The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 21, 1999
Filed:
Jun. 12, 1997
Michael Etherington, Winchester, VA (US);
William F Funkhouser, Mount Jackson, VA (US);
Ashworth Bros., Inc., Fall River, MA (US);
Abstract
A conveyor belt with rods and connective links that engage one another so as to resist lateral deflection and rotational movement about the rods during conveyor operation. The rods have a large diameter through most of their length, and a smaller diameter at their ends where they are attached to the connective links. The transition between the large diameter and the smaller diameter is a chamfered section which is captured within an aperture of the links to constrain the links from lateral movement along the rod. The links are further constrained on the rods by forming an upset or buttonhead at the ends of the rod and resistance welding the rod to the link apertures. The additional fixation steps used in conventional belt manufacture are thus eliminated. By affixing the links and rods together in the manner disclosed, repeated movements of the link legs relative to the rods are eliminated thereby significantly reducing the chances of fatigue failure of the links.