Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
This invention relates to a conveyor roller, and in
particular to a roller for a belt conveyor.
The conveyor roller Eield is relatively crowded. Such
rollers include a cylindrical steel casing or shell, a cent~al
shaft, end caps on the casing, and hubs or bearings for rotatably
supporting the casing on the shaft. The bearings and end caps are
often part of the same element. Examples of patent art relating
to rollers of the above described type include ~OS. Patents Nos.
2,886,156, issued to S. Halbron on May 12, 1959; 3,194,387, issued
to W.N. Poundstone on July 13, 1965; 3,353,644, issued to H.~.
McNash et al on November 21, 1967; 3,931,87~, issued to ~. Payne
on January 13, 1976; 3,957,147, issued to D. Specht on May 18,
1976; 3,994,380, issued to H.F. Hope et al on November 30, 1976;
4,059,180, issued to B. Krivec et al on November 22, 1977 and
4,~13,523, issued to C.C. Frost et al on July 22, 1980.
In general, the problems involved with such rollers~ are
(1) the use of a large number of elements which increase~weight
and the unit price of the rollers, and (2) unstable structures
resulting in excessive wear and short roller life.
The object of the present invention is to provide a rela-
tively simple, yet durable conveyor roller, which may include
balancing means for eliminating high frequency vibra-tions at high
speecls.
Accordingly, the present invention relates to a conveyor
roller including a cylindrical casing, shaft means in said casing
e~tending beyond the ends of said casing; bearing means on each end
of said shaft means for rotatably supporting said casing on said
shaft means; plastic sleeve means on said bearing means be-tween
said bearing means and said casing means; and balancing means in
said sleeve means permitting changing of the balance of the roller.
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76~3~3
The invention will now be described in greater detail with
reference to the accompan~ing drawings, which illustrate preferred
embodiments of the invention, and wherein:
Figure 1 is a partly longitudinally sectioned, side elevat-
ional view of one embodiment of conveyor roller in accordance with
the present invention;
Figure 2 is a plan view of an inner end cap used in the
conveyor roller of Fig. l;
Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of one sealing ring
or a two-part seal used in the roller of Figs. 1 and 2;
Figure 4 is a cross sectional view of another sealing
ring of the two-part seal;
Figure 5 is an end view of the roller of Fig. l;
Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view of the outer end cap
of Fig. 5;
Figure 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of one end of a
second embodiment of conveyor roller in accordance with the
present invention;
Figure 8 is a cross-section taken generally along line
VIII-VIII of Fig. 7, ~ith parts removed,
Figure 9 i5 a longitudinal sec-tional view of one end of
a third embodiment of conveyor roller in accordance with the present
invention;
Figure 10 is a plan view of a fourth embodiment of an end
structure in accordance with the present invention; and
Figure 11 is a partly sectioned, side elevational view of
the end structure of Fig. 10.
With reference to Figs. 1 to 6, a conveyor roller in
accordance with the present invention includes a cylindrical steel
casing 1. The casing 1 is rotatably mounted on an elon~ated shaft
3~
2 which extends between the ends o~ the casin~ 1 for mounting the
roller in a conveyor assembly (not shown). Roller bearings 3 (one
shown) are mounted on each end ~ of the shaft 2 inside the casing 1.
Each of the bearings 3 is held in position on the shaft ~ by means
of a circular inner end cap 5. The cap 5 has an annullar lug 6
~b;~la~
which abuts the bearing 3 and stainless steel t~e bearing
casing 7. A radially extending inner flange 8 on the casing 7
limits inward movement of the bearing 3.
~ two-part seal is also provided on the shaft 2 in the
bearing casing 7. The seal includes a first annular sealing ring 9
mounted on the shaft 2. The ring 9 (Fig. 3) includes a central
sleeve 10, which is mounted on the shaft 2, a radially extending
flange 11 and a pair of axially extending, tubular arms 12. The
arms 12 extending between corresponding arms 13 and an outer sleeve
14 of a second sealing ring 15 (Fig. 4). The sleeve 1~ is mounted
in the bearing casing 7, and is retained in position by a shoulder
1.6 on the interior surface of such casing 7~ A washer or ring 17
mounted in an annular groove (not shown) in the shaft 2 separates
-the inner centre of the sealing ring 9 from the bearing 3. The
seal is held against the washer 17 by a steel retaining ring 18,
which has a yenerally S-shaped cross-sectional configuration, and
by an outer end cap 19.
A molded polyurethane sleeve 20 extends radially between
the interior surface of the casing 1 and the exterior surface of
the bearing casing 7, and axially between the end caps 5 and 19.
The sleeve 20 is molded and press fit between the casings 1 and 7.
During molding of the sleeve 19, four pockets or cavities
21 (two shown) are formed at 90 to each other in the sleeve for
receiving balancing weights. The balancing weights include lead
plugs 22 which are connected to the end cap 19, or ballast defined
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~37~3~
by lead shot 23. The le~d shot 23 is placed in at ]east one of
the cavities 21 through a hole 2~ (Fig. 5 and 6) in the cap 19
during final halancingt and then a pluy 25 is inser-ted to hold the
shot in p]ace. The cap 19 is retained on the end of -the casing 1
by annular lugs 26 and 27, and by adhesion between the steel and the
polyurethane of the cap.
The second embodiment of the invention (Figs. 7 and 8) is
a heavy duty idler roller which includes a cylindrical steel casing
30 similar to the casing 1 and a shaft 31 mounted in the casing 30.
A thin spacer ring 32 is spot welded to the interior surface 33
of the casing 30 for limiting inward movement of the end cap and
bearing elements described hereinafter.
Ball bearings 34 are moun~ed on each end of the shaft 31.
The bearing 34 is maintained in position by a retaining ring 35
~nd a cylindrical bearing casing 36. Annular shoulders 37 and
38 on the interior surface of the casing 36 limit inward movement
o the ring 35 and bearing 34 in an axial direction. A two-part
seal 39 (similar to the seal of Figs. 3 and 4) is provided in the
casing 36 outside of the bearing 3~. The inner edges of the bearing
34 and seal 39 are separated by a retaining ring 40, which is held
in a groove (not shown) on the shaft 31. The seal 39 is retained
in the casing 36 by an outer retaining ring 41. The ring 41 is
press fitted on the shaft 31 and seals and protects the seal 39.
The space between the casings 30 and 36 is occupied by a
plastic sleeve ~2 such as Adiprene (trademark). During formation
of the roller, the plastic sleeve ~2 fills the gap between the
casings 30 and 36 (Fig. 8 illustrat~s the elements of the
roller end only). The sleeve 42 is preformed, and is held in
position by friction.
Referring now to Fig. 9 of the drawing, a third embodiment
_ ~ _
7~
o~ the invention i~cludes an outer steel casing 46 and a shaf~
47 extending between and beyond the ends thereof. A bearing
assembly 48 is mounted on the shaft 47, so that the casing 46
can rotate relative to the shaft ~7. The bearing assembly 48 is
held in position on the shaft 47 by a plastic sleeve 50 and an end
cap 51. The sleeve 50 extends outwardly beyond the outer end 52
of the casing 46, including an annular flange 53, which has the
same diameter as the casing 46. The outer end of the bearing
assembly 48 is closed by the end cap 51.
1~ A fourth, light duty embodiment of the invention is shown
in Figs. 10 and 11. The light duty version of the end cap is formed
of plastic, and includes an inner sleeve 55, an outer sleeve 56
and a plurality of arms 57 extending radially ketween the sleeves
55 and 56. qlhe inner sleeve 55 has a stepped inner surface 58 and
and inwardly extending, outer annular flange 59 for retaining a
bearing assembly (not shown)~ A web 60 extends between the
inner and outer sleeves 55 and 56, and adjacent arms 57 near the
outer end of the cap, the sleeves 55 and 56, arms 57 and webs 60
defining recess 61. One arm 62 is wider than the other arms 57
so that a balancing weight-receiving hole ~not shown) can be
provided in such arm. An annular, outwardly extending flange 63
is provided on the sleeve 56 for abutting the outer end of a roller
casing (not shown).
It will be appreciated that a variety of moldable plastics
and rubbers can be used to fill the space between the outer and
bearing casings.
An advantage of at least two of the rollers described
hereinbefore is that expensive production equipment is not required.
The plastic is merely poured into a mold, in which the ou-ter
casing and the bearing casing are p^ecisely located. No external
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3~
. .
_~ress is transferred to the bearin~s when polyurethane :is used.
The polyurethane is flexible, and prevents misalignmentu If ex-
cessive roller end wear occurs, the polyurethane is exposed.
However, damage to the conveyor belt .is avoided.
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