U.S. patent application number 15/375648 was filed with the patent office on 2018-06-14 for lane divider for eye link conveyor belt.
This patent application is currently assigned to CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL, INC.. The applicant listed for this patent is CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL, INC.. Invention is credited to Charles E. HENNIGAR, Robert E. Maine, Jr., George H. MESSICK, JR., Thomas O. PERDUE, Jeffery D. ULCHAK.
Application Number | 20180162648 15/375648 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 57542810 |
Filed Date | 2018-06-14 |
United States Patent
Application |
20180162648 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Maine, Jr.; Robert E. ; et
al. |
June 14, 2018 |
LANE DIVIDER FOR EYE LINK CONVEYOR BELT
Abstract
An eye link conveyor belt including a plurality of eyelets and a
plurality of cross rods, the plurality of eyelets including
openings on each end and the plurality of cross rods extending
through the openings to thereby connect the plurality of eyelets
together; and a plurality of wire forms connected to the conveyor
belt, the wire forms including at least one protrusion extending
above a planar product support surface of the conveyor belt. A
plurality of side plates can be secured to the conveyor belt by the
wire forms and also extend above the planar product support surface
of the conveyor belt.
Inventors: |
Maine, Jr.; Robert E.;
(Salisbury, MD) ; MESSICK, JR.; George H.;
(Cambridge, MD) ; PERDUE; Thomas O.; (Salisbury,
MD) ; ULCHAK; Jeffery D.; (Salisbury, MD) ;
HENNIGAR; Charles E.; (Cambridge, MD) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL, INC. |
Cambridge |
MA |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL,
INC.
Cambridge
MD
|
Family ID: |
57542810 |
Appl. No.: |
15/375648 |
Filed: |
December 12, 2016 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65G 17/30 20130101;
B65G 17/064 20130101; B65G 15/54 20130101; B65G 15/42 20130101;
B65G 17/42 20130101; B65G 17/083 20130101 |
International
Class: |
B65G 17/30 20060101
B65G017/30; B65G 17/08 20060101 B65G017/08 |
Claims
1. An eye link conveyor belt comprising: a plurality of eyelets and
a plurality of cross rods, said plurality of eyelets including
openings on each end and said plurality of cross rods extending
through the openings to thereby connect the plurality of eyelets
together; and a plurality of wire forms connected to the conveyor
belt, the wire forms including at least two protrusions extending
above a planar product support surface of the conveyor belt,
wherein each of said plurality of wire forms includes a depression
disposed between two of the at least two protrusions.
2. The eye link conveyor belt according to claim 1, wherein each of
said plurality of wire forms includes openings on each end, said
plurality of cross rods extending through the openings to thereby
connect the plurality of wire forms to the conveyor belt.
3. (canceled)
4. The eye link conveyor belt according to claim 3, further
comprising a plurality of cross wires, the plurality of eyelets
being welded to the cross wires, and wherein said depression of
each of said plurality of wire forms is welded to the cross
wire.
5. An eye link conveyor belt comprising: a plurality of eyelets and
a plurality of cross rods, said plurality of eyelets including
openings on each end and said plurality of cross rods extending
through the openings to thereby connect the plurality of eyelets
together; a plurality of wire forms connected to the conveyor belt,
the wire forms including at least one protrusion extending above a
planar product support surface of the conveyor belt; and a
plurality of side plates secured to the conveyor belt by the wire
forms and extending above the planar product support surface of the
conveyor belt.
6. The eye link conveyor belt according to claim 5, wherein each of
said plurality of side plates includes a bottom member and an
upstanding member.
7. The eye link conveyor according to claim 6, wherein each said
side plate includes a plurality of slots formed in the bottom
member which allows the wire forms to extend through the slots.
8. The eye link conveyor according to claim 7, further comprising a
wire fastener configured to pass through the at least one
protrusion extending above the bottom member, thereby securing the
side plate to the conveyor belt in a weldless manner.
9. The eye link conveyor according to claim 8, wherein said at
least one protrusion includes two protrusions, and wherein the wire
fastener includes a base which extends across a rear face of the
upstanding member of the side plate, and two legs which pass
through the protrusions, a terminal end of each leg being curved
about in a reverse direction to form a curved end which prevent the
legs from slipping out from the protrusions.
10. A lane divider for use with an eye link conveyor belt
comprising a plurality of eyelets and a plurality of cross rods,
the plurality of eyelets including openings on each end and the
plurality of cross rods extending through the openings to thereby
connect the plurality of eyelets together, the lane divider
comprising: a plurality of wire forms connected to the conveyor
belt, each of said plurality of wire forms including openings on
each end, the plurality of cross rods extending through the
openings to thereby connect the plurality of wire forms to the
conveyor belt, the plurality of wire forms including at least one
protrusion extending above a planar product support surface of the
conveyor belt; and a plurality of side plates secured to the
conveyor belt by the wire forms and extending above the planar
product support surface of the conveyor belt.
11. The lane divider according to claim 10, wherein each of said
plurality of side plates includes a bottom member and an upstanding
member.
12. The lane divider according to claim 11, wherein each said side
plate includes a plurality of slots formed in the bottom member
which allows the wire forms to extend through the slots.
13. The lane divider according to claim 12, further comprising a
wire fastener configured to pass through the at least one
protrusion extending above the bottom member, thereby securing the
side plate to the conveyor belt.
14. The eye link conveyor belt according to claim 1, wherein said
depression of each of said plurality of wire forms is concave as
viewed from above the planar product support surface of the
conveyor belt.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The disclosure herein is directed to a lane divider for a
conveyor belt, in particular an eye link style conveyor belt, and
more particularly to a weldless lane divider for an eye link style
conveyor belt.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Eye link style conveyor belts have been in existence for
some time and are a popular style of belting in Europe. The eye
link conveyor belt is constructed of small eyelets which may be
welded onto a cross wire to form segments, generally 4-12 inches in
width, which are then cut-down as needed and brick-laid assembled
with other components such as reinforcing/support bars (bar links)
to form a row of segments and components which are then linked to
adjacent rows with hinge point connecting rods (cross rods).
[0003] These belts have the advantage of an extremely stable top
surface and they are durable. They are very open, cleanable and
drainable which are good for airflow and food processing. They also
have excellent transfer characteristics for top heavy or delicate
products. This makes them useful in pasteurizing, drying, frying,
cooling, freezing and baking.
[0004] It is not always desirable, however, to have a smooth,
unobstructed conveying surface. Welded dividers have been used
heretofore to divide the surface into multiple lanes for product
and thereby limit movement thereof, but welding the individual
dividers is a time and labor intensive job. Other lane dividers
provided as additional components also add material costs and
require additional assembly labor since they are not integral to
the belt construction.
[0005] Accordingly, there exists a need in the marketplace for an
eye link conveyor belt that has the advantages of the prior art but
which also allows varying surface/engineering characteristics of
the conveyor surface without welding.
SUMMARY
[0006] The disclosure herein provides an eye link conveyor belt
comprising a plurality of eyelets and a plurality of cross rods,
said plurality of eyelets including openings on each end and said
plurality of cross rods extending through the openings to thereby
connect the plurality of eyelets together; and a plurality of wire
forms connected to the conveyor belt, the wire forms including at
least one protrusion extending above a planar product support
surface of the conveyor belt.
[0007] A further aspect of the disclosure is directed to an eye
link conveyor belt comprising a plurality of side plates secured to
the conveyor belt by the wire forms and extending above the planar
product support surface of the conveyor belt.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES
[0008] These and other features and advantages of the disclosure
will become more readily apparent to those skilled in the art upon
reading the following detailed description, in conjunction with the
appended drawings in which:
[0009] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a wire form or lane divider
according to an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure.
[0010] FIG. 2 is perspective view of an eye link style conveyor
belt with lane dividers according to an exemplary embodiment of the
disclosure.
[0011] FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of adjacent weldless side
plates according to an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure.
[0012] FIG. 4 is front perspective view of a weldless side plate
according to an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure.
[0013] FIG. 5 is a front elevational view of the weldless side
plate shown in FIG. 4.
[0014] FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the weldless side plate shown
in FIG. 4.
[0015] FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of the weldless side plate
shown in FIG. 4.
[0016] FIG. 8 is a rear elevational view of the adjacent weldless
side plates shown in FIG. 3.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0017] An eye link style conveyor belt in accordance with an
exemplary embodiment of the disclosure is shown generally in FIGS.
1-2 by reference numeral 100. Conveyor belt 100 preferably
comprises a plurality of eyelets 102 which are formed from a metal
wire and positioned with a fixed spacing or first count along a
cross wire 104 by welding or the like in the width direction of the
belt. The eyelets 102 are joined together with cross rods 106
passing through the openings on opposing ends of eyelets 102. One
or more bar links 108 may be fixed on at least one end by welding
or the like. Bar links 108 provide the tension carrying capacity
for the belt 100. Conveyor belt 100 can also be formed of course
without the cross wires 104, in which case the cross rods 106
connect the eyelets 102 to form the conveyor belt.
[0018] In an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure, the surface
characteristics of conveyor belt 100 can also be varied. That is,
lane dividers or wire forms 110 can be provided for retaining
product lanes or creating rough surface characteristics to reduce
product movement. The lane dividers 110 extend above the planar
product support surface of the conveyor belt to thereby restrict
product movement. Similar to eyelets 102, the lane dividers 110
also include openings 112a, 112b on each end that allow cross rods
106 to pass therethrough. In addition, lane dividers 110 include
protrusions 114a, 114b extending above the planar product support
surface of the conveyor belt and a depression 116 disposed
therebetween which is welded to the cross wire 104.
[0019] These same wire forms 110 can be used for mounting flights
for inclines, or for transfer combs for fragile or top heavy
products. Thus, when additional product retainage is required, the
wire forms 110 can also serve to secure side plates 118 to the
conveyor belt 100, as shown in FIGS. 3-7, without the use of welds.
The side plate 118 is formed of a sheet metal or wire cloth
according to a preferred embodiment of the disclosure. Further, the
surface of the side plate may have dimples or a raised surface for
ease of product release, or the surface may include openings,
holes, or slots to allow fluids to pass therethrough while still
retaining the product within the desired position.
[0020] The side plate 118 includes a bottom member 120 and an
upstanding member 122 integrally formed therewith. In the
illustrated embodiment, the upstanding member 122 has a trapezoidal
shape which allows a right side of one member 122 to overlap with a
left side of another adjacent member 122. This shape and the
resulting overlap however is merely an exemplary embodiment and any
shape could of course be used, and overlapping of the adjacent
upstanding members is also not required.
[0021] The side plates 118 further include a plurality of slots 132
formed in the bottom member 120 which allow the lane dividers 110
to extend the slot openings. A wire fastener 124 passes through the
protrusions 114a, 114b extending above the bottom member 120 and
thus secures the side plate 118 to the conveyor belt 100 without
welding. More particularly, in an exemplary embodiment of the
disclosure, the wire fastener 124 includes a base 126 which extends
across the rear face of the upstanding member 122 of the side plate
118, and two legs 128a, 128b which pass through the protrusions
114a, 114b. The terminal ends of the legs 128a, 128b are curved
about in the reverse direction to form curved ends 130a, 130b which
prevent the legs from slipping out from the protrusions.
[0022] While the present invention has been described with respect
to exemplary embodiments of the disclosure, this is by way of
illustration for purposes of disclosure rather than to confine the
invention to any specific arrangement as there are various
alterations, changes, deviations, eliminations, substitutions,
omissions and departures which may be made in the particular
embodiment shown and described without departing from the scope of
the claims.
* * * * *