Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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WO 98/33728 PCT/US98/01427
BELT WITH TRAINING RIBS TO FACILITATE TE~E SELFADAPTATION TO THE CONVEYOR SYSTEM
1. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates in general to belts used on conveyor systems, and more
specifically to a belt having ribs to reduce the surface area of the belt contacting the rollers of
a conveyor system during a training period.
New belts installed in conveyor systems typically require a breaking-in or training
period before they operate efficiently within the system. A new belt tends to aggressively
adhere to the rollers of the conveyor system producing lateral coplanar forces. Often,
o mechanical tracking aids used to train and track the belt cannot adequately compensate for
these forces resulting in potential damage to the belt and/or conveyor system.
2. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention in a broad aspect addresses the problems and shortcomings
mentioned above. More specifically, the invention comprises a belt with a body having an
inner surface, an outer surface, and a first set of longitudinal ribs disposed on the inner
surface of the belt. Normal frictional wear between the ribs and the rollers in a conveyor
system results in the eventual ~limini.ching of the height of the ribs with respect to the body,
leaving the inner surface of the body of the belt essentially in full contact with the rollers of
20 the conveyor system.
In some embodiments, the belt includes a second set of ribs disposed on the outer
surface of the belt. These height of these ribs also dimini ~hes with respect to the body
leaving the outer surface of the body of the belt essentially in full contact with the rollers of
the conveyor system.
The sets of ribs may comprise two ribs running along the edges of the belt. A wider
belt may require additional ribs located between the two edge ribs.
The belt may be used in a system of rollers and training guides. The training guides
function to m~int~in the alignment of the belt with respect to the rollers.
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3. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
Figures 1 a through 1 d are pictorial views of belts of the invention.
Figure 2a is a top view of a portion of a conveyor system showing a roller, belt, and a
.
tralmng gulde.
Figure 2b is a cross-section of Figure 2a taken along line AA.
Figure 3a and 3b are end views of a conveyor system before and after belt training.
Figure 4 is a side view of a system of rollers, showing a possible belt path.
Figures Sa through Sc are pictorial views of alternate rib designs for belts of the
invention.
The invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the
arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the
drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments or of being practiced or carried out
in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the terminology and phraseology employed
herein is for purpose of description and illustration and should not be regarded as limiting.
15 Like reference numerals are used to indicate like components.
4. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS
Illustrative embodiments of the invention are described below as it may be implemented
using standard engineering design techniques. In the interest of clarity, not all features of an
20 actual implement~tionare described in this specification. It will of course be appreciatedthat in
the development of any such actual implementation, numerous implementation-specific
decisions will typically be made to achieve the developers' specific goals, such as compliance
with system-relatedand business-relatedconstraints, and such decisions can be expected to vary
from one implementationto another. Moreover, it will be appreciatedthat such a development
25 effort may be complex and time-consuming, but will nevertheless be a routineundertaking of
system design for those of oldhlal y skill having the benefit of this disclosure.
Referring now by characters of reference to the drawings, and first to FIG. 1 a, a belt
10 is shown. A pair of longitudinal inner ribs 12, 14 are shown on the inner surface 16 ofthe
belt body 18 located near the edges 20, 22 of the belt. In FIG. 1 b, a third inner rib 23 is
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located on the inner surface 16 intermediate the two inner ribs 12, 14. FIG. l c shows a belt
similar to that of FIG. 1 a including an additional set of outer ribs 24, 26 disposed on the outer
surface 28 of the belt body 18 near the edges 20,22. FIG. 1 d shows a belt similar to that of
FIG. 1 b including outer ribs 24, 26 and a third outer rib 30 intermediate the two outer ribs 24,
s 26.
New belts installed in conveyor systems typically require a breaking-in or training
period before they operate efficiently within the system. A new belt tends to aggressively
adhere to the rollers of the conveyor system producing lateral coplanar forces. Often,
mechanical tracking aids that are used to train and track such belts cannot adequately
o compensate for these forces resulting in the potential for damage to the belt and/or the
conveyor system.
The purpose of the ribs 12, 14, 23, 24, 26,30 illustrated in FIG. la through FIG. ld is
described by referring to FIGS. 2a, 2b, 3a, and 3b. The belt of FIG. l c will be used for
illustration. FIG. 2a and FIG. 2b show a portion of a conveyor system 31 comprising a roller
15 32 and a training guide 34. The belt 10 passes over the roller 32. The training guide 34
maintains the position ofthe belt 10 with respect to the roller 32. The ribs 12,14 contact the
roller surface 36. Because the ribs extend above the inner surface 16, a portion of the belt
body 18 does not contact the roller surface 36. In effect, the surface area of the belt 10 that
contacts the roller surface 36 is reduced as compared to a belt without ribs. Because less
20 surface area of the belt 10 contacts the roller surface 36, the belt 10 adheres less to the roller
surface 36 and less lateral forces are exerted on the training guide 34 and other parts of the
conveyor system 31. Accordingly, the likelihood of ~l~m~ging the belt 10 and/or the
conveyor system 31 is reduced. The training guide 34 is adjusted during the training period
to ms~int~in the position of the belt 10.
2s FIG.3a shows a side view of a belt 10 passing over a roller 32. The ribs 12,14
contact the roller surface 36. For clarity, training guide 34 is not illustrated. As the belt 10 is
operated within the conveyor system 31, the height ofthe ribs 12,14 tlimini~hes due to
normal frictional wear. The ribs 12,14 may be made of the same material as the belt. If
faster wear of the ribs 12, 14 is desired, the ribs 12, 14 may be made of a material that has a
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- 4 -
lesser resistance to wear as compared to the body 18 of the belt. In either case, the height of
the ribs 12, 14 will be gradually ~limini~hed due to normal frictional wear such that, for
practical purposes, the inner surface 16 of the belt is in contact with the roller surface 36 as
shown in FIG. 3b.
In one embodiment of the invention the belt body 18 is a conveyor or round hay baler
belt made from a multiplied carcass of thermoplastic with fabric reinforcement (e.g. nylon,
polyester, or the like) and a synthetic rubber cover. In one embodiment of the invention the
ribs 12, 14 are made of a similar rubber compound as the covering rubber, or if increased
wear is necessary, a bondable, yet different compound may be used. For example, the body
o 18 may comprise a base polymer such as urethane and the ribs 12, 14 may be made from a
base of ethylene-propylene diene monomer (EPDM) having a lower resistance to wear. Also,
synthetic rubber such as styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) can have a reduced abrasion
resistance due to compounding. Extending the SBR compound with processing oil orreducing the amount of SBR polymer in the recipe can each reduce the abrasion resistance.
s Of course, those skilled in the art will immediately recognize that different materials
for both the belt and the ribs can be selected to accomplish the purpose of this invention. The
ribs 12, 14 may be formed as an integral part of the body 18 of the belt by applying pressure
to force the covering material into a mold and heating the material in a vulr~ni7ing process.
The time period required to essentially wear away the ribs 12, 14 is preferably greater
20 than the time period required to train the belt 10 on the conveyor system 31. Thus during the
time it takes to train the belt 10, the belt 10 will not grip the roller surface 36 as aggressively,
and the likelihood of the lateral forces exerted by the belt causing damage to the belt 10
and/or the conveyor system 31 is re(lllce-l
The belts 10 shown in F~G. l a through FIG. I d have dirr~ applications depending
25 on the design of the conveyor system 31. FIG. 4 shows an example of portion of a conveyor
system 31 having a plurality of rollers 32. Due to the serpentine nature of the conveyor
system 31, both the inner surface 16 and the outer surface 28 interface with the rollers 32.
Accordingly, ribs 12, 14 are present on the inner surface 16 and ribs 24, 26 are present on the
outer surface 28. The training process of the belt 10 is e~çnti~lly the same as the training
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process described above. Over time, the height of the ribs 12, 14, 24, 26 will ~limini~h due to
normal frictional wear, eventually leaving the inner surface 16 and the outer surface 28 in
contact with the rollers 32.
FIG. 5a through FIG. 5c show examples of alternate rib shape embodiments of the
5 invention. The shape of the ribs 12, 24 shown in FIG. Sa is generally rectangular. FIG. Sb
shows ribs 12, 24 having alternating ridges 38 and corresponding channels 40 running the
longitudinal length ofthe rib. FIG. Sc shows ribs 12, 24 generally following a longitudinal
path along the length of the belt 10. Along that longitudinal path, the ribs 12, 24 follow a
wavy pattern. In the context of this specification wavy is defined as a path comprising
o alternating lateral divergences from the generally longitudinal path. A curved, wavy pattern
is shown, but other divergent paths, for example a zigzag path, are contemplated and within
the scope of the term wavy.
The belts 10 having two ribs in each set, such as those shown in FIG. 1 a and FIG. 1 c
are preferably used in applications where the belt 10 is less that about 16 inches in width. In
s cases where the width ofthe belt 10 is greater than about 16 inches additional ribs are
preferred. The belts 10 shown in FIG. 1 b and FIG. 1 c are examples of such belts. One or
more ribs 23, 30 placed in positions intermediate the ribs 12, 14, 24, 26 near the edges 20, 22
are contemplated depending on the width of the belt.
Preferably, the height of each of the ribs 12, 14, 23, 26, 26, 30 is about 0.025 inches
20 above the respective inner surface 16 or outer surface 28. The width of each of the ribs 12,
14, 23, 26, 26, 30 is about 0.05 to 0.1 times the width of the belt 10 in preferred
embo-liment.~ Other rib heights and widths are contemplated depending on the design
requirements of the particular conveyor system.
It will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill having the benefit of this disclosure
2~ that numerous variations from the foregoing illustrations will be possible without departing
from the inventive concept described herein. Accordingly, it is the claims set forth below,
and not merely the foregoing illustration, which are intended to define the exclusive rights
claimed in this application.
