Maryland Wire Belts, Inc.

Cambridge, Inc.

Shanley and Baker

Maryland Wire Belt, Inc.

H William West

Ronald G Daringer

Richard A Loeffler, Sr

Millard F Vannoy, Jr

A conveyor belt for conveying product in a direction of travel having a plurality of pivotal transverse rods extending laterally across the belt, the transverse rods having inner and outer ends along inner and outer edges of the belt; a plurality of connecting links arranged in at least one longitudinal row along the inner and outer edges of the belt and pivotally interconnecting the inner and outer ends of the transverse rods, respectively, with each of the connecting links having a pair of openings extending laterally therethrough such that the transverse rods extend through the openings; and double weld connections between the rods and the connecting links, each of the double weld connections including a first weld connection point between a trailing side of the transverse rod and the connecting link and a second weld connection point between a leading side of the transverse rod and the connecting link. A method of manufacturing the conveyor belt includes providing a plurality of transverse rods, providing a plurality of connecting links having a first pair of openings extending laterally therethrough and a second pair of openings extending therethrough, arranging the transverse rods through the first and second pair of openings so as to pivotally interconnect the transverse rods in a longitudinally spaced arrangement, and welding the connecting links to the transverse rods at the first pair of openings on both a leading side of the transverse rod and on a trailing side of the transverse rod.

Conveyor belt and method of making the same

A conveyor belt for conveying product in a direction of travel having a plurality of pivotal transverse rods extending laterally across the belt, the transverse rods having inner and outer ends along inner and outer edges of the belt; a plurality of connecting links arranged in at least one longitudinal row along the inner and outer edges of the belt and pivotally interconnecting the inner and outer ends of the transverse rods, respectively, with each of the connecting links having a pair of openings extending laterally therethrough such that the transverse rods extend through the openings; and a weld connection between the rods and the connecting links, at least one weld connection including only a first weld point between a trailing side of the transverse rod and the connecting link. A method of manufacturing the conveyor belt includes providing a plurality of transverse rods, providing a plurality of connecting links having a first pair of openings extending laterally therethrough and a second pair of openings extending therethrough, arranging the transverse rods through the first and second pair of openings so as to pivotally interconnect the transverse rods in a longitudinally spaced arrangement, and welding the connecting links to the transverse rods at the first pair of openings on only a trailing side of the transverse rod.

Tracking roller

Drive and related travel tension is decreased at selected locations in special purpose travel paths for woven-wire conveyor belts enabling decrease in tensile strength requirements of metal wire components as assembled into a woven-wire belt. Connector rod configurations with varying depth seats, at selected locations for individual helically-wound loops of interacting spiral wires, provide for expansion of belt length at selected locations where needed to decrease or eliminate metal wire component strain. In unitary vertically-oriented lateral edge portions of an assembled belt during endless-belt travel about cylindrical configuration support rolls, travel tension is decreased by providing for added belt length of such unitary vertically-oriented lateral edge means as used for confining articles being conveyed; and, to provide more efficient and effective application of dynamic frictional drive forces along the length direction of travel of an elongated assembled belt in a travel path which is laterally-curved in relation to such length direction while maintaining a substantially-horizontal conveyance surface.

Component manufacture and operation of woven-wire conveyor belts

A roll, along with methods of fabricating and using such roll, for driving a woven-wire conveyor belt, provide substantially-uniform drive across belt width, avoid disruption of belt drive, provide unidirection tracking of such belt, and avoid disruption of conveyed product during treatment of conveyed product at temperatures other than ambient. During conveyance of product for heating or cooling treatment, woven-wire conveyor belts and rolls driving such belts are often at differing temperatures, especially during start-up and shutdown of operations. Such temperature differentials can cause dimensional changes in a belt which change the relative location of belt recesses with respect to the roll surface. Selective shaping and dimensioning of roll protrusions from the widthwise center of a roll toward each lateral end of the roll eliminates mismatching of belt recesses due to changes in belt width during product processing at temperatures other than ambient.

Conveyor system for woven-wire belt operations

A roll, for driving a woven-wire conveyor belt, provides substantially-uniform drive across the belt width, avoids disruption of belt drive, provide unidirection tracking of the belt, and avoids disruption of conveyed products during treatment of conveyed products at temperatures other than ambient. During conveyance of a product for heating or cooling treatment, woven-wire conveyor belts and rolls driving the belts are often at differing temperatures, especially during start-up and shutdown of operations. Such temperature differentials can cause dimensional changes in a belt which change the relative location of belt recesses with respect to the roll surface. Selective shaping and dimensioning of roll protrusions from the widthwise center of a roll toward each lateral end of the roll eliminates mismatching of belt recesses due to changes in belt width during product processing at temperatures other than ambient.

Roll configurations for woven wire belt operations

Continuous length wire is segmented into predetermined lengths having desired die-coined configurations at severed longitudinal ends in a wire-working machine of the invention. In a single step operation, such wire is simultaneously die-coined and severed to form a longitudinally contiguous pair of wire ends in order to produce such predetermined lengths with desired tapered convex shapes at each longitudinal end ready for use as shaped and severed so as to eliminate subsequent metal-forming steps and certain problems associated with severing practices of the prior art. In a specific embodiment of the fabrication process, coiled wire is straightened and then simultaneously die-coined and severed to form rigid rods with tapered end configurations which facilitate use as a connecting rod during assembly operations, e.g. in the assembly of a metal wire belt. The application also discloses specific embodiments of dies for such process, methods of producing such dies, and die-drive apparatus for moving such dies together for such single step operation and then apart for a subsequent operation.

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Cambridge, MD, United States of America

H William West