NL2018816B1

NL2018816B1 - A conveyor having a pulling organ connected to center parts of carrying members.

Info

Publication number: NL2018816B1
Application number: NL2018816A
Authority: NL
Inventors: Hoogendijk Yvonne
Original assignee: Yvon Hoogendijk Interim Man & Coaching
Priority date: 2017-05-01
Filing date: 2017-05-01
Publication date: 2018-11-09

Abstract

A conveyor for transporting products, in particular hot food products coming out of an oven, comprises a pulling organ extending in a transportation direction along an endless conveying track, and carrying members that are connected at spaced intervals one behind the other to the pulling organ. The carrying members together form a carrying surface for the products to rest upon during transport, and the pulling organ and carrying members connected thereto together form a conveyor organ that is drivable along the conveying track. The pulling organ is connected to center parts of the carrying members, wherein end parts of the carrying members extend in opposing sideways directions at opposing sides of the pulling organ.

Description

Octrooicentrum

Nederland

B65G 17/06 (2018.01)

(4^ Aanvraag ingeschreven:	© Octrooihouder(s):
9 november 2018	Yvon Hoogendijk Interim Management &
	Coaching te ODIJK.
© Aanvraag gepubliceerd:
	© Uitvinder(s):
© Octrooi verleend:	Yvonne Hoogendijk te ODIJK.
9 november 2018
© Octrooischrift uitgegeven:	© Gemachtigde:
6 februari 2019	ir. H.V. Mertens c.s. te Rijswijk.

(57) A conveyor for transporting products, in particular hot food products coming out of an oven, comprises a pulling organ extending in a transportation direction along an endless conveying track, and carrying members that are connected at spaced intervals one behind the other to the pulling organ. The carrying members together form a carrying surface for the products to rest upon during transport, and the pulling organ and carrying members connected thereto together form a conveyor organ that is drivable along the conveying track. The pulling organ is connected to center parts of the carrying members, wherein end parts of the carrying members extend in opposing sideways directions at opposing sides of the pulling organ.

NL Bl 2018816

Dit octrooi is verleend ongeacht het bijgevoegde resultaat van het onderzoek naar de stand van de techniek en schriftelijke opinie. Het octrooischrift komt overeen met de oorspronkelijk ingediende stukken.

P33119NL00/RR

Title: A conveyor having a pulling organ connected to center parts of carrying members.

The invention relates to the field of conveyors for transporting products, in particular hot food products coming out of an oven, like breads or other types of bakery products. More particularly the invention relates to conveyors that are able to transport products not only along straight track sections but also along more complex conveying tracks that have to follow specific routes through a work space and for that need to include curved track sections in a horizontal plane.

Belt conveyors are widely used in industrial, manufacturing and materials handling processes for transporting objects. In many cases, a modulair (plastic) conveyor belt, joined at its outer ends to form an endless loop, passes over cylindrical rollers, one of which is driven.

Such belt conveyors work well for transporting products along substantially straight tracks. However, for products that need to follow a specific route through a work space, a conveying track may need to have curved track sections in a horizontal plane. Such changes of direction in the horizontal plane are not possible for belt conveyors or require expensive special solutions. Furthermore it is noted that conveyor belts have a closed or mostly closed top surface and thus are not well suited for transporting hot food products that give off heat, water or water vapour, since these are confined by the belt surface and unable to dissipate.

For this purpose conveyors have been developed which have an open grid. Such an open grid for example may be formed of a metal fabric. It can also be formed by parallel rods that are supported on two sides and thus have a sort of “ladder” configuration.

For example US-4,244,464 and US-4,993,540 show examples of such “ladder” conveyors that comprise two lateral chains that are connected to each other by means of transverse bars that together form a carrying surface. The chains each comprise closed loop-shaped links that extend in perpendicular planes. The chain links are slidable one into another to enable an inside bend chain to temporarily contract when moving through a curved track section in the horizontal plane.

A disadvantage with these know “ladder” conveyors is that only relative largeradius curved track sections are possible in the horizontal plane. Furthermore they are relative heavy and expensive to manufacture. Another disadvantage is that their maximum length is limited because of too much resistance being built up in the chains.

The present invention aims to overcome one or more of those disadvantages or to provide a usable alternative. In particular the present invention aims to provide a conveyor that comprises a conveyor organ which is flexible enough to navigate through small-radius curved track sections, while at a same time having an open structure allowing the transported products to give off heat and water vapour from their lower surfaces, and/or allowing products which may drip or spill fluids to be transported while allowing any spillages to fall through the openings.

This aim is achieved by a conveyor according to claim 1. The conveyor comprises a pulling organ extending in a transportation direction along an endless conveying track, and carrying members that are connected at spaced intervals one behind the other to the pulling organ. The carrying members together form a carrying surface for the products to rest upon during transport. The pulling organ and carrying members connected thereto together form a conveyor organ that is drivable along the conveying track. According to the inventive thought the pulling organ is connected to center parts of the carrying members, wherein end parts of the carrying members extend in opposing sideways directions at opposing sides of the pulling organ.

Thus a conveyor is obtained that makes it possible for a designer to be used for all kinds of conveying tracks, including ones having relative small-radius curved track sections that are curved in horizontal and/or vertical planes. This gives a lot of freedom to such a designer in being able to develop complex transportation routes for transporting products through work spaces like factories. At a same time the conveyor provides a carrying surface with an open construction that makes it well possible for products that are transported by it to at a same time give off heat, water or water vapour during their transport. The centrally located pulling organ advantageously is able to form a flexible backbone, whereas the sideways extending carrying members are able to form ribs. Together they are well able to offer the conveyor organ an optimal combination of flexibility for moving along curved track sections of the conveying track, and rigidity for being able to carry the products from one location to another along that track. Furthermore the invention makes it possible to make the conveyor organ lightweight and economic, and advantageously makes it possible to obtain long track lengths with only one endless conveyor organ.

The conveyor can easily be adapted to many requirements in industrial, manufacturing and other environments. Layouts can be designed incorporating smallradius bends if required. The conveyor organ can also be constructed to move through vertical angles, to spiral up or down, for example. It is possible to design layouts where a return path for the conveyor organ follows a transporting path exactly, but at a lower level, in the manner of a conventional endless belt. There are also embodiments possible where the return path follows a totally different route and at a different level. Layouts can also be made where the conveyor organ moves around a layout only in a horizontal plane, forming a continuous transporting path which cycles back endlessly through the starting position.

In a preferred embodiment the conveying track along which the conveyor organ, and in particular the pulling organ thereof, gets guided comprises at least curved track sections in a horizontal plane, wherein the pulling organ is constructed such that it is at least flexible and/or bendable in this horizontal plane. Thus, when the pulling organ is guided around a curved track section in this horizontal plane, the lateral carrying members move along with the pulling organ and automatically get oriented to radii of the curved track section by means of their preferably fixed connections with the pulling organ. This means that free ends of the carrying members on an inner side of the curved track section move closer together, and that free ends of the carrying members on an outer side of the curved track section move further apart. It will be appreciated that the dimensions of the carrying members, length, diameter and spacing, will determine a minimum radius of the curved track section, and that in turn these dimensions will be determined by the requirements of the products to be transported.

In a further embodiment a curved guiding profile can be provided along at least one of the curved track sections in the horizontal plane for guiding the pulling organ along that curved track section. The guiding profile for example can comprise one or more stationary segments, like curved metal strips, that are at least partly made out of or provided with a friction reducing material. The guiding profile also may comprise one or more rollers that together define the curved track section along which the pulling organ needs to be guided.

In a further embodiment the conveying track along which the conveyor organ, and in particular the pulling organ thereof, gets guided further may comprise curved track sections in a vertical plane, wherein the pulling organ further is constructed such that it is also flexible and/or bendable in this vertical plane. This makes it for example possible for the conveyor to move the products along an upper part of the conveying track and then have the conveyor organ move back along a lower part of the conveying track.

A rotatable support member then can be provided along at least one of the curved track sections in the vertical plane for guiding the pulling organ along that curved track section. The rotatable support member can even be driven if desired and thus form a driving member that engages via the pulling organ with the conveyor organ for driving it along the endless conveying track.

The pulling organ can be formed by all kinds of organs, like for example an elongate driving cable, driving cord, driving belt/strap ordriving chain. Important for a proper choice and construction of the pulling organ is firstly that it is able to exert a pulling force onto the conveyor organ. Secondly it is important that it is able to flex or bend along curved track sections in at least one, and preferably at least two directions, that are perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the pulling organ. Thirdly it is important that the carrying members can be easily and reliably connected fixedly to the pulling organ. Fourthly it is important that the pulling organ can be made such slender that it does not close off the carrying surface too much. In particular the pulling organ has width dimensions that are at least smaller than 5% of the spanning width of the entire conveyor organ.

In a preferred embodiment the pulling organ is formed by a chain of interconnected links, wherein the carrying members are each connected to individual ones of the links. The chain links make it possible to easily and quickly mount the carrying members at regular spaced intervals thereto and is well able to offer the desired bending flexibility around a vertical and/or horizontal axis. Cogged or toothed wheels and/or suitably shaped guiding profiles can then advantageously be used to easily and smoothly guide the pulling organ around curved track sections.

The chain links can be connected to each other by means of hinge pins which offer a desired hingability and thus bending flexibility in at least one direction. In a preferred embodiment the interconnected links however may comprise a succession of loop-shaped links gripping through each other with such play that they are able to swivel relative to one another both in two planes that are perpendicular to each other, in particular a horizontal and vertical plane. The chain links are free to move relative to each other, in said perpendicular planes, preferably both in the horizontal plane and vertical plane, but are prevented from twisting around the transportation direction of the chain. Thus a reliable and economic to manufacture and substantially maintenance free pulling organ is provided that helps in keeping the entire conveyor organ as open structured as possible for being able to dissipate heat and/or water. The dimensions of the links can be determined by the requirements of each individual installation, taking account of the size, weight and other characteristics of the products to be transported.

In a further preferred embodiment planes of successive loop-shaped links are substantially perpendicular to one another, in particular such that a succession of horizontal lying loop-shaped links and vertical standing loop-shaped links are provided. The links of the chain are thus held in alternate perpendicular, particularly vertical and horizontal, alignments. This makes it possible to have a toothed wheel grip into alternating ones of the loop-shaped links and thus stably guide the chain and if desired exert a firm and stable driving force thereto.

It is possible to have individual ones of the carrying members connected to all or some of the chain links. In an advantageous embodiment the carrying members are connected to every second one of the loop-shaped links, in particular to the vertical standing loop-shaped links. In this way they do not stand in the way of a toothed wheel gripping through the first ones of the loop-shaped links, in particular through the horizontal lying loop-shaped links.

Left and/or right side support members can be provided along at least part of the conveying track for supporting the end parts of the carrying members during driving along the conveying track. Those side support members then are positioned at fixed positions to extend underneath the end parts of the carrying members, in particular in a direction substantially parallel to the transportation direction. Thus the carrying members can be prevented from tipping over when asymmetrically loaded with products or where heavy products are being transported that might exert too large a turning moment on the pulling organ of the conveyor organ to which the center parts of the carrying members are connected.

The side support members may comprise stationary guiding profiles and/or drivable belts. When using drivable belts, they may be used as driving member that engages via the carrying members with the conveyor organ for driving it or helping to drive it along the endless conveying track.

The carrying members can be formed by all kinds of structures or frameworks, like for example ones comprising supporting arms, strips, rods, beams, bars, mesh structures or plates. Important for a proper choice and construction of the carrying members is firstly that they are able to carry the weight of the products. Secondly it is important that they leave enough space between themselves and adjacent ones for having their end parts moving towards and away from each other during bending and/or flexing of the pulling organ along curved track sections, in particular curved track sections in the horizontal plane. Thirdly it is important that the carrying members can be easily and reliably connected fixedly to the pulling organ. Fourthly it is important that the carrying members can be made such slender that they do not close off the carrying surface too much. In particular the carrying members have dimensions that do not cover more than 15% of the carrying surface of the entire conveyor organ.

The carrying members particularly have elongate shapes that extend at least partly in lateral sideways directions, preferably perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the pulling organ respectively the transportation direction. With the center parts of the elongate carrying members to which the pulling organ is connected, it is meant those parts of the carrying members that lie in the center of the conveyor organ seen in its width direction. Preferably those center parts of the carrying members then also lie in middle of the carrying members themselves seen in their longitudinal respectively lateral sideways direction, because this provides for balance of the end parts of the carrying members themselves that extend in opposing sideways directions at opposing sides of the pulling organ.

In a preferred embodiment the carrying members comprise rods, since rods are well able to provide the carrying surface with enough rigidity, while keeping the carrying surface as open as possible, and while being well able to have their outer ends move so much towards one another that curved track sections in the horizontal plane with truly small radii can easily and quickly be passed by the centrally located pulling organ without the end parts of the carrying members bumping prematurely against each other.

The ends of the carrying members may in some cases be bent upwards to confine products being transported to the conveyor organ without the need for separate edge strips or the like. The carrying members may in other embodiments be sloped up from the centre to achieve the same effect, or they may be bent to a form suitable for the items to be transported.

Each carrying member may comprises one or a plurality of rods. In the case of a plurality of rods per carrying member, the rods can be connected to each other at their outer ends in various ways.

In a variant the carrying members can be provided with rotatable support cylinders for supporting movement of the products relative to the carrying members. The rotatable carrying elements can for example be formed by support cylinders that are attached to the carrying members and allow transported products to move at a different speed compared to a basic forward speed of the conveyor organ in the transportation direction.

The material of which the conveyor organ is put together will depend on the requirements of the transported products. For example in cases where food products are to be transported, the pulling organ, in particular formed by the chain, and the carrying members, in particular formed by the rods, may be of stainless steel. Other applications may require other metals, alloys, plastics or composite materials. The carrying members may be fixed to the pulling organ by welding, bolting, screwing, by use of adhesives, by using clips or by any other method that is suitable.

The conveyor organ can be driven around its track or layout by use of conventional motors applying forward motion to the pulling organ by means of cogged or toothed wheels or rotors (rotatable support members), which will not only apply continuous motion to the conveyor organ, but will also keep the pulling organ under a required tension at all times, for example by means of sensors giving feedback to a motor controller, and/or the use of springs, guides or buffers, etc., all as required. As indicated above an alternative means of applying forward motion to the conveyor organ is by use of (toothed) driving belts (driving support members) on either side of the conveyor organ, which apply force synchronously to the end parts of the carrying members. Thus, centrally-driven and/or side-driven options are possible which allow the conveyor organ to be extended almost indefinitely.

Further preferred embodiments are stated in the subclaims.

The invention also relates to a conveyor organ according to claim 16.

The invention shall be explained in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

- Fig. 1 A: shows a schematic perspective view of a first embodiment of a conveyor according to the invention with an endless conveying track that comprises curved track sections in a vertical plane;

- Fig. 1B: shows a detailed view of a part of the conveyor organ of fig. 1A along a straight track section;

- Fig. 2A: shows a top view of a second embodiment of the conveyor according to the invention with an endless conveying track that comprises curved track sections in a vertical and horizontal plane;

- Fig. 2B: shows a detailed view of a part of the conveyor organ of fig. 2A along a curved track section;

- Fig. 2C: shows a view according to fig. 2B with double rods as carrying members;

- Fig. 3A: shows a view according to fig. 1B with curved loops as carrying members;

- Fig. 3B: shows a view according to fig. 1B with pointed loops as carrying members;

- Fig. 4: shows a view according to fig. 1B with support cylinders on the carrying members;

- Fig. 5: shows a view according to fig. 1B with slides as side support members;

- Fig. 6: shows a perspective view of a detailed part of a variant of fig. 5 with drivable belts as side support members; and

- Fig. 7: shows a top view of a third embodiment of the conveyor according to the invention with an endless conveying track that comprises curved track sections in a horizontal plane with guiding profiles on the inside of the curves.

Fig. 1A shows a conveyor 100 comprising a conveyor organ 200 as a transporting medium, a first rotatable support member 112 and a second rotatable support member 114 that preferably are rotatable over substantially horizontal rotation axis. The conveyor organ 200 comprises an endless chain 210 as pulling organ.

The chain 210 extends along an imaginary endless loop-shaped conveying track. This track is defined by semi-circular curved track sections along parts of the support members 112, 114, which semi-circular curved track sections are connected to each other via upper and lower straight track sections. In the first embodiment that is shown in fig. 1A the entire conveying track lies in a same plane.

The conveyor organ 200 further comprises rods 220 as longitudinal carrying members that extend in a direction substantially perpendicularly to the plane of the chain 210. In this embodiment, the plane of the track through which the chain 210 extends has a substantially vertical orientation such that the straight and curved track sections lie in a vertical plane while the rods 220 extend in substantially horizontal directions. Yet other orientations may be envisaged as well.

The first rotatable support member 112 is provided at a first end of the longitudinal endless loop-shaped conveying track the chain 210 forms and the second rotatable support member 114 is provided at a second end opposite to the first end. The rotatable support members are embodied as discs. In another embodiment, the rotatable support members are embodied as cylinders or other bodies having a substantially circular cross-section. The first rotatable support member 112 and the second rotatable support member 114 are provided with teeth. The teeth engage with the chain 210. The teeth may extend from the rotatable support members. Alternatively, the teeth are provided only in the middle of the rotatable support members and/or are provided in a recessed way such that the teeth do not extend from the outer perimeter of the rotatable support members. If the chain 210 is not arranged to engage with teeth, but rather with protrusions and/or recesses having another shape, such protrusions and/or recesses having another shape are provided on the rotatable support members. The protrusions and/or recesses preferably have a shape at least partially complementary to a shape of the chain 210 at the inner side of the conveyor organ 200.

In this embodiment, one or both of the rotatable support members 112, 114 may be driven by means of an electromotor or another actuator that is connected to the applicable rotatable support member or rotatable support members.

Fig. 1B shows the conveyor organ 200 in further detail. The chain 210 of the conveyor organ 200 comprises vertical links 212 and horizontal links 214. On each vertical link 212, one of the rods 220 is provided. Alternatively, the rods 220 can also be connected to each second vertical link 212 or with any other periodicity. Whereas the rods 220 may also be connected to the horizontal links 214, this is less preferred in view of flexibility and freedom of movement of the chain 210. The rods 220 are connected to the vertical links 212 by means of welding, yet other means for connecting like glue or other adhesives, bolts, screws or clips may be envisaged as well. The links of the chain 210 and the rods 220 are preferably provided in iron, a metal alloy comprising iron like steel, another metal or metal alloy or a composite material comprising a metal like aluminium or iron.

Fig. 2A shows a perspective view of a second embodiment of the conveyor 100. The chain 210 again extends along an imaginary endless conveying track. The track of this second embodiment is again defined by semi-circular curved track sections in the vertical plane along the support members 112, 114, which semi-circular curved track sections are connected to each other via upper and lower track sections. As shown by Fig. 2A, the conveying track for the conveyor organ 200 now comprises a first track segment 202 and a second track segment 204 that are placed at an angle relative to one another and that are connected to each other by semi-circular curved track sections that lie in the horizontal plane, also referred to as bends.

Between the first track segment 202 and the second track segment 204, semicircular curved guiding profiles (not shown in fig. 2A) may be provided for guiding the chain 210 along those upper and lower bends in the horizontal planes. The guiding profiles may be static or dynamic. A static profile may be provided as a curvedly shaped profile, supporting the chain 210 at the inner side of the bend it is aimed to make. Such a curvedly shaped profile preferably has a groove for accommodating the sideways projecting parts of the horizontally oriented links of the chain 210.

The curved guiding profiles each have a curvature that is smaller than a maximum bending flexibility of the conveyor organ 200 in the horizontal plane.

Fig. 2B shows the bend in the track of the conveyor organ 200 in further detail. As end parts of the rods 220 are not connected, they are able to move relatively freely to one another by virtue of flexible connections between the links of the chain 210. This freedom of movement is limited by their connection to the chain 210 and their position relative to adjacent rods 220. With rods having a length of 0.4 metres and chain links having an inner length of 2 centimetres, fifteen chain links and eight rods 220 are required for covering a bend of approximately 90 degrees. In fully bent position of the conveyor organ 200 along those 90 degrees bends, adjacent rods come to lie under angles of approximately 13 degrees relative to each other. It is noted that these dimensions are only provided as an illustration, other values of the parameters may be used as well. This applies to other embodiments as well.

As visible in Fig. 2B, the distances between end parts of the rods 220 at the outer side of the bend are spaced apart relatively far, whereas end parts of the rods at the inner side of the bend are abutting each other. If products to be carried by the conveyor organ 200 are relatively small, there is a risk that those products may fall between the rods 220 at the outer side of the bend. To address this issue, the rods 220 then may be placed closer to one another or the radius of the bend may be made larger.

Fig. 2C shows a variant of the conveyor organ 200 with two rods placed on and fixedly connected to each vertical link 212. In this embodiment, less free space is provided between adjacent rods 220. This is the case when the conveyor organ 200 follows a straight track section, but also when the conveyor organ 200 follows a bend.

With the configuration as depicted by Fig. 2C, the smallest possible radius of the bend gets to be larger. With rods having a length of 0.4 metres and chain links having an inner length of 2 centimetres, twenty-three chain links and twelve rods are required for a bend of approximately 90 degrees. In maximum bent position of the conveyor organ 200, adjacent rods are provided under an angle of approximately 8 degrees in this embodiment.

The disadvantage of a larger minimal radius with the embodiment depicted by Fig. 2C may be alleviated by reducing the length of the rods 220. Alternatively or additionally, the width of a carrying member formed by the pair of rods 220 per vertical link 212 may be reduced at extremities, without seriously compromising carrying surface.

Fig. 3A shows the conveyor organ 200 with elongate loops as carrying members 320. Each elongate loop comprises a first rod 322, a second rod 324 parallel to the first rod 322 and curved end members 326 provided at the ends of the rods for connecting an extremity of the first rod 322 to an adjacent extremity of the second rod 324.

Fig. 3B shows a variation to the embodiment depicted by Fig. 3A. The conveyor organ 200 as depicted by Fig. 3B also comprises elongate loops 370, each comprising pairs of first rods 372 and second rods 374. The extremities of the rods this time are connected to each other by means of triangular end members 376.

It is noted that the end members 326 and 376 disclosed so far may be replaced by end members having a different shape, like rectangular, trapezoid, etc. or a combination thereof. Alternatively or additionally, instead of rods other types of elongate carrying members may be used, as long as they are slender and/or have an open structure. For example, also relatively rigid elongate mesh structures may be used.

Fig. 4 shows a variant of the conveyor organ with support cylinders 290 provided around the rods 220. The support cylinders 290 are rotatably mounted to the rods 220. The conveyor organ 200 in most cases will be driven to move at a constant speed along the conveying track. If a product carried by the conveyor organ 200 is blocked from movement, the product now can temporarily stay at its location, while the conveyor organ 200 can continue to move forward. Thus, this embodiment allows products that lie on top of the conveyor organ 200 to move at a speed different from the speed of the conveyor organ 200. Owing to the rotatable support cylinders 290, friction between the carrying members of the conveyor organ 200 and the products can be significantly reduced, reducing the possibility of damage to the products and/or the conveyor organ.

Because the carrying members as part of the conveyor organ are only connected to the central chain 210 or another bendable or flexible elongate pulling organ, the end parts of the carrying members may have a tendency to start to tilt in a vertical direction when asymmetrically loaded. Whether such tilting actually starts to occur and the amount of tilting depends on characteristics of the pulling organ, in this case the chain 210, on how the links thereof are connected. It also shall depend on the amount with which product load is unevenly distributed over the carrying members of the conveyor organ and in particular unevenly with respect to opposing sides of the chain 210. This could even result in products falling from the conveyor organ. Fig. 5 however shows a solution for this. At a left side of the conveyor organ 200, a first side support member 510 is provided and at a right side of the conveyor organ 200, a second side support member 520 is provided.

The side support members are provided for supporting the end parts of the carrying members. The side support members may be provided such that in normal operation, the carrying members do touch the side support members. There is as less friction as possible.. The side support members may be provided in a continuous and contiguous way, along the entire track of the conveyor organ 200. Alternatively, the side support members can also be provided in an intermittent, preferably periodical way along the track of the conveyor organ 200. In yet another embodiment, the side support members are only provided at locations where the risk of tipping over is larger. In particular at locations along the track where the conveyor organ 200 is not loaded with products, no side support members may have to be provided.

So far embodiments have been disclosed in which the conveyor organ 200 is driven by having a driving member engage with the chain 210. Alternatively or additionally, the conveyor organ 200 may also be driven by another driving member that engages with end parts of the elongate carrying members. Fig. 6 shows an embodiment in which a first driving belt 282 is provided as side supporting member at the left side of the conveyor organ 200 and a second driving belt 286 is provided as a side supporting member at the right side of the conveyor organ 200. The first driving belt 282 has indentations 284 provided at the outer side of the first driving belt 282 that are spaced by a distance substantially the same as at which the rods 220 are spaced away. The second driving belt 286 is provided with indentations 288 in an equivalent way. This allows the indentations in the driving belts to engage with the end parts at both sides of the rods 220.

The first driving belt 282 is placed around a first rotatable support member 612 and a second rotatable support member 614. The first driving belt 282 is set in motion by driving one or both of the first rotatable support member 612 and the second rotatable support member 614. The second driving belt 286 is provided around a third rotatable support member 616 and a fourth rotatable support member 618. The second driving belt 286 is set in motion by driving one or both of the third rotatable support member 616 and the fourth rotatable support member 618. Axles may be provided for connecting opposite rotatable support member. Alternatively, cylindrical support bodies can be provided for replacing opposite rotatable support members.

Fig. 7 shows a top view of a third embodiment of the conveyor organ 200. In this embodiment, the conveyor organ 200 is provided in an endless loop that lies in a plane having a substantially horizontal orientation. At a first extremity of the loop in which the conveyor organ 200 is provided, a first semi-circular curved guiding profile 152 is placed and at a second extremity of the loop, a second semi-circular curved guiding profile 154 is placed. The guiding profiles are in this embodiment determined as curved profiles that define curvature and radius of the horizontal curves of the conveyer loops. In this embodiment, the conveyor organ 200 may be driven by means of the embodiment discussed in conjunction with Fig. 6.

Alternatively, rotatable support members or cylindrical bodies having vertical rotation axis can be used instead of one or two of the guiding profiles shown by Fig. 7. In such embodiment, one or two of these rotatable support members or cylindrical bodies may be driven for setting the conveyor organ 200 in motion, equivalent to the rotatable support members as discussed in conjunction with Fig. 1A.

Besides the embodiments shown numerous variants are possible.

In the description above, it will be understood that when an element such as layer, region or substrate is referred to as being “on” or “onto” another element, the element is either directly on the other element, or intervening elements may also be present.

Furthermore, the invention may also be embodied with less components than described in the embodiments here, wherein one component carries out multiple functions. Just as well may the invention be embodied using more elements than depicted in the Figures, wherein functions carried out by one component in the embodiment provided are distributed over multiple components.

A person skilled in the art will readily appreciate that various parameters disclosed in the description may be modified and that various embodiments disclosed and/or claimed may be combined without departing from the scope of the invention.

Thus the invention provides a conveyor that offers such flexibility that it can be used for transporting all kinds of products along tracks with all kinds of shapes, in particular tracks that may have curved track sections not only for angling or reversing 10 the moving direction of the conveyor organ in vertical planes, for example towards other levels, but also may have curved track sections that lie in substantially a same plane as in which the carrying surface lies along that part of the track.

Claims

CONCLUSIONS

A transporter for transporting products, in particular hot food products coming from an oven, comprising:

- a pulling member which extends in the direction of transport along an endless conveyor track and

- support modules which are attached to the traction member at intervals behind each other, wherein the carrier modules together form a bearing surface on which the products rest during transport and wherein the traction member and the carrier modules attached to it together form a transport member that can be moved along the conveyor track, characterized in that the pull member is attached to middle portions of the support modules, with ends of the support modules protruding in opposite lateral directions on opposite sides of the pull member.

A conveyor as claimed in claim 1, wherein the conveyor track comprises curved handle parts in a horizontal plane, wherein the pulling member is constructed such that it is in any case flexible and / or bendable in this horizontal plane.

3. Conveyor as claimed in claim 2, wherein a curved guide profile is provided along at least one of the curved handle parts in the horizontal plane to guide the pulling member along said curved track parts.

4. Conveyor according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the conveyor track further comprises curved track parts in a vertical plane, wherein the pulling member is constructed such that it is also flexible and / or bendable in this vertical plane.

A conveyor as claimed in claim 4, wherein a rotatable support element is arranged along at least one of the curved track sections in the vertical plane to guide the pulling member along said curved section.

A conveyor as claimed in any one of claims 2-5, wherein the pulling member consists of a chain of interconnected links, wherein the carrier modules are each attached to their own respective link.

7. Conveyor as claimed in claims 4 or 5 and 6, wherein the links connected to each other comprise a sequence of loop-shaped links which engage each other in such a way that they can move relative to each other in both the horizontal and the vertical plane.

A conveyor as claimed in claim 7, wherein surfaces of successive loop-shaped links are substantially perpendicular to each other, so that a succession of horizontally located and vertically positioned loop-shaped links is created.

Conveyor according to claim 8, wherein the carrier modules are attached to each second loop-shaped link, in particular to the vertical loop-shaped links.

10. Conveyor according to one of the preceding claims, wherein on the left or right side side support elements are arranged along at least a part of the conveyor track to support the ends of the carrier modules during movement along the conveyor track, the side supports being arranged such that they extend below the ends of the carrier modules, in particular in a direction that is substantially parallel to the conveying direction.

A conveyor as claimed in claim 10, wherein the side supports comprise fixed guide profiles and / or drive belts.

A conveyor according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the support modules are elongated in shape, and in particular comprise rods.

A conveyor according to claim 12, wherein each carrier module comprises a plurality of rods which are connected to each other at the ends.

A conveyor according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the carrier modules are provided with rotatable support cylinders to support movement of the products relative to the carrier modules.

A conveyor according to any of the preceding claims, further comprising:

- a drive module which engages the transport member for moving the transport member along the endless transport path.

16. Transporting device, in particular for use in a conveyor according to one of the preceding claims, comprising:

- a pulling member which extends in the direction of transport; and

- support modules which are attached to the traction member with spacing one behind the other, wherein the carrier modules together form a bearing surface on which the products rest during transport, characterized in that the traction member is attached to middle parts of the carrier modules,

5 ends of the support modules protrude in opposite lateral directions on opposite sides of the pulling member.

1/5

112 220 210 200 114

FIG. 1 A; / 5

FIG. 2 A

FIG. 2 B

200

3/5

FIG. 2 Ο

FIG. 3 A

200

FIG. 3 B

4/5

210

200

220