Modular Belt Link as well as a Conveyor Belt Assembled from a Plurality of Such Belt Links

Abstract

Modular belt link having a body section, said body section having a forward side and a rearward side, and lateral sides connecting said forward and rearward sides, where said body section has a thickness between a top surface and a rear surface, and further that means are provided along said forward and rearward sides for connecting the modular belt link to other substantially identical modular belt links arranged before and after said modular belt link, characterized in that a plurality of apertures through the thickness are provided, suitable to receive and retain a ball or roller rotatably in each aperture, such that the balls or rollers extend or may be brought to extend above the top surface of the body section where a first plurality of apertures are separated by a first distance x and one or more second apertures are provided spaced from said first plurality of apertures, where when more second apertures are provided they are separated by a second distance y, and where on the bottom surface at least partly into the thickness of the body section one or more cavities suitable to receive sprockets is/are arranged in between at least some of the apertures arranged with the second distance y, and where the first distance x is too short to allow cavities suitable to be engaged by sprockets.

Claims

1. A modular belt link having a body section, said body section having a forward side and a rearward side, and lateral sides connecting said forward and rearward sides, where said body section has a thickness between a top surface and a rear surface, and further that means are provided along said forward and rearward sides for connecting the modular belt link to other substantially identical modular belt links arranged before and after said modular belt link, wherein a plurality of apertures through the thickness are provided, said apertures being suitable to receive and retain a ball or roller rotatably in each aperture, such that the balls or rollers extend or may be brought to extend above the top surface of the body section where a first plurality of apertures are separated by a mutual first distance x and one or more second apertures are provided spaced from said first plurality of apertures, where when more second apertures are provided they are separated by a mutual second distance y and the distance y from an adjacent aperture of the first plurality of apertures, and where in the rear surface at least partly into the thickness of the body section one or more cavities suitable to receive sprockets is/are arranged in between at least some of the apertures arranged with the second distance y, and where the first distance x is too short to allow cavities suitable to be engaged by sprockets.

2. The modular belt link according to claim 1, wherein the first plurality of apertures comprises apertures arranged in one or more lines parallel to the forward side.

3. The modular belt link according to claim 1, wherein the first plurality of apertures are off-set arranged around a line parallel to the forward and rearward sides, such that the apertures alternates between being closer to the front side and the rear side.

4. The modular belt link according to claim 1, wherein the lateral distance between the closest apertures in the first plurality of apertures and the second plurality of apertures is the second distance y.

5. The modular belt link according to claim 1, wherein balls are arranged in the apertures, and where the diameter of each ball is between 40% and 85% of the shortest distance between the front side and the rear side, preferably 50% to 65% and most preferred between 55% and 60%.

6. The modular belt link according to claim 1, wherein the first plurality of apertures and the one or more second apertures constitute between 20% and 70% of the top surface area of the modular belt link.

7. The modular belt link according to claim 1, wherein the top surface adjacent each lateral side is provided with a flat section, said flat section being delimited by the lateral side and an edge parallel to the lateral side distanced z from the lateral side.

8. The modular belt link according to claim 7, wherein the flat section is inclined with respect to the top surface.

9. The modular belt link according to claim 1, wherein the means provided along said forward and rearward sides for connecting the modular belt link to other substantially identical modular belt links arranged before and after said modular belt link are eye parts, where eye parts projecting from the front side are spaced with a distance along the front side corresponding to the width of an eye-part, and where eye parts on the rear side are off-set the width of an eye part, such that eye parts on the front side of one modular belt link may be interleafed eye parts on the rear side of an adjacent modular belt link, and where all eye parts are provided with an aperture parallel to the front side, such that when eye parts of adjacent modular belt links are interleafed a continuous aperture is provided across the modular belt links, and where a connection pin is inserted in the overlapped apertures through the eye parts, thereby connecting adjacent modular belt links in a hinge like manner.

10. The modular belt link according to claim 1, wherein four to eight apertures are provided in the first plurality of apertures and where one to five second apertures are provided.

11. The modular belt link according to claim 1, wherein balls or a combination of balls and rollers or only rollers are provided in the apertures, where said apertures has corresponding shapes as the balls and/or rollers.

12. A conveyor belt assembled from a plurality of modular belt links according to claim 1, where the conveyor belt comprises a number of rows of modular belt links, where each row laterally may comprise a plurality of modular belt links, where when each row comprises two or more belt links, the belt links in one row are constructed by arranging an edge link consisting of only second apertures, said edge link having half the lateral width of the lateral width of a modular belt link, where the following lateral modular belt link is arranged with lateral side adjacent the first apertures towards the edge link, and the following lateral modular belt link is arranged with lateral side adjacent the first apertures towards the previous link and so on across the width of the conveyor belt, and where the adjacent row is provided with the rear side of a modular belt link engaging a side of an edge link with the second apertures in the same lateral orientation as the edge link and the following lateral modular belt link is arranged with the lateral side adjacent the second apertures towards the previous link and so on across the width of the conveyor belt, whereby the conveyor belt will have zones in the travelling direction of the conveyor belt where a zone only comprises second apertures and adjacent zones only comprising first apertures.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[0030] The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein

[0031] FIG. 1 illustrates a modular belt link according to the present invention

[0032] FIG. 2 illustrates the underside of the modular belt link in perspective

[0033] FIG. 3 illustrates a connection of the modular belt link to other substantially identical modular belt links

[0034] FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrates a schematic cross-section through an aperture provided with a ball

[0035] FIG. 5 illustrates a further embodiment of the invention

[0036] FIG. 6 illustrates a belt link with rollers and balls

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0037] In FIG. 1 is illustrated a modular belt link 1 according to the present invention. The modular belt link 1 has a body section 10 where the body section 10 has a forward side 11 and a rearward side 12. In this connection it is clear that the definition of forward and rearward is only used to distinguish the two sides and that in practice the conveyor belt assembled from a plurality of modular belt links 1 according to the present invention, for example as illustrated with reference to FIG. 3, may travel in both directions and is not limited to travel in a forward or rearward direction.

[0038] Furthermore, lateral sides 13, 14 are provided where the lateral sides 13, 14 connect the forward and rearward sides 11, 12. The body section has a thickness between a top surface 15 and a rear surface. Furthermore, means are provided along the forward and rearward sides 11, 12 for connecting the modular belt link 1 to other substantially identical modular belt links 1 as illustrated with reference to FIG. 3.

[0039] Turning back to FIG. 1 the top surface 15 adjacent the lateral sides 13, 14 is provided with a flat section 17, 18. The flat section 17 is delimited by an edge distanced z away from the lateral side 13, 14 such that a surface area is provided. Preferably the surface area 17, 18 is inclined with respect to the top surface 15 such that the flat section has its lowest edge along the lateral sides 14, 13 and thereafter ascends. The incline makes it easier for goods which are forced laterally onto the conveyor belt to be led upwards to the apex level of the balls/rollers accommodated in the apertures. In this manner it becomes easier to slide objects to be transported by the conveyor belt onto the conveyor belt and/or the rollers.

[0040] In this particular embodiment the means are in the shape of eye parts 20 where adjacent eye parts 20 on the forward or rearward side 11, 12 are separated by a space 21 corresponding to the lateral width of an eye part 20. In this manner it is possible to interleave adjacent modular belt links 1 such that eye parts on a rear side may be accommodated in the spaces 21 on a forward side. Furthermore, the eye parts are provided with apertures 22 such that when two adjacent modular belt links 1 are interleaved the apertures 22 will overlap laterally through the entire width of the belt link making it possible to insert a connection pin (not illustrated) through the overlapping eye parts thereby connecting adjacent modular belt links 1 in a hinge-like manner as illustrated in FIG. 3.

[0041] A plurality of apertures 30 are provided through the thickness of the modular belt link 1. In this embodiment the apertures 30 are substantially circular such that in use they may accommodate a ball, but the apertures 30 may also have an elongated cross-section such that they can accommodate rollers. The apertures 30 are provided with means 31 such that a ball may be retained inside the aperture 30 but at the same time the friction between the ball and the aperture is so low that it is possible to substantially frictionless rotate the ball in the aperture.

[0042] In a first section 33 a first plurality of apertures 30 are separated by the distance X and in a second section 34 the apertures are separated by a second distance Y. In this manner it is clear that part of the surface 15 of the modular belt link has more surface area than another part of the surface of the modular belt link.

[0043] By providing the distance Y between apertures in the second section 34 it may with reference to FIG. 2 be possible to provide cavities 41, 42 in the underside of the modular belt link. In this connection FIG. 2 illustrates the underside of the modular belt link illustrated in perspective in FIG. 1. The apertures 30 are through-going apertures and as such leave little on the top and rear side surface area vacant. The cavities 41, 42 are provided such that sprocket wheels may engage and propel the modular belt link and thereby the entire conveyor belt.

[0044] As should be evident the apertures 30 suitable to receive balls or in other embodiments where the apertures are elongated rollers constitute a rather large portion of the surface area and as such are able to provide a substantial amount of support points for goods carried on the conveyor. In FIG. 3 is illustrated a section of an endless conveyor belt assembled from modular belt links 1 as illustrated in FIG. 1. Due to the distribution of apertures 30 in the upper side 15 of the modular belt links and separating the apertures into sections 34 and 33 where the apertures have different distances X, Y when assembled in a bricklaying pattern the assembled conveyor belt will provide lanes 50 free from apertures and thereby rollers and balls. These lanes 50 coincide with the cavities 41, 42 provided in the underside such that it is clear that sprocket wheels arranged on the drivel axles used to propel the conveyor belts will engage the conveyor belt in these lanes.

[0045] As may further be seen from FIG. 3 the top surface 15 of the conveyor belt is provided with a large number of bearing points in that the balls or rollers inserted in the apertures are closely arranged such that a very supportive, but yet frictionless surface is provided in a conveyor belt structure according to the present invention and as depicted in FIG. 3.

[0046] Turning to FIGS. 4A and 4B a schematic cross-section through an aperture 30 provided with a ball 36 is illustrated. In FIG. 4A it is clear that the ball extends above the top surface 15 of the modular belt link which is also the case with the ball 36 in FIG. 4B.

[0047] In FIG. 4A, however, the ball also extends below the underside of the modular belt link whereas in FIG. 4B the underside of the ball 36 is substantially flush with the underside of the modular belt link 1. Such an arrangement may be used for various purposes in that with the configuration as illustrated with reference to FIG. 4A it is possible to activate the ball 36, for example by having a surface or another conveyor belt engage the underside of the conveyor belt 1 such that the ball comes into frictional engagement with this surface (not illustrated). As the modular belt link moves relative to this engagement surface the ball 36 will be brought to rotate.

[0048] Consequently, items carried on the top side of the belt on the apex of the balls 36 will be rotated, for example laterally, with respect to the conveyor belt. In the embodiment illustrated with reference to FIG. 4B the balls may rotate independently of the modular belt link 1. These types of belts are often used as accumulating belts such that items carried on the conveyor which are brought against a stop will cause the balls 36 to rotate while the conveyor belt still continues forward.

[0049] In a further embodiment of the invention another layout is illustrated in FIG. 5 where the apertures 30 are offset from adjacent apertures 30′, but apertures in one row are arranged with a central axis 54 indicated by dashed lines whereas apertures 30′ in a second row are arranged along another axis 55. In this manner it becomes possible to accommodate even more balls or rollers per square meter in the surface of a conveyor belt, but also to make the modular belt links longer measure from the forward side to the rearward side.

[0050] The centre or centre axis of balls resp. rollers could also be arranged symmetrically off-set from a single axis.

[0051] In FIG. 6 is illustrated an embodiment where the apertures 30″ in the first section 33′ are rectangular adapted to receive rollers 44, in this embodiment arranged for rotation around the axis indicated by dashed lines 45. Other orientations or the rollers may also be contemplated. The apertures in the second section may likewise be shaped to accommodate rollers as desired.