A helical conveyor for transporting products in downward direction by means of gravity comprises a frame and a helical track extending around an upright centerline. The helical track is supported by the frame and comprises a bottom for bearing a product. The bottom has an inclination angle in a direction (X) along the helical track. At least a portion of the bottom is formed by a transport surface of a drivable conveying system such that the transport surface has a predefined speed in downward direction (X) along the helical track. The inclination angle at an inner bend of the transport surface of the conveying system is larger than 20.

A drive component for a spiral conveyor system including a drive element having a rib protruding from a surface of the drive element and configured to extend from an entrance end of a spiral of the spiral conveyor system to an exit end of the spiral, the rib including at least one drive face configured to engage a conveyor belt of the spiral conveyor system. The rib includes at least one contoured surface defining a height of the rib, wherein the height of the rib above of the surface of the drive element varies along a length of the rib, and wherein the height of the rib is configured to define a first radius of a conveyor belt in the spiral of the spiral conveyor system.

A sensor assembly for a conveyor belt includes a load cell attachable to a link of a modular conveyor belt and configured to measure tension in the belt and a housing. The housing may include a first cavity configured to receive at least a portion of the load cell, and a second cavity configured to receive one or more electronic components.

A spiral conveyor system may include a cage associated with a motor; a conveyor belt traveling helically about the cage; the cage including a plurality of drive elements formed of vertically oriented cage bars; a cage bar cap mounted on at least one of the cage bars; the cage bar cap including a vertically oriented rib extending radially from a surface of the cage bar cap; wherein the rib includes at least one drive face; wherein the conveyor belt includes at least one belt surface configured to engage the at least one drive face; wherein the cage includes a ring that extends between the terminus of the rib and the entrance end of the cage; wherein the surface of the cage bar cap from which the rib extends defines a first diameter; and wherein the ring has a ring diameter that is larger than the first diameter.

A production plant for books printed with digital technologies. comprising one or more forming stations of book blocks, one or more cover binding machines for assembling the book blocks with respective covers, an electronic center and a plurality of spiral towers for accommodating the book blocks of the forming stations and transfer them to the binding machines. The book blocks and the covers have respective book codes and cover codes uniquely associated with the respective books of a given working order. Each tower includes a conveyor belt that can be moved along a spiral path. a belt motorization group and an electronic control unit. The towers serve as a temporary storage for the blocks and capacity of movement between loading areas adjacent to the forming station and unloading areas adjacent to the binding machines. The electronic control units pre-set the towers to store in an optimized way along the conveyor belt the book blocks from the forming stations. to supply the binding machines with the stored book blocks and to form and memorize databases identifying the stored book blocks. The electronic center of the plant is interfaced with the electronic control units of the towers and with the binding machines for a survey of the loading data and for a functional coupling of the loaded towers with the binding machines.

A conveying system has a lower end of a helical path of a conveying section of a first conveyor located at a lower level than a lower end of a helical path of a conveying section of a second conveyor. An upper end of the helical path of the conveying section of the second conveyor is located at a higher level than an upper end of the helical path of the conveying section of the first conveyor. The upper end of the helical path of the conveying section of the first conveyor is located between the lower end and the upper end of the helical path of the conveying section of the second conveyor. A transfer region is between the helical path lower end of the conveying section of the second conveyor and the helical path upper end of the conveying section of the first conveyor.

A sensor assembly for a conveyor belt includes a load cell attachable to a link of a modular conveyor belt and configured to measure tension in the belt and a housing. The housing may include a first cavity configured to receive at least a portion of the load cell, and a second cavity configured to receive one or more electronic components.

A variable bi-directional airflow thermal processing system may include a thermal processing medium supply for substantially horizontally supplying thermal processing medium to the thermal processing chamber at a target temperature and velocity and a thermal processing medium directing assembly configured to divide the spiral stack into at least one treatment zone and at least one return zone both extending along a height of the spiral stack and substantially confined within a footprint of the spiral stack, wherein the thermal processing medium supply substantially horizontally supplies thermal processing medium to the at least one treatment zone and substantially horizontally withdraws thermal processing medium from the at least one return zone.

A lateral plate element for a link of a self-stacking endless conveyor belt including an outer plate section, an inner plate section and a connection bend section connecting said outer and inner plate sections; a resting surface arranged to engage a lateral plate element of an underlying tier of the self-stacking endless conveyor belt when it extends helically; an inner abutment, arranged to engage an upper portion of the underlying lateral plate element, wherein the inner abutment surface limits outward lateral movement of the lateral plate element relative to the underlying lateral plate element; and an outer abutment surface arranged to engage the upper portion of the underlying lateral plate element, wherein the outer abutment surface limits inward lateral movement of the lateral plate element relative the underlying lateral plate element.

Conveyor belt modules and a modular conveyor belt constructed of those modules. The belt modules comprise a plurality of thin metal links attached to a crossbar at spaced locations. The metal links extend along lines oblique to the length of the crossbar from a first loop to a second loop. Belt rows include one or more of the belt modules sandwiched between tension links. Hinge rods connect adjacent belt rows together through aligned first and second loops and first and second rod holes in the tension links of adjacent belt rows to form the conveyor belt. The links can be formed of bent wire or stamped and bent sheet metal. Intermediate portions of the links can be planar or curved.