GB1603403A

GB1603403A - Belt conveyors

Info

Publication number: GB1603403A
Application number: GB27794/77A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: N Greening Ltd
Current assignee: N Greening Ltd
Priority date: 1977-07-02
Filing date: 1977-07-02
Publication date: 1981-11-25
Also published as: AU520860B2; AU3714578A; ZA783389B

Description

(54) IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO BELT CONVEYORS (71) We, N. GREENING LIMITED, a British Company of Britannia Works, Bewsey Road, Warrington, Cheshire, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement :- The invention relates to belt conveyors and in particular to endless belt conveyors of the type in which the load supporting surface of the belt is formed from an array of modular elements hingedly attached to spaced cross members extending between opposite edges of the belt.

The modular elements span the space between each pair of adjacent cross members and conveniently the elements of each group of three cross members forming two adjacent pairs are intercalated at the common cross member.

Conveyor belts of the form described above are known in which the attachment parts of the modular elements are in the form of bores through which the crossmembers extend and in the assembly of such belts it is necessary to have at least one end of each cross member free either to allow it to be passed through the bores in the elements and then the belt to be completed by attaching side links to the free ends of the members to locate them in correct spaced relation, or alternatively to allow the elements and side links to be assembled into the desired relation and the cross-member passed through registering holes therein to secure them together.

Such modes of assembly of the belt lead to problems in installation or maintenance.

In particular, it is usually necessary to make adjustments to the alignment or tracking of the belt when it has been installed, and it is inconvenient if such adjustments cannot be carried out until the complete belt has been assembled. It is also inconvenient if, in order to replace the elements to take account of wear or to change to a different aperture where the elements are in the form of grid structures, the belt has to be disassembled to such an extent that the adjustments have to be repeated.

Problems may also be encountered in supporting the elements and links in the correct position while the cross-members are inserted, especially where the belt comprises several elements arranged side-by-side between its edges and/or no surface is available on which to lay them fiat such as might occur during servicing or maintenance in situ.

It is an object of the present invention to mitigate or eliminate these problems.

According to one aspect of the present invention a method of assembling a conveyor belt of the type specified includes the steps of assembling a plurality of crossmembers and side links to form a ladderlike structure, locating a pair of said modular elements in edge-to-edge relationship between a pair of spaced cross-members and their interconnecting side links with opposite free edge parts of the pair of elements each engaging a respective cross-member by means of an open slot extending inwardly from the free edge of the element and coupling the adjacent edges of the pair of ele- ments to the links of the ladder structure at a position intermediate said pair of spaced cross-members.

Preferably the elements of the pair are interfitted prior to engaging said slotted edges with the spaced cross members and pivotted into the general plane of the belt for coupling of the said adjacent edges to the ladder structure.

The coupling may be at a position inter mediate the ends of a link or, and perhaps preferably, at the pivotal connection be- tween two links, conveniently by insertion of a cross-member rod through a ferrule connecting the links together. Such a ferrule is provided in preferred embodiments where the links joining the cross-members of the ladder structure comprises inside links of chains for driving the belt.

The interfitting of the elements prior to ennagin, 7 the slotted edge parts with the cross-members may be effected by hingedly coupling the cements by a member such as a tube to extend between the side links and be secured thereto.

In preferred embodiments the adjacent edge parts of the pair of elements intercalate and the coupling to the ladder structure is then conveniently effected by inserting a further cross member through registering holes and/or slots in the intercalations and the side links.

Embodiments of the invention allow the ladder belt to be assembled and adjustments carried out prior to fitting of the elements and furthermore permit removal of each pair of elements without disassembly of the belt.

A further aspect of the invention concerns a conveyor belt assembled by the method of the first aspect.

An emobdiment of the invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawing in which :- Figure 1 shows in plan a portion of the conveyor belt, Figure 2 is a sectional side view showing a pair of modular elements positioned ready for engagement with spaced cross-members of the belt, Figure 3 is a view corresponding to Figure 2 with adjacent edges of the pair of elements coupled to the ladder structure.

In Figure 1 is shown a portion of a conveyor belt comprising spaced crossmembers in the form of metal bars 10 extending parallel to each other across the width of the belt and connected together at their ends by longitudinal links 11. chains extending one each side of the belt The links 11 comprise inside links of and by means of which the belt can be driven. The outer chain links are not shown and only parts of the chain ferrules 12 are shown. It will be appreciated that the links 11 need not be part of a chain if alternative driving means is provided.

Each adjacent pair of rods 10 is bridged by a modular element 13, moulded in syn thetic plastics material, and generally rectangular with its central area in the form of a grid of through apertures, although other forms are feasible.

The edge parts of the elements which engage the rods 10 are correspondingly castellated so that when adjacent edges of a pair of elements are engaged with a common cross member they intercalate to present a substantially continuous upper load bearing surface.

As can be ; een more clearly in Figure 2, each element has protrusions at one of its rod-engaging edge parts each formed with an open-ended slot 15 which extends inwardly generally parallel to the face of the element. The protrusions at the other, opposite edge part are each formed with a bore 16. The elements per se are the subject of our copending application number (RP363A) 8037151 (Serial No. 1603404) to which the reader is directed for reference.

The elements are assembled as pairs, so that when said other edge parts are intercalated the bores 16 are in register and the slotted ends are free to engage spaced crossmembers of the conveyor.

To assemble the belt a plurality of chain links 11 and alternate ones of cross-members 10 are assembled to form a ladder structure.

A pair of elements 13 are intercalated and hinged at an acute angle as shown in Figure 2. The elements are then lowered and opened out to engage each slot 15 with the corresponding one of the alternate spaced cross members 10. With the slotted ends engaged, the pivotting movement is continued until the elements are Iying in the plane of the conveyor chains and crossmembers and the bores 15 are in register with the holes in the intermediate ferrules 12. The intermediate rod is then passed through the registering ferrules 12 and bores 16 to couple the elements securely to the ladder structure. The rod itself may be secured by any convenient means such as by circlips.

A second pair of elements can then be inserted in similar manner into the next pair of alternately spaced cross members and with the slotted edges of adjacent elements of the pairs intercalating at the common cross member.

In this particular embodiment no allowance is made for relative longitudinal movement of the various component parts of the belt. Where such movement is necessary or desirable it can be provided for by longi- tudinal slotting of the bores 16 and/or at the ferrules 12.

The hinging together and insertion into the belt of the element pairs may be facili- tated if they are first assembled onto a tube of length less than the spacing of the links at opposite edges of the belt and of sufficient diameter to accommodate the rod.

It will be appreciated that the embodiment described above may be modified in various ways. For example, ferrules need only be provided where : he rods are to be inserted at the connections between two links. The alternate rods used to form the ladder structure can be pivotally secured to the links without ferrules.

Ferrules could also be dispense with in an alternative embodiment in which the elements are hingedly coupled by rods which pass through holes midway along the length of the chain links.

Whether the coupling of the elements to the side links is at the link pivots or not, the pitch of the links need not be the same as that of the elements, i. e. the length of each element could be a multiple of the link pitch, although it will be understood that in this case return bend radius of the conveyor bclt will limit the length of element which can be used.

In the particular embodiment described above the belt is only one element wide, but the invention is especially applicable where the belt comprises several elements side-byside. Particularly where the bores or ferrules are slotted to allow some relative longitudinal movement of the elements and rods and/or links, spacers of similar form to the links may be provided between elements at one or more positions intermediate the edges of the belt.

It is envisage that pairs of elements could be provided already coupled together, for example by means of a tube extending through bores in the intercalating edge parts of the elements.

The elements described above have a central area aperture to form a grid. This is of particular application where drainage is required but in other applications the grid could be dispensed with. It is also envisaged that the grid portion could be removable enabling substitution of a differently apertured grid without the elcments necessarily being removed from the conveyor.

Although the elements referred to above plastics material, other materials such as metal could be used either wholly or in combination. In particular a removable grid portion could e of synthetic plastics material with a metal surround, or vice versa.

Various other modifications to the element construction and the manner in which elements of a pair interengage are feasible and examples are illustrated in our copending aplication number 12448/76 (Serial number 1577940).

Claims

WHAT WE CLAIM IS :- 1. A method of assembling a conveyor belt of the type in which the load support surface of the belt is formed by modular elements hingedly attached to spaced cross members extending between longitudinal links at opposite edges of the belt, the method including the steps of assembling a plurality of cross-members and side links to form a ladder-like structure, locating a pair of said modular element. in edge-toedge relationship between a pair of spaced cross-members and their interconnecting side links with opposite free edge parts of the pair of elements each engaging a respective cross-member by means of an open slot extending inwardly from the free edge of the element and coupling the adjacent edges of the pair of elements to the links of the ladder structure at a position intermediate said pair of spaced cross-members.
2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the elements of the pair are interfitted prior to engaging said slotted edges with the spaced cross-members and pivotted into the general plane of the belt for coupling of the said adjacent edges to the links of the ladder structure.
3. A method as claimed in claim 2, wherein said interfitting comprises hingedly coupling the elements by a member to extend between the side links and be secured thereto.
4. A method as claimed in claim 3 wherein the member is a tube.
5. A method as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said adjacent edge parts of the pair of elements are intercalated and coupled to the intermediate links by inserting a further cross member through registering holes and/or slots in the intercalation and the links.
6. A method as claimed ir, any preceding claim, wherein said adjacent edges are coupled at a position intermediate the ends of a link.
7. A method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 5, wherein said adjacent edges are coupled at a pivotal connection between two links.
8. A method as claimed in claim 7, wherein said adjacent edges are coupled by insertion of a member through a ferrule connecting the links together.
9. A method of assembling a conveyor belt substantially as herein described with reference to the drawings accompanying the Provisional specification.
10. A conveyor belt of the type in which the load support surface of the belt is formed from modular elements hingedly attached to spaced cross members extending between links at opposite edges of the belt, when assembled by any of the preceding claims.