Free floating guard for conveyor roller system

Abstract

A guard for use with rollers of a conveying system, the rollers each having an outer profile and being rotatably mounted in the conveyor system by axles. The guard includes a body comprising opposed first and second roller facing sides for facing adjacent rollers of the conveyor section, which are contoured to at least generally follow the outer profiles of adjacent rollers, and includes a projecting base that includes opposed ends having notches configured to receive and mate with the axles of the adjacent rollers of the conveyor section to be supported thereon.

Description

RAP04 FP-856(WO)FREE FLOATING GUARD FOR CONVEYOR ROLLER SYSTEM TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The disclosure relates generally to conveyor roller systems, and, in particular, to a free- floating guard, such as a finger guard, for a conveyor roller system.BACKGROUND

[0002] Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted as prior art by inclusion in this section.

[0003] Conveyor roller systems for transporting articles, such as bins, trays, items, boxes, pallets, envelopes, and the like are known and typically include at least one powered or motorized roller, a plurality of idler or freely rotating rollers, and belt assemblies wound around the powered and idler rollers to impart motion to the idler rollers from the powered roller or rollers. To prevent accidents caused by an operator inserting of his / her fingers or an operator’s clothing falling between the rollers, belt, and the side frames, it is desirable to provide an improved guard assembly for conveyor roller systems.SUMMARY

[0004] A summary of certain embodiments disclosed herein is set forth below. It should be understood that these aspects are presented merely to provide the reader with a brief summary of these certain embodiments and that these aspects are not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. Indeed, this disclosure may encompass a variety of aspects that may not be set forth below.

[0005] A first aspect of the disclosure relates to a guard for use with rollers of a conveyor section of a conveying system. The guard is configured to mount in the conveyor section between two adjacent rollers of the conveyor section and includes a body that generally fills the space between the adjacent rollers where the adjacent rollers mount to the conveyor section. The body includes first and second opposed sides for facing the respective adjacent rollers, which opposed sides are contoured to generally follow the outer profile of the respective adjacent rollers. The guard further includes a base formed with or coupled to the body, which includes openings to correspond and mate with the respective adjacent rollers of the conveyor section.

[0006] A second aspect of the disclosure relates to a conveying system. The conveying system includes at least one conveyor section with sidewalls, a plurality of rollers, and a plurality of guards located between adjacent rollers of the conveyor section.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] Below, exemplary embodiments of the disclosure are described in detail with reference to the figures.

[0008] FIG. 1A is a partial perspective view of an example conveyor section of a conveying system with guards in accordance with one or more embodiments of the disclosure;

[0009] FIG. IB is a perspective view of an example conveyor section of a conveying system with a guard in accordance with one or more embodiments of the disclosure;

[0010] FIG. 1C is another perspective view of an example conveyor section of a conveying system with a guard in accordance with one or more embodiments of the disclosure;

[0011] FIG. ID is an end elevation view of an example conveyor section of a conveyor section;

[0012] FIG. 2A is a perspective view of a guard in accordance with one or more embodiments of the disclosure;

[0013] FIG. 2B is a top plan view of the guard of FIG. 2A;

[0014] FIG. 2C is a side elevation view of the guard of FIG. 2A;

[0015] FIG. 2D is a cross-section view of another embodiment of the guard of FIG. 2A;

[0016] FIG. 3A is a perspective view of another embodiment of a guard in accordance with one or more embodiments of the disclosure;

[0017] FIG. 3B is a cross-section view of the guard of FIG. 3A;

[0018] FIG. 4A is a perspective view of another embodiment of a guard in accordance with one or more embodiments of the disclosure;

[0019] FIG. 4B is a cross-section view of the guard of FIG. 4A;

[0020] FIG. 5A is a perspective view of another embodiment of a guard in accordance with one or more embodiments of the disclosure;

[0021] FIG. 5B is a top plan view of the guard of FIG. 5A illustrating the guard in a bent configuration;

[0022] FIG. 5C is a perspective view of another embodiment of a guard in accordance with one or more embodiments of the disclosure;

[0023] FIG. 6A is a top plan view of another example of a guard in accordance with one or more embodiments of the disclosure;

[0024] FIG. 6B is an exploded top plan view of the guard of FIG. 6A;

[0025] FIG. 7 is a plan view of a conveyor section with a guard and one or more belts in accordance with one or more embodiments of the disclosure; and

[0026] FIG. 8 is a plan view of another conveyor section with a guard and one or more belts in accordance with one or more embodiments of the disclosure.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the disclosure, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings and described in the following written specification, wherein like reference numerals represent like parts and assemblies throughout the several views. It is understood that no limitation to the scope of the disclosure is thereby intended. It is further understood that the disclosure includes any alternations and modifications to the illustrated embodiments and includes further applications of the principles of the disclosure as would normally occur to a person of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure pertains.

[0028] Referring to FIGS. 1A-1D, the numeral 100 generally designates an example conveyor section of a conveying system in accordance with one or more implementations. While only one conveyor section 100 is illustrated, it should be understood that the conveying system may include multiple conveyor sections 100, including conveyor sections with different functions and different conveying surfaces. Further, not all of the depicted components may be used in all implementations, however, and one or more implementations may include additional or different components than those depicted in the figure. Variations in the arrangement and type of the components may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the claims as set forth herein. Additional components, different components, or fewer components may be provided.

[0029] The conveyor section 100 includes side frames or sidewalls 102, a conveying surface 104, such as a plurality of rollers 112, and one or more belts 160. The conveyor system may be, for example, a curved conveyor system, a merged conveyor system, a diverted conveyor system, a motorized drive roller conveyor system, a transfer conveyor system, a tape drive conveyor system, a belt conveyor system, a belt-driven conveyor system, a roller-driven conveyor system, a modular conveyor system, a sorter, and / or any other appropriate conveyor systems for conveying articles (not shown) on a conveying surface, such as defined by rollers. In some implementation, the conveying surface may be defined by one or more continuous belts(not shown) routed or reeved around the powered or motorized drive rollers and idle rollers 112. The articles may include trays, boxes, cases, pallets, bins, products, envelopes, and the like. As illustrated, the conveyor section is a motorized drive roller (MDR) conveyor section having one or more motorized or powered drive rollers and idle rollers 112 rotatably mounted to and extended between opposite sidewalls 102 by any suitable method of attachments. Exemplary arrangements of belt conveyors in which belts are driven by a motorized drive roller about idle rollers are found in commonly owned U.S. Pat. 10,384,879 and pending U.S. Pat. App. Ser. No.18 / 763,423, filed on July 3, 2024, both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties, and with which the presently disclosed guard assembly may be used, as well as with other such arrangements.

[0030] Each of the rollers 112 includes a cylindrical roller housing or shell 110, a shaft 112a (FIG. ID) forming an axle and housed within and extending beyond the length of the cylindrical roller housing 110 for mounting the rollers 112 to the side wall 102, and end portions 108 for retaining the belt 160, such as an O-ring, poly-V belt, or the like. In the illustrated embodiment, end portions 108 are shown as having threaded, splined, or grooved ends, for retaining a corresponding mating feature of the belt 160, such as O-ring, poly-V belt, flat belt 160, standard V belt, HTD belt, or the like. In some implementations, the rollers 112 may include nongrooved end portions 108. As depicted in FIG. 1 A, the sidewall 102 includes a plurality of apertures 106 that are shaped to match or correspond to the protruding portion of the shaft 112a, which has a non-circular cross-section. In one implementation, the shaft is a multi-sided axle, such as a hexagonal axle (hex axle). In some implementations, the ends of the shaft may be tapered and / or formed from any shape, such as a D shape, an oval coin shape, a round shape, a hexagon shape, or the like. Instead of using the shaft, a stub axle inserted from the outside of the cylindrical roller housing 110 for mounting the rollers 112 to the sidewall 102 may be provided.

[0031] The conveyor section further includes a guard 120 that is simply supported between adjacent rollers 112 and configured to discourage intentionally or unintentionally accessing, entanglement with and / or insertion of operator fingers, clothing, or parts of the human body between the rollers 112 and the sidewalls 102. As will be more fully described below, guard 120 is configured to substantially fill the space between the adjacent rollers where the rollers 112 mount to the sidewalls 102, and in particular between the end portions 108, while leaving asufficient gap to avoid interfering with the operation of the rollers and belts. As will be more fully described below, as a result, the guard 120 is positioned between adjacent rollers 112 at end portions 108 and is lightly constrained therebetween by two support points by cutouts that generally match the outer profiles of the axles 112a of the respective rollers 112 (see cutouts or notches 228 illustrated in reference to guard 220 in FIG. 2A). The guard 120 is thus vertically and rotationally restrained at the end portions 108 of the rollers 112, and further laterally restrained as will be more fully described below. Guard 120 thus has a planar or flat back or rear side that is positioned adjacent the sidewall 102.

[0032] To substantially fill the space between the adjacent rollers, guard 120 includes a body 130. As will be more fully described below, body 130 may be solid, and formed from a monolithic material or formed from multiple materials, or may be hollow, and again formed from a monolithic material or formed from multiple materials. As best seen in FIG. 1A, body 130 is sized so that its length L extends between the end portions 108 of adjacent rollers 112 and optionally its height H vertically straddles each end portion 108. Further, as best seen in FIG. 1 A, body 130 has a depth or width W so that it can extend from the sidewall 102 under belt 160 and cover the belt engaging surface (e.g., grooves) on end portions 108.

[0033] In other embodiments, the height H of the guard 120 may be reduced so that the body 130 only partially extends down between the adjacent rollers.

[0034] To substantially fill the space between the adjacent rollers 112, body 130 is configured to generally follow the outer profile of the rollers 112, and in particular the end portions 108 of the rollers 112. As best understood from FIGS. 1A and IB, body 130 includes an upper facing side 132, a lower facing side 134, an outwardly facing side 136, and roller facing sides 138a, 138b (FIG. IB). The terms upper, lower, and outwardly are used in reference to the orientations shown in the figures and are not intended to be limiting.

[0035] Roller facing sides 138a, 138b are each contoured, for example, to have arcuate surfaces 126, so that they generally follow the outer contour of the respective rollers. In some implementations, the arcuate surfaces 126 may be semi-circular and shaped to correspond to and mate with the end portions 108 of the rollers 112. In other implementation, the arcuate surfaces 126 may include alternate ridges or grooves and shaped to accommodate and mate with the grooved or splined end portions 108 of the rollers 112.

[0036] Referring to FIG. IB, body 130 includes and is mounted between adjacent rollers by a base 140. Base 140 may be integral or monolithically formed with body 130 (such as by molding as described below) or may be separately formed and then joined with body 130, such as described in reference to guard 620 (FIGS. 6A and 6B). Further, guard 120 may be formed from a monolithic material, including polymers, such as PVC, thermosetting polymers, or made from multiple materials, such as alternating layers of polymers, such as thermoplastic material and thermosetting material, and any materials suitable for the conveyor section, such as described in reference to FIG. 4A. In some implementations, body 130 is a solid structure or may have one or more hollow sections, such as described below. The guard 120 may be formed by casting, injection molding, thermo-forming, deep drawing, or any suitable forming techniques.

[0037] In the illustrated example, base 140 is integrally formed with body 130 and includes a pair of opposed flanges 124. Flanges 124 extend outwardly from opposed, roller facing sides 138a, 138b of body 130 to extend between inwardly facing sides or ends 114 of end portions 108 and sidewall 102 to thereby releasably capture the guard 120 between the adjacent rollers and sidewall 102. Located on opposed ends of the base 140, on flanges 124, are the cutouts noted above and more fully described with reference to guard 220 in FIG. 2A.

[0038] As would be understood, therefore, guard 120 is structured to at least partially suspend or float freely between the rollers 112 though captured between the axles 112a of the adjacent rollers 112 adjacent the side wall 102. As best understood from FIGS. 1A and IB, when the guard 120 is placed parallel to the sidewall 102, the opposed ends of the base 140 are positioned to span between the adjacent rollers 112 such that both the contoured surfaces 126 and the cutout (such as cutouts 228 shown in FIG. 2A) mate with the end portions 108 of the rollers 112 and the hex axle 112a of the rollers 112, respectively, which mounts the rollers 112 to the sidewall 102 at openings 106.

[0039] Referring to FIGS. 2A-2D, the numeral 220 designates another example of a guard in accordance with one or more implementations. Not all of the depicted components may be used in all implementations, however, and one or more implementations may include additional or different components than those depicted in the figure. Variations in the arrangement and type of the components may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the claims as setforth herein. Additional components, different components, or fewer components may be provided.

[0040] Similar to guard 120, guard 220 includes a body 230 and a base 240. Base 240 may be similarly formed by flanges or plate elements 224 that extend outwardly from body 230 and extend in a plane P, which is parallel to side walls 102 of the conveyor section. As best understood from FIGS. 2A and 2B, body 230 projects from the base 240 in a direction that is orthogonal to the plane P defined by flanges 224. As best seen in FIG. 2A, body 230 has a minimum length as measured at its narrowest section (e.g., along its central axis) that is approximately equal to the spacing between the adjacent rollers 112 and a depth or width W that is approximately equal to the width of the belt (see above embodiments), but which increases in length to its maximum length at its upper and lower facing sides 232 and 234. The base 240 has a length that is approximately equal to the distance between the central axes of the adjacent hex axles of the rollers 112 so that when inserted between the rollers adjacent the side wall (see side 102 in reference to FIG. 1A), the base 240 will straddle the axles of the respective rollers.

[0041] Similar to body 130 of guard 120, body 230 includes opposed roller facing sides that are contoured, with arcuate surfaces 226 that at least generally follow the outer curvature of the respective adjacent rollers 112 so that guard 220 also effectively fills the space between two adjacent rollers 112 at the end portions 108.

[0042] Similar to the previous example, guard 220 may be formed from a monolithic material, including polymers, such as PVC, thermosetting polymers, or made from multiple materials, such as alternating layers of polymers, such as thermoplastic material and thermosetting material, and any materials suitable for the conveyor section. In some implementations, the body 230 is a solid structure or may have one or more hollow sections. To utilize less material, the guard 220 may include a body 230’ with a hollow section 250. The material may be removed, such as by etching, or formed during molding, to form a cup-shaped body 230’ which forms an opening on the side that faces the sidewall 102 but is closed at the outwardly facing side of body 230’. The guard 220 may be formed by casting, injection molding, thermoforming, deep drawing, or any suitable forming techniques.

[0043] Referring to FIGS. 3A-3B, another exemplary guard 320 is illustrated in accordance with one or more implementations. Not all of the depicted components may be used in all implementations, however, and one or more implementations may include additional ordifferent components than those depicted in the figure. Variations in the arrangement and type of the components may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the claims as set forth herein. Additional components, different components, or fewer components may be provided.

[0044] In the illustrated example, similar to guard 220, guard 320 includes a hollow section 350 to reduce the weight of or the amount of material used for the guard 320. For example, guard 320 may include an area 350 that extends transversely through body 330 from its outwardly facing side to its opposite side that faces the sidewall 102. Thus, area 350 forms a weightreducing opening that fully extends through the guard 320 and has the effect of reducing the total mass / weight of the guard 320 while the overall structures of the guard 320 still provides effective strength and rigidity for the free-floating guard. It should be understood that areas 250 and 350 may include a single area where there is an absence of material or may include multiple areas that together reduce the weight of or amount of material used for the guards. Similar to the previous guards, guard 330 may also include contoured sides with arcuate surfaces 326, which are similarly configured to follow the outer radiused profiles of the adjacent rollers 112.

[0045] Although illustrated with fairly uniform wall thickness around areas 250 and 350, it should be understood that portions of the body 230 or 330 may vary in thickness and, further, may include ribs or other structures to provide local reinforcement and stiffness to the respective body.

[0046] For other details of guards 220 and 320, including details of body 230, 330, base 240, 340, plates 224, 324, contoured surfaces 226, 326, and cutouts 228, 328, reference is made to the description of similarly numbered parts in guard 120.

[0047] Referring to FIGS. 4A-4B, the numeral 420 generally designates another exemplary guard 420 in accordance with one or more implementations. Similar to the previous guards, guard 420 may include a body 430 and a base 424. Further, body 430 may include opposed roller facing sides that are contoured and have arcuate surfaces 426, which generally follow the outer curvature of the adjacent rollers 112. Not all of the depicted components may be used in all implementations, however, and one or more implementations may include additional or different components than those depicted in the figure. Variations in the arrangement and type of the components may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the claims as setforth herein. Additional components, different components, or fewer components may be provided.

[0048] In contrast to the previously described guards, guard 420 may have at least a body 430 that has one or more areas 450 of increased weight. Rather than the absence of material (such as by removal of material) one or more areas 450 of at least body 430 are formed from a denser material than the remaining material forming body 430. For example, area or areas 450 may be in the form of an elongated bar or bars contained within the body 450. The bar or bars may extend the full length of the body 430 and the full width of the body 430 or may only partially extend through the body 430 to leave a portion or portions of the body 430 with greater flexibility. Further, areas 450 may be spaced from the upper facing side 432 and from the lower facing side 434, again to the leave the upper and lower facing sides with greater flexibility. For example, the bar or bars in body 430 may be formed by extrusion, molding, or casting. The overall structures of the guard 420 still provide effective strength and rigidity for the guard.

[0049] For other details of guard 420, including details of body 430, base 440, flanges 424, arcuate surfaces 426, and notches 428, reference is made to the description of similarly numbered parts in any above guard.

[0050] Referring to FIGS. 5A-5B, the numeral 520 designates yet another of a guard in accordance with one or more implementations. Not all of the depicted components may be used in all implementations, however, and one or more implementations may include additional or different components than those depicted in the figure. Variations in the arrangement and type of the components may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the claims as set forth herein. Additional components, different components, or fewer components may be provided.

[0051] As best understood from FIG. 5 A, the guard 520 may include an optional hinge 582 that is oriented along a vertical axis of guard 520, such as a central vertical axis of guard 520 so that the guard may be bent or folded about the vertical axis. Hinge 582 may be of any suitable type of hinge, including a living hinge, that provides sufficient strength and flexibility to the guard 520 to maintain the guard in the expanded configuration, while keeping the guard 520 suspended between the rollers, and to allow the guard to be bent or folded to permit easy packing or handling during shipping / transportation. For example, the hinge may include detents to hold the guard in a specified configuration, but which disengage to allow bending orfolding of the guard when a sufficient force is applied about the vertical axis, for example, as well as may be used for installation, such as by allowing the separate pieces to be inserted individually and then connected once installed.

[0052] In the illustrated example, hinge 582 may be formed by interleaved fingers 582a, 582b formed on body halves 530a, 530b of body 530, which extend into and interleave with recesses 582c, 582d formed on body halves 530a, 530b so that body 530 can bend or pivot about the hinge 582 (FIG. 5B). Fingers 582a and 582b are sized and configured to provide a friction fit between the two body halves 530a, 530b and may also be configured to allow sliding translation of the two body halves 530a, 530b so that guard 520 may be expanded when the two body halves been translated linearly away from each other or contracted when the two body halves 530a, 530b are translated linearly toward each other. It should be understood that the number and size of the fingers and recesses may vary. In one example, once the two body halves 530a, 530b are locked in place in an expanded state for mounting the guard 520 between adjacent rollers, the guard 520 cannot be restored or reversed to its bendable state.

[0053] Referring to FIG. 5C, guard 520’, which is similar construction to guard 220, includes a body 530’ with contoured surfaces 526’ that are segmented by ridges or grooves 526a’ to increase the flexibility of body 530’about an axis that is orthogonal to the insertion direction of guard 520’ between the respective adjacent rollers 112, which may facilitate insertion of the guard between the rollers.

[0054] For other details of guards 520 and 520’, including details of body 530, 530’, base 540, 540’, plates 524, contoured surfaces 526, 526’ and notches 528, reference is made to the description of similarly numbered parts in any above guard.

[0055] Referring to FIGS. 6A-6B, the numeral 620 designates yet another example of a guard.Not all of the depicted components may be used in all implementations, however, and one or more implementations may include additional or different components than those depicted in the figure. Variations in the arrangement and type of the components may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the claims as set forth herein. Additional components, different components, or fewer components may be provided.

[0056] Unlike from previous guards 120, 220, 320, 420, guard 620 includes two or more separately formed components, such as a separately formed body 630 and base 620, which are mechanically coupled together via connector component 692 in any suitable form ofattachments. The connector component 692 may be locking member, magnetic member, so forth to secure both portions in a correct orientation.

[0057] Referring to FIG. 7, the numeral 700 generally designates a conveyor section of a conveyor systems. Conveyor section 700 includes a single belt 760 drivingly coupling adjacent rollers. Similar to conveyor system 100, conveyor system 700 includes sidewalls 702 and a plurality of rollers 704 mounted between sidewalls 702, with guards 720 located between respective rollers 704 to protect operators from entanglement with the belts 760 that drivingly couple adjacent rollers.

[0058] As best seen in FIG. 8, conveyor system 800 similarly includes side walls 802 with rollers 804 rotatably mounted between the side walls 802. In the illustrated example, adjacent rollers 804 and 804b are drivingly coupled to each other by a first belt 860 and then drivingly coupled to an adjacent roller by a second belt 862. To reduce entanglement with belts 860 and 862, guards 820 are also located between adjacent rollers but have a depth that is at least the width of two belts.

[0059] Not all of the depicted components may be used in all implementations, however, and one or more implementations may include additional or different components than those depicted in the figure. Variations in the arrangement and type of the components may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the claims as set forth herein. Additional components, different components, or fewer components may be provided.

[0060] As can be seen, similar to the previous example, the guards 720, 820 are suspended between the rollers, the sidewall, and belts.

[0061] It will be appreciated that numerous various to the above-mentioned approaches are possible. Variations to the above approaches may, for example, include performing the above steps in a different order.

[0062] While certain exemplary embodiments have been described and shown in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that such embodiments are merely illustrative of are not restrictive on the broad disclosure, and that this disclosure is not limited to the specific constructions and arrangements shown and described, since various other modifications may occur to those of ordinary skill in the art. The description is thus to be regarded as illustrative instead of limited.

Claims

CLAIMSThe embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A guard for use with rollers of a conveyor section of a conveying system, the rollers each having a cylindrical outer profile and being rotatably mounted in the conveyor section by axles about an axis of rotation, said guard comprising:a body comprising opposed first and second roller facing sides for facing adjacent rollers of the conveyor section, the first and second roller facing sides being contoured to at least partially follow the outer profiles of the adjacent rollers; anda base coupled to or formed with the body, the body projecting from the base, and the base having opposed ends configured to receive and mate with the axles of the adjacent rollers of the conveyor section wherein the guard is configured to be supported by the axles of the adjacent rollers.

2. The guard of claim 1 , wherein the base is integrally formed with the body to form a monolithic guard.

3. The guard of claim 1, wherein the body has an upper facing side and a lower facing side, and the roller facing sides extend between the upper facing side and the lower facing side and are contoured to have an arcuate profile.

4. The guard of claim 3, wherein the upper facing side has a length extending between the adjacent rollers that is equal to a length of the lower facing side of the body and wherein the body has a generally symmetrical configuration.

5. The guard according to claim 3, wherein the upper facing side of the body has a length extending between the adjacent rollers that is greater than a length of the lower facing side of the body, and wherein the body has an asymmetrical configuration.

6. The guard according to claim 3, wherein the body at least fills the space between the rollers above the axes of rotation of the rollers.

7. The guard according to claim 1, wherein the body is hollow.

8. The guard according to claim 1, wherein the body is solid.

9. The guard according to any of claims 1 to 8, wherein the guard is formed from a monolithic material or from multiple materials.

10. A conveyor section comprising:spaced apart first and second sidewalls;a plurality of rollers extending between the first and second sidewalls, each roller having a cylindrical roller housing, a pair of opposed end portions, and a pair of opposed axle portions extending beyond the roller housing and beyond the respective end portions of the roller to thereby rotatably mount each roller between the first and second side walls about an axis of rotation; anda guard supported over two adjacent rollers of the plurality of rollers adjacent the first or second sidewall, the guard comprising:a body comprising opposed first and second roller facing sides contoured to at least generally follow the outer profile of the adjacent rollers; anda base formed with or coupled to the body, the base having opposed ends, each opposed end receiving and generally matching the outer profile of the shaft of a respective roller of the adjacent rollers wherein the guard is supported between the adjacent rolls on the axles of the rollers.

11. The conveying section of claim 10, wherein the axles have a hexagonal profile.

12. The conveyor section of claim 10, wherein the base comprises a pair of flanges extending from opposed sides of the body.

13. The conveyor section of claim 12, wherein each flange comprises a plate with uniform thickness that extends between the first or second sidewall and the end portions of the respective adjacent rollers.

14. The conveyor section of claim 10, wherein said body has an upper facing side, wherein the upper facing side has a length extending between the adjacent rollers that is equal to the length of a lower facing side of the body, and wherein the body has a generally symmetrical configuration.

15. The conveyor section according to claim 14, wherein the body at least fills the space between the adjacent rollers adjacent the first or second side wall above and below the axes of rotation of the adjacent rollers.

16. The conveyor section according to any of claims 10-15, wherein the body is hollow.

17. The conveyor section according to any of claims 10-15, wherein the body is solid.

18. The conveyor section according to any of claims 10-15, wherein the guard is formed from a monolithic material or from multiple materials.

19. The conveyor section according to any of claims 10-15, wherein the body and base are integrally formed.

20. A conveyor system comprising one or more conveyor sections according to any one of claims 10-15.

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