System and method for servicing a belt conveyor

Abstract

A system and method for servicing the carryway of a modular conveyor belt in a gap between two separated ends of the belt. A first knuckle is attached to one end of the conveyor belt, and a second knuckle is attached to the other end. A tether connected between the two knuckles maintains a fixed gap between the two separated belt ends through which the carryway can be serviced. Or the two knuckles can be connected directly to each other without a tether to provide a smaller gap. The belt can be jogged to move the gap along the carryway to expose another portion of the carryway for servicing.

Description

[0001] SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SERVICING A BELT CONVEYOR

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The invention relates generally to power-driven conveyors and particularly to systems and methods for servicing the carry ways of modular belt conveyors.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] Modular conveyor belts are used in many industries to convey objects. The modular belts are constructed of rows of one or more belt modules linked together at hinge joints by hinge rods. The belts are advanced along a supporting carryway by motor-driven sprockets. Often, the carry way requires maintenance. To access the carry way, maintenance personnel first block the belt at both ends to prevent the belt from sliding by the weight of the belt in a lower return. Then they open the modular conveyor belt at one of the hinge joints by removing the hinge rod and rolling one or both separated ends up. The gap formed between the separated belt ends provides access to a length of the carry way. To access other lengths of the carryway, the maintenance personnel have to unroll the rolled-up belt end and reclose the belt. Then they have to repeat the process at each length of carryway that is to be accessed. That makes for a tedious and time-consuming operation, especially on a long conveyor. Thus, there is a need for a system that helps maintenance personnel service the carryway of a modular belt conveyor.

[0006] SUMMARY

[0007] One version of a system for maintaining a gap between separated ends of a modular conveyor belt comprises first and second knuckles. Each knuckle includes a knuckle body that extends in length from a first end to a second end, laterally in width from a first side to a second side, and in thickness from a top to a bottom. Hinge elements are spaced apart laterally along the first end. The hinge elements of each knuckle are configured to be interleaved with and connected to hinge elements along the separated end of a modular conveyor belt. Eyelets are spaced apart laterally along the second end. A pin is associated with each of the knuckles. The pin is removably insertable laterally through the eyelets. A tether can be connected from the pin associated with the first knuckle to the pin associated with the second knuckle to extend between the first knuckle's eyelets and the second knuckle's eyelets.Another version of a system for maintaining a gap between separated ends of a modular conveyor belt comprises first and second knuckles. Each knuckle includes a knuckle body extending in length from a first end to a second end, laterally in width from a first side to a second side, and in thickness from a top to a bottom. Hinge elements spaced apart laterally along the first end are configured to be interleaved with and connected to hinge elements along a separated end of a modular conveyor belt. Eyelets are spaced apart laterally along the second end. The eyelets along the second ends of the first and second knuckles are interleaved. A pin is associated with each of the knuckles. One of the pins is insertable through the interleaved eyelets to join the first and second knuckles and form a gap between the separated ends of the conveyor belt.

[0008] A method for preparing for servicing the carryway of a belt conveyor comprises: (a) opening a modular conveyor belt by removing the hinge rod or hinge rods joining two consecutive belt rows at a hinge joint; (b) joining one or more knuckles to one separated end of the conveyor belt with a hinge rod; (c) joining a corresponding number of knuckles to the other separated end of the conveyor belt with a hinge rod; (d) joining corresponding knuckles directly to each other or with a tether to maintain a gap between the two separated ends to expose a portion of the carryway for service; and (e) jogging the conveyor belt in a direction of belt travel to move the gap along the carryway to expose another portion of the carryway for service.

[0009] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a portion of a belt conveyor in which two separated ends of a conveyor belt are maintained a fixed distance apart by a conveyor-servicing system.

[0010] FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan view of the connection of one of the knuckles of FIG. 1 to a separated end of the conveyor belt.

[0011] FIG. 3 is a side view of an end portion of the conveyor belt of FIG. 1.

[0012] FIG. 4 is a top oblique view of a knuckle as in FIG. 1.

[0013] FIG. 5 is a side elevation view of the knuckle of FIG. 4.

[0014] FIG. 6 is an oblique view of a pair of knuckles as in FIG. 4 connected together when not connected to the ends of the belt.FIG. 7 is a top plan view of a portion of a belt conveyor in which the separated ends of the conveyor belt are maintained a fixed distance apart by a conveyor-servicing system as in FIG. 1 without a tether.

[0015] FIG. 8 is an isometric view of a knuckle similar to the knuckle of FIG. 4 with loops for retaining the pin.

[0016] FIG. 9 is an isometric view of a knuckle similar to the knuckle of FIG. 4 with detachable tabs having loops for retaining the pin.

[0017] FIG. 10 is an isometric view of a knuckle similar to the knuckle of FIG. 4 with clips for retaining the pin.

[0018] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0019] A portion of the upper carryway run of a modular belt conveyor showing the belt opened for providing access to service the carry way is shown in FIG. 1. The modular belt 12 is constructed of rows of one or more belt modules linked together at hinge joints by hinge rods. The modules are typically made of a plastic material but could be metallic. Separated ends 10, 11 of the conveyor belt 12 are spaced apart across a gap 14 through which the carry way 16 can be serviced. Here the carry way 16 is represented by wearstrips 18 that support the belt 12. Other elements may also be disposed in the carryway 16. For example, the conveyor belt 12 shown in FIG. 1 includes belt rollers 20 that are actuatable by rolleractuation surfaces or rollers (not shown) in the carryway 16. The roller-actuation surfaces or rollers are selectively raised or translated into contact with the belt rollers 20 from a lowered or laterally offset position to cause the belt rollers to rotate and divert objects conveyed atop the belt rollers.

[0020] In FIG. 1 three sets of knuckle pairs connected to the ends 10, 11 of the belt 12 at laterally spaced positions are used to maintain the length of the gap 14. As better shown in FIG. 2, each knuckle 22 has hinge elements 24 spaced apart along one end. The hinge elements 24 interleave with the hinge elements 25 at the separated end 10 of the conveyor belt 12. A hinge rod, such as the belt's hinge rod 28, extends through the aligned hinge elements 24, 25 to join the knuckle 22 to the belt 12. A pin 30 associated with the knuckle 22 extends through eyelets 32 spaced apart along the other end of the knuckle. The pin 30 also runs through a loop at one end of a strap 34.As shown in FIG. 1, the other end of the strap 34 is retained by the pin 30 in the knuckle 22' joined similarly to the other separated end 11 of the conveyor belt 12. The weight of the belt 12 in the return tends to pull the separated ends 10, 11 apart by the force of gravity.

[0021] As shown in FIG. 3, the conveyor belt 12 is shown with its two separated ends 10, 11 connected to the knuckles 22, 22'. The taut strap 34 attached to the two knuckles 22, 22' maintains the length of the service gap 14 constant. Instead of a strap, other tethers, such as a rope, cord, band, belt, chain, cable, ribbon, sling, and tube, to name a few, can be used to attach to the two knuckles 22, 22'. A strap is used as the exemplary tether in the description. The gap 14 exposes a portion of the carryway 16 for maintenance. Because the conveyor belt 12 is still engaged with a drive sprocket set 36 driven by a motor 38, the belt can be driven in a conveying direction 40 to expose another portion of the carryway for servicing. The knuckles 22, 22' and straps 34 are strong enough to pull the entire belt 12.

[0022] A method for preparing for servicing the carryway of a belt conveyor comprises the following steps:

[0023] 1. opening a modular conveyor belt by removing the hinge rod or hinge rods joining two consecutive belt rows at a hinge joint;

[0024] 2. joining one or more first knuckles to one separated end of the conveyor belt with a hinge rod;

[0025] 3. joining a corresponding number of second knuckles to the other separated end of the conveyor belt with a hinge rod;

[0026] 4. attaching straps or other tethers between corresponding first and second knuckles to maintain a selected gap length between the two separated ends to expose a portion of the carryway for service.

[0027] 5. jogging the conveyor belt to move the gap to expose another portion of the carryway for service.

[0028] Typically, the belt is blocked at both ends of the carryway before the belt is opened at the hinge joint. Joining a first knuckle to a separated belt end is accomplished by first interleaving the knuckle's hinge elements with the belt's hinge elements. Then a hinge rod is inserted through the aligned hinge elements to join the knuckle to the belt. The corresponding second knuckle is similarly joined to the belt's other separated end so that thetwo knuckles are aligned. In that way the strap is parallel to the direction of belt travel. The straps can be attached between the corresponding first and second knuckles before the knuckles are joined to the separated belt ends or even before the belt is opened.

[0029] One version of a knuckle 22 is shown in detail in FIGS. 4 and 5. The knuckle 22 includes a knuckle body 42 that extends in length from a first end 44 to a second end 45, laterally in width from a first side 46 to a second side 47, and in thickness from a top 48 to a bottom 49. The hinge elements 24 are spaced apart laterally along the first end 44. The hinge elements 24 match the hinge elements and their spacings for certain conveyor belts.

[0030] Knuckles with differently spaced and shaped hinge elements, but otherwise the same, can be made to match the different hinge-element geometries of other belts. Eyelets 32 are spaced apart along the second end 45 of the knuckle body 42. Two interior eyelets 32', 32" are spaced apart across a wide space 50 that is wide enough to accommodate the width of the strap.

[0031] The pin 30 is shown received in a tunnel 52 that extends laterally through the knuckle body 42 and its first and second sides 46, 47. The tunnel 52 is a convenient receptacle for storing the pin 30 when not connected to a strap. The tunnel 52 is located in the knuckle body 42 between the first and second ends 44, 45. The pin 30 can be inserted into the tunnel 52 from either side of the knuckle body 42.

[0032] The pin 30 is preferably a locking pin for convenience. In this example the locking pin 30 is a ball lock pin with a recessed button 54 (FIG. 6) in its head 56. The button 54 releases the spring-loaded balls 58 at the other end so that the pin can be extracted from the tunnel 52. A ring 60 is attached to the pin's head 56 through a hole 62 in a shroud 64 protecting the button. A lanyard 66 has a loop 68 at one end that is looped through the ring 60. The other end of the lanyard 66 has an eye 70 fastened at the top 48 of the knuckle body 42 by a fastener, such as a screw 72 threaded into the knuckle body. As an alternative, the lanyard 66 could be attached to the knuckle body 42 at one of the sides 46, 47 or elsewhere. Thus, the pin 30 is kept with the knuckle by the lanyard 66. The lanyard 66 is shown with optional service loops 74 for a more compact configuration when not extended.

[0033] FIG. 6 shows the arrangement of the pair of knuckles connected together. The two associated knuckles 22, 22' are identical in this example. The eyelets 32 along the second ends 45 of the two knuckles 22, 22' are interleaved. One of the pins 30 is extended through the aligned interleaved eyelets 32 to join the two knuckles 22, 22' together. The other pin 30'is received in the tunnel 52 in its associated knuckle 22. The straps are stowed separately. Although all the eyelets could be identical and identically spaced, the eyelets in FIG. 6 are not identical so that the two knuckles 22, 22' fit together in one way only. In particular, a wide eyelet 32'" fits only in a wide inter-eyelet space 33, also shown in FIG. 4, and correct alignment of the two connected knuckles 22, 22' is ensured. Other asymmetric configurations of the widths and spacings of the eyelets can be used to ensure proper alignment.

[0034] A conveyor-servicing kit could include the knuckles 22, 22', pins 30, 30', and lanyards 66 of FIG. 6, along with one or more straps. Straps of various lengths could be included and color-coded for different gap lengths. Or a length-adjustable ratchet strap could be used.

[0035] FIG. 7 shows the knuckles 22, 22' joined together as in FIG. 6 without a tether to maintain a narrow gap 71 between the two separated ends 10, 11 of the conveyor belt 12. The width of the narrow gap 71 is essentially the combined length of the knuckle bodies of the two joined knuckles 22, 22'. The knuckles' hinge elements 24 are connected to the separated belt ends 10, 11 as described in reference to FIG. 1. And the interleaved eyelets 32 of the two knuckles 22, 22' are joined by one of the pins 30. The other pin is stowed in its knuckle's tunnel.

[0036] The pin-retention tunnel 52 of FIG. 5 is replaced in FIG. 8 by loops 75 monolithically formed with a knuckle 77 at its top 76 at each side 78, 79. A lock pin 80 has a T-shaped handle 82 with a protruding unlocking button 84. The lock pin 80 can be inserted into the loops 75 from either side 78, 79 of the knuckle 77. Alternatively, loops 81 can formed in tabs 83 retained by screws 85 in sides 89 of a knuckle 91 as in FIG. 9 to retain the lock pin 80.

[0037] An alternative pin retainer is shown in FIG. 10. In this version the plastic clamps 86, 87, such as cable clamps, are screwed into the top 88 of a knuckle 90 at each side 92, 93. The loops formed by the clamps 86, 87 receive a lock pin 94. The lock pin 94 shown in FIG. 10 has a disk head 96 with an unlocking button 98 protruding from it. Both clamps would typically be identical, but two different ones are shown to present two examples. The clamp 86 at the first side 92 forms a closed loop. The clamp 87 at the second side 93 forms an open loop that expands to pass the portion of the lock pin 94 with the spring-loaded balls and to retract to its unexpanded shape once the balls have passed through the open loop.It should be understood that various kinds of pin retainers other than tunnels, monolithic loops, and plastic clamps can be used with the knuckles. And lock pins of various designs and pins that don't lock can be used with the knuckles and with lanyards.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A system for maintaining a gap between separated ends of a modular conveyor belt, the system comprising:first and second knuckles, each including:a knuckle body extending in length from a first end to a second end, laterally in width from a first side to a second side, and in thickness from a top to a bottom; hinge elements spaced apart laterally along the first end and configured to be interleaved with and connected to hinge elements along the separated end of a modular conveyor belt;eyelets spaced apart laterally along the second end;a pin associated with each of the knuckles, wherein the pin is removably insertable laterally through the eyelets;a tether connectable from the pin associated with the first knuckle to the pin associated with the second knuckle to extend between the first knuckle's eyelets and the second knuckle's eyelets.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the first and second knuckles each include a tunnel extending through the knuckle body from the first side to the second side between the first and second ends for stowing the pin when not connected to the tether.

3. The system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the first and second knuckles each include a lanyard fastened at one end to the knuckle body and at the other end to the pin.

4. The system as claimed in claim 3 wherein the pin has a head at one end to which the lanyard is fastened.

5. The system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the pin is a ball lock pin.

6. The system as claimed in claim 1 wherein two interior eyelets between the first and second sides are spaced apart across a space wide enough to receive the tether connected to the pin through the eyelets.

7. The system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the first and second knuckles are connectable together by interleaving the eyelets of the first knuckle with the eyelets of the second knuckle and inserting one of the pins through the interleaved eyelets.

8. The system as claimed in claim 7 wherein the first and second knuckles each include a tunnel extending through the knuckle body from the first side to the second side between the first and second ends for stowing the other of the pins.

9. The system as claimed in claim 7 wherein the first and second knuckles each include a pin retainer at the top of the knuckle body for retaining the other of the pins.

10. A system for maintaining a gap between separated ends of a modular conveyor belt, the system comprising:first and second knuckles, each including:a knuckle body extending in length from a first end to a second end, laterally in width from a first side to a second side, and in thickness from a top to a bottom; hinge elements spaced apart laterally along the first end and configured to be interleaved with and connected to hinge elements along a separated end of a modular conveyor belt;eyelets spaced apart laterally along the second end;wherein the eyelets along the second ends of the first and second knuckles are interleaved;a pin associated with each of the knuckles, wherein one of the pins is insertable through the interleaved eyelets to join the first and second knuckles and form a gap between the separated ends of the conveyor belt.

11. The system as claimed in claim 10 wherein the first and second knuckles each include a tunnel extending laterally through the knuckle body from the first side to the second side between the first and second ends to receive the associated pin.

12. The system as claimed in claim 10 wherein the first and second knuckles each include a pin retainer at the top of the knuckle body for retaining the other of the pins.

13. The system as claimed in claim 10 wherein the first and second knuckles are identical.

14. The system as claimed in claim 10 wherein the eyelets along the second end of the module body are asymmetric so that the eyelets of the first knuckle and the eyelets of the second knuckle can be interleaved in one way only.

15. A method for preparing for servicing the carryway of a belt conveyor comprises:opening a modular conveyor belt by removing the hinge rod or hinge rods joining two consecutive belt rows at a hinge joint to form first and second separated ends across a service gap;joining one or more knuckles to the first separated end of the conveyor belt with a hinge rod;joining a corresponding number of knuckles to the second separated end of the conveyor belt with a hinge rod;joining corresponding knuckles directly to each other or with a tether to maintain the service gap between the two separated ends to expose a portion of the carryway for service;jogging the conveyor belt in a direction of belt travel to move the gap along the carry way to expose another portion of the carryway for service.

16. The method as claimed in claim 15 comprising attaching the tethers between pins that are removably insertable in the knuckles.

17. The method as claimed in claim 15 comprising attaching the tethers between corresponding knuckles parallel to the direction of belt travel.

18. The method as claimed in claim 15 comprising attaching the tethers between corresponding knuckles before the knuckles are joined to the separated ends of the conveyor belt.

19. The method as claimed in claim 15 comprising joining the corresponding knuckles with pin through interleaved eyelets of the corresponding knuckles.

20. The method as claimed in claim 15 comprising blocking the modular conveyor belt at opposite ends of the carryway before opening the modular conveyor belt.

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