Sidewall fastening system for a conveyor belt

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2023250861-A1
Application number	US-202217668960-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Feb 10, 2022
Priority date	Feb 10, 2022
Publication date	Aug 10, 2023
Grant date	—

Abstract

A flexible thermoplastic conveyor belt constructed of one or more belt segments having corrugated sidewalls. The one or more segments are joined end to end at one or more joints. The ends of the sidewalls at or near the joints are fastened together by fasteners to form a continuous sidewall along the length of the belt. The fasteners are toolless fasteners requiring no tools; they can be fastened and unfastened by hand alone.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A conveyor belt comprising:
one or more belt segments joined at one or more joints into an endless conveyor belt loop that extends in width from a first side to a second side; one or more segment sidewalls, each extending from a first end to a second end along one of the belt segments proximate the first side or the second side of the conveyor belt loop; one or more fasteners, each joining a first end of a segment sidewall to a second end of a segment sidewall proximate each of the one or more joints to form a continuous sidewall proximate the first side or the second side and bridging the one or more joints; wherein the fastener is a toolless fastener requiring no tools to join the first end and the second end.

2 . A conveyor belt as claimed in claim 1 wherein the fastener comprises a clip having one or more slots receiving the first and second ends in interference fits.

3 . A conveyor belt as claimed in claim 1 wherein the fastener comprises a clip joining the first and second ends together.

4 . A conveyor belt as claimed in claim 3 wherein the clip is U-shaped, S-shaped, or W-shaped.

5 . A conveyor belt as claimed in claim 3 wherein the clip is U-shaped with a single clip slot into which the first and second ends are clipped together in an interference fit.

6 . A conveyor belt as claimed in claim 3 wherein the clip is S-shaped with a pair of oppositely open clip slots: a first clip slot receiving the first end and a second clip slot receiving the second end in interference fits.

7 . A conveyor belt as claimed in claim 3 wherein the clip is W-shaped with a pair of clip slots: a first clip slot receiving the first end and a second clip slot receiving the second end in interference fits.

8 . A conveyor belt as claimed in claim 1 wherein the fastener comprises a first clip having a slot receiving the first end and a second clip having a slot receiving the second end and wherein the first and second clips have permanent magnets attracting the first clip to the second clip to join the first and second ends.

9 . A conveyor belt as claimed in claim 1 wherein the fastener comprises:
a first fastener element integral with the segment sidewall at the first end;
a second fastener element integral with the segment sidewall at the second end;
wherein the one or more segment sidewalls are joined first end to second end by engaging the first fastener elements with the second fastener elements to interlock the first ends with the second ends and form a continuous sidewall bridging the one or more joints.

10 . A conveyor belt as claimed in claim 9 wherein the first fastener element is a tab extending from the first end and the second fastener element is a wall slot formed in the second end sized to receive and retain the tab at the first end.

11 . A conveyor belt as claimed in claim 10 wherein the tab has an enlarged head having an outer dimension greater than the maximum dimension of the wall slot.

12 . A conveyor belt as claimed in claim 11 wherein the enlarged head is rigid and the second end is flexible enough so that the second end can be elastically deformed to enlarge the wall slot during insertion of the enlarged head through the wall slot.

13 . A conveyor belt as claimed in claim 11 wherein the enlarged head is in the shape of an arrowhead.

14 . A conveyor belt as claimed in claim 10 wherein the tab or the second end is flexible enough so that the tab can be elastically deformed or the second end can be elastically deformed to enlarge the wall slot during insertion of the tab into the wall slot.

15 . A conveyor belt as claimed in claim 10 wherein the wall slot opens onto an edge of the segment sidewall.

16 . A conveyor belt as claimed in claim 10 wherein the wall slot has a closed periphery.

17 . A conveyor belt as claimed in claim 10 wherein the tab has an enlarged head and a neck connecting the enlarged head to an edge of the first end of the segment sidewall and wherein the wall slot opens onto an edge of the second end of the segment sidewall through a narrowed gap and wherein the width of the gap is less than the width of the neck to retain the tab in the wall slot.

18 . A conveyor belt as claimed in claim 10 wherein the tab is hook-shaped with a shank and a hook end and wherein the wall slot has an open side to receive the shank with the hook end hooked to the second segment sidewall.

19 . A conveyor belt as claimed in claim 9 comprising at least two pairs of first and second fasteners at the first and second ends.

20 . A conveyor belt as claimed in claim 1 wherein the one or more fasteners include:
an upper tab, a lower tab, and a middle tab between the upper and lower tabs extending from the first end;
an upper wall slot, a lower wall slot, and a middle wall slot between the upper and lower wall slots in the second end;
wherein the upper, lower, and middle wall slots in the second end are sized to receive and retain the upper, lower, and middle tabs extending from the first end.

21 . A conveyor belt as claimed in claim 20 wherein the upper tab extends obliquely upward from the first end and the lower tab extends obliquely downward from the first end and wherein the second end has a vertical edge and wherein the upper wall slot is elongated upwardly and outwardly toward the vertical edge and the lower wall slot is elongated downwardly and outwardly toward the vertical edge.

22 . A conveyor belt as claimed in claim 1 wherein the one or more fasteners are made of materials magnetically attracted to each other.

23 . A conveyor belt as claimed in claim 22 wherein the one or more fasteners each include one or more first permanent magnets in the first end and one or more second permanent magnets or one or more ferrous elements in the second end.

24 . A conveyor belt as claimed in claim 9 wherein the first fastener element is a male snap and the second fastener element is a female snap that snap together.

25 . A conveyor belt as claimed in claim 1 wherein the one or more fasteners join the first and second ends above the joints.

26 . A conveyor belt as claimed in claim 1 wherein the one or more fasteners join the first and second ends offset along the endless conveyor belt loop from the joints.

27 . A conveyor belt as claimed in claim 1 wherein the one or more segment sidewalls have bottoms welded to the belt segments along their lengths except at the first and second ends.

28 . A conveyor belt as claimed in claim 1 wherein the fastener comprises a series of holes through the first and second ends and a spiral wire threaded through the holes in the first and second ends to fasten the first and second ends together.

29 . A conveyor belt as claimed in claim 28 wherein the spiral wire has an enlarged head at one end and a bead spaced from the head by a distance slightly greater than the combined thickness of the first and second ends and wherein the dimensions of the head and the bead are greater than the dimensions of the holes.

30 . A conveyor belt as claimed in claim 1 wherein the fastener includes:
a first series of eyelets spaced vertically along the first end;
a second series of eyelets spaced vertically along the second end;
a connecting pin;
wherein the first series of eyelets are interleaved with

Assignees

• Laitram Llc
• Dynamic Conveyor Corp

Inventors

• Stong John
• Nazar Gabriel
• Hulshof Gerko
• Sprenkeler Martin
• Degroot Michael Hendrik
• Batchelder Jeff
• Honeycutt Jr James R

Classifications

• B65G15/42 Primary

  having ribs, ridges, or other surface projections · CPC title

• F16G3/02

  with series of eyes or the like, interposed and linked by a pin to form a hinge (F16G3/09 takes precedence) · CPC title

• F16G3/003 Primary

  Apparatus or tools for joining belts (stapler B25C5/00) · CPC title

• B65G15/32

  made of rubber or plastics · CPC title

• F16G3/04

  in which the ends of separate U-shaped or like eyes are attached to the belt by parts penetrating into it · CPC title