each other.

12. The conveyor belt of claim 10, wherein the angle is in the range of about 1 degree to about 89 degrees relative to the longitudinal direction.

13. The conveyor belt of claim 10, wherein each roller shaft is arranged at an angle that results in diverting of objects from the conveyor belt at an approximately 90 degree diverting angle.

14. The conveyor belt of claim 7, wherein at least some of the top rollers comprise a first portion in contact with a bottom roller and a second portion adapted to contact objects carried by the conveyor belt, the first portion having a smaller diameter than the second portion.

15. The conveyor belt of claim 14, wherein the first portion is an inner portion that is positioned between two outer portions of the top roller.

16. The conveyor belt of claim 7, wherein the top and bottom rollers have teeth that are adapted to mesh with each other to reduce roller slip.

17. The conveyor belt of claim 16, wherein the teeth are composed of a pliable material.

18. A method for diverting objects from a conveyor belt, the method comprising:

transversely displacing an object from the conveyor belt using a plurality of top rollers provided in the belt that extend beyond a top surface of the belt, the top rollers being driven by bottom rollers positioned below the top rollers within the belt, the bottom rollers extending beyond a bottom surface of the belt and being driven by a drive mechanism located below the belt.

19. A method for displacing objects on a conveyor belt, the method comprising:

displacing an object in an upstream direction relative to the conveyor belt so as to at least reduce the speed with which the object is conveyed in a downstream direction by the belt, wherein displacing the object comprises driving the object in the upstream direction using a plurality of top rollers that extend beyond a top surface of the belt, the top rollers being driven by bottom rollers positioned below the top rollers within the belt, the bottom rollers extending beyond a bottom surface of the belt and being driven by a drive mechanism located below the belt.

20. A conveyor belt comprising:

multiple roller sets, each roller set including a first roller and a second roller, the first and second rollers being placed in contact with each other such that driving of one of the rollers in a first angular direction causes rotation of the other roller in a second, opposite angular direction, and

conveyor belt modules that support the roller sets, wherein the conveyor belt modules comprise top and bottom surfaces and wherein a portion of the first roller extends beyond the bottom surface and a portion of the second roller extends beyond the top surface.

21. The conveyor belt of claim 20, wherein the first and second rollers are arranged in a vertically-stacked orientation in which each first roller is a bottom roller and each second roller is a top roller that is positioned above a bottom roller.

22. The conveyor belt of claim 21, wherein at least some of the top rollers comprise a first portion in contact with a bottom roller and a second portion adapted to contact objects carried by the conveyor belt, the first portion having a smaller diameter than the second portion.

23. The conveyor belt of claim 22, wherein the first portion is an inner portion that is positioned between two outer portions of the top roller.

24. The conveyor belt of claim 21, wherein the top and bottom rollers have teeth that are adapted to mesh with each other to reduce roller slip.

25. The conveyor belt of claim 24, wherein the teeth are composed of a pliable material.

26. The conveyor belt of claim 21, wherein axes of all of the top rollers are parallel to each other.

27. The conveyor belt of claim 21, wherein each roller set comprises a single top roller positioned above a single bottom roller.

28. The conveyor belt of claim 20, wherein the first and second rollers have axes of rotation that are substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the conveyor belt.

29. The conveyor belt of claim 20, wherein the first and second rollers have axes of rotation that are arranged at an angle relative to a longitudinal direction of the conveyor belt.

30. The conveyor belt of claim 20, wherein the conveyor belt modules include an inner space in which the roller set is positioned.

31. The conveyor belt of claim 20, wherein each roller is supported within its conveyor belt module on a roller shaft.

32. The conveyor belt of claim 31, wherein each roller shaft is arranged at an angle relative to a longitudinal direction of the conveyor belt.

33. The conveyor belt of claim 20, wherein the first and second rollers are of substantially identical construction.

34. A conveyor belt comprising:

multiple roller sets, each roller set including a first roller and a second roller, the first and second rollers being placed in contact with each other such that driving of one of the rollers in a first angular direction causes rotation of the other roller in a second, opposite angular direction, wherein at least some of the first and second rollers are configured so as to create a gearing effect such that an outer surface one of the rollers travels at a faster speed than an outer surface of the other roller in a second, opposite angular direction.