Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
  • B65G23/00—Driving gear for endless conveyors; Belt- or chain-tensioning arrangements
  • B65G23/02—Belt- or chain-engaging elements
  • B65G23/04—Drums, rollers, or wheels
  • B65G23/06—Drums, rollers, or wheels with projections engaging abutments on belts or chains, e.g. sprocket wheels
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F16—ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
  • F16H—GEARING
  • F16H55/00—Elements with teeth or friction surfaces for conveying motion; Worms, pulleys or sheaves for gearing mechanisms
  • F16H55/02—Toothed members; Worms
  • F16H55/30—Chain-wheels

Definitions

• Pasteurizers used in the brewing industry include large enclosures or tunnels measuring up to 20 feet wide by 100 feet long. Modular belting is used to carry glass bottles
• the tunnel As they move through the tunnel to control the temperatures of the product.
• the invention provides an improved sprocket design for use with modular belting and
• the sprocket includes a base having an outer periphery rotatable about an axis,
• Tooth sides extend from said top and
• a general objective of the present invention is to reduce the likelihood of trapping
• Another objective of the present invention is to provide a tooth profile which guides
• Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide a sprocket which can
• Fig. 1 is an elevation view of a modular belt engaging a sprocket embodying the
• Fig. 2 is atop plan view of the chain and sprocket illustrated in Figure 1;
• Fig. 3 is a cross-section view taken along line 3-3 in Figure 2;
• Fig. 4 is a cross-section view taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 1;
• Fig. 5 is an elevation view of a sprocket including angled surfaces extending from
• Fig. 6 is a perspective detailed view of the angled surfaces Fig. 5.
• conveyor for a pasteurizer is formed from belt modules 16.
• the continuous belt 10 is driven
• a drive sprocket 12 having teeth 24 which engage each module 16 to urge the belt 10 in a
• the sprocket teeth 24 have a novel tooth profile which reduces a build up of particles on the
• the modular conveyor belt 10 is made up of a large number of adjacent modules 16
• modules 16 form a conveyor product supporting surface 20 which may be 20 feet or more
• the product supporting surface 20 is upwardly facing when transporting products, such as glass bottles or other containers, and downwardly facing when
• the modules are returning from the conveyor tail end to the head end.
• Each belt module 16 includes an upper surface 14 defining the product supporting
• the belt module upper surface 14 has a
• solid center upper surface 46 portion Although a solid upper center surface 46 is shown, the
• module 16 can include a plurality of openings for the flow of air or liquid through the belt
• the pocket 22 is downwardly open when
• the belt module 16 is traveling from the conveyor head end to the tail end, and is upwardly
• the curved drive surface 26 engages the sprocket tooth 24 such that the
• rotating drive sprocket 12 drives the modular belt 10 in the desired direction of travel.
• the pocket recessed surface 23 is preferably, when the sprocket is engaged with the module 16, the pocket recessed surface 23
• claims include a sprocket engaging a module which does not include a solid upper center
• the pocket is an opening (without a recessed surface) having a drive surface for
• the sprocket includes a disc-shaped body
• body 27 is mounted on a shaft (not shown) which extends through an aperture 33 formed in
• the shaft supports and rotatably
• the shaft can support a number of drive sprockets 12 spaced apart along its length with each of the drive sprockets 12
• the aperture 33 is shaped to engage the shaft, such that the shaft rotatably drives the
• the sprocket 12 to urge the conveyor belt 10 in the desired direction of travel.
• the sprocket 12 to urge the conveyor belt 10 in the desired direction of travel.
• shaft is generally square in cross section, and is received in a generally square aperture.
• other configurations such as a circular aperture receiving a shaft having a circular
• the sprocket teeth 24 extend radially outward from the sprocket teeth 24
• each relief section 36 having a curved bottom 38.
• the bottom 38 of each relief section 36 is spaced
• the relief section 36 forms a receptacle for particles falling from the pocket
• each sprocket tooth 24 is shaped to urge the conveyor
• Each tooth 24 includes a forward drive surface 28, a top 35, a rear surface 34, and
• the forward drive surface 28 is generally planar, and engages the curved
• tension in the chain prevents the tooth drive surface 28 from slipping
• the gap 39 provides a path for particles to escape from the pocket 22 through a space 42 between the pocket trailing surface 44 and sprocket tooth 24.
• each tooth 24 includes a relatively small flat crown 30, and a rearwardly
• the potential of trapping a particle between the tooth 24 and pocket recessed surface 23 is reduced.
• the tooth 24 and pocket recessed surface 23 is reduced.
• crown area is less than one fourth of the tooth top surface area.
• the tooth top rearward portion 32 slopes downwardly and rearwardly from the crown
• the tooth top is positioned between the tooth top rearward portion 32 and the pocket 22.
• rearward portion guides 32 the particles out of the pocket 22 and through the space 42 formed
• the tooth rear surface 34 extends from the
• top rear portion 32 and merges into the sprocket relief section bottom 38.
• the tooth sides 48 are chamfered from the tooth sides 48
• crown 30 to further allow particles to exit the pocket 22.
• the opposing sides 48 are separated
• particles such as broken glass collect in the upwardly open module pockets 22 as the modules 16 return from the conveyor tail end to the head end.
• top 35, rear surface 34, and sides 48 guide the particles out of the pocket 22.
• a chamfer or angled surface 60 can be provided which
• This angled surface 60 provides an improved escape path for particles which have fallen into

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Gears, Cams (AREA)
• Encapsulation Of And Coatings For Semiconductor Or Solid State Devices (AREA)
• Chain Conveyers (AREA)
• Gear Transmission (AREA)

Priority Applications (10)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=22448126

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (15)

Cited By (2)

Families Citing this family (13)

Citations (9)

Family Cites Families (32)

• 2000
  • 2000-04-26 US US09/558,177 patent/US6428436B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2000-04-27 EP EP00928628A patent/EP1175359B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2000-04-27 DE DE60001730T patent/DE60001730T2/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2000-04-27 JP JP2000613750A patent/JP2002543015A/ja active Pending
  • 2000-04-27 ES ES00928628T patent/ES2194725T3/es not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2000-04-27 BR BRPI0010107-9A patent/BR0010107B1/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2000-04-27 MX MXPA01010927A patent/MXPA01010927A/es unknown
  • 2000-04-27 KR KR1020017013727A patent/KR20010113899A/ko not_active Withdrawn
  • 2000-04-27 AT AT00928628T patent/ATE234783T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2000-04-27 WO PCT/US2000/011666 patent/WO2000064788A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2000-04-27 AU AU46833/00A patent/AU765804B2/en not_active Ceased
  • 2000-04-27 DK DK00928628T patent/DK1175359T3/da active
  • 2000-04-27 CA CA002371310A patent/CA2371310C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2000-04-27 CN CN00808332A patent/CN1353663A/zh active Pending
• 2001
  • 2001-10-26 ZA ZA200108861A patent/ZA200108861B/xx unknown

Patent Citations (9)

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