Intermodular Roller Conveyor Belt for Low Backline Pressure
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional modular conveyor belts face issues with high backline pressure, difficulty in cleaning due to roller surfaces, and reduced belt pull strength, particularly in applications where low friction and easy cleanability are crucial, such as in meat handling.
Innovation Solution
A modular conveyor belt design featuring rows of belt modules with rollers supported between modules, allowing the rollers to extend above and below the belt, with axles integrated into the modules to provide low backline pressure and easy cleaning, while maintaining belt strength through strategically positioned link ends.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Force
If rollers are placed on the pivot rod to reduce backline pressure, then friction is reduced and backline pressure is lowered, but the belt pull strength is reduced due to fewer or thinner link ends
Solution Approach 1:
The roller support function is segmented from the pivot rod and assigned to dedicated roller support elements integrated into the belt modules. This allows the pivot rod to focus on articulation while roller supports handle the rolling contact, enabling both low backline pressure and maintained belt strength through optimized structural distribution.
Solution Approach 2:
Roller support elements are strategically integrated at specific locations within belt modules where needed, rather than requiring all link ends to be thickened. This localized approach provides roller functionality where backline pressure occurs while maintaining standard link end dimensions elsewhere, preserving overall belt pull strength.
2Force
If rollers are used to provide low friction rolling contact, then backline pressure is reduced, but cleanability deteriorates due to many surfaces and nooks and crannies
Solution Approach 1:
The roller support elements are designed with simplified geometries that extract or eliminate complex nooks and crannies typically found in conventional roller assemblies. By using integrated support elements rather than separate roller components with bearings and seals, the design maintains low friction functionality while dramatically improving cleanability through reduced surface complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using conventional rollers with complex internal structures, the invention inverts the approach by using simple integrated support elements that provide rolling contact through their geometry alone. This inversion from complex-to-simple design achieves the same friction-reduction benefit while eliminating cleaning difficulties.
3Volume of moving object
If narrow rollers are used to fit between modules, then the roller fits in the limited space, but contact pressure on conveyed articles increases
Solution Approach 1:
The roller support elements utilize the vertical dimension by extending above and below the belt plane, allowing the roller contact surface to be distributed in three-dimensional space. This dimensional approach enables adequate contact pressure distribution without requiring increased roller width, as the load is spread across multiple contact points in different spatial dimensions.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design effectively reduces backline pressure, enhances cleanability, and maintains belt strength by positioning rollers between modules, addressing the challenges of friction, wear, and cleanliness in industrial applications.
Implementation Method 1
Rotatable elements, such as rollers, in rolling contact with the undersides of conveyed articles have been used to reduce friction and lower backline pressure.
Implementation Method 2
A hinge pin may extend through the plurality of hinge elements of both the first row and the second row so as to pivotally join the first row to the second row.
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 2A~2B
Figure 2C~3
AI summary
A conveyor belt includes a series of rows of belt modules (13, 16). A first one of the rows has a plurality of hinge elements along an end of the first row. A second one of the rows has a plurality of hinge elements along an end of the second row. The plurality of hinge elements of the first row are interleaved with the plurality of hinge elements of the second row. A roller is supported from a first module (13) of the first row and supported from a second module (16) of the first row, so that the roller resides between the first module (13) and the second module (16) and so that the roller extends above the modules (13, 16) in order to allow an object, which is to be conveyed by the conveyor belt, to be supported on the roller. The modules are moved in a belt travel direction (25) in order to convey the object from a first location to a second location.