Conveyor system with bi-planar chain

Abstract

A conveyor system employs a belt of the type having load carrying areas and yieldable areas in alternating sequence such that the belt can flex to follow a serpentine path. The belt travels along a path established by a cruciform track containing a pulling chain having alternating horizontal and vertical links, each link being joined to a roller carriage at each of its opposite ends such that each carriage includes both a horizontal and a vertical pivot axis with rollers on each axis for operating in the cruciform track. The axes are substantially coplanar with each other and with the yieldable areas of the belt, and each belt section is connected to a link. The track may be split into longitudinal halves joined to a common web by fasteners alternately removable from opposite track halves for service access to the interior of the track without disassembly of the entire track from the web. Support leg structures attached to the web carry the track for vertical, horizontal, and turn positioning of the track, and complete covers may enclose the track and belt. Expansion joints permit small variations in the length of track runs. Intermediate powered drive units engage the chain in a reliable manner to permit relatively long lengths of track runs with a relatively large number of degrees of turn.