Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 03095969 2020-10-02
Vertical conveyor
The present invention relates to a vertical conveyor having an endless
conveyor belt on
which a plurality of support rollers are arranged so as to be rotatably
mounted and distributed
in the longitudinal direction of the conveyor belt on both sides, wherein the
support rollers for
guiding the conveyor belt along a conveying path roll at least partly on
support elements.
Continuous conveyors, for example conveyor belts, are well known for
transporting materials.
In such continuous conveyors, an endless conveyor belt is guided over
deflection pulleys,
whereas a plurality of support roller usually being arranged between the two
deflection
pulleys in order to support the conveyor belt, either the top belt and
possibly also the bottom
belt. The top belt usually denotes the part of the conveyor belt on which the
material to be
conveyed comes to lie, while the bottom belt usually denotes the part of the
conveyor belt in
the region of the return. However, there are also continuous conveyors in
which material is
also conveyed on the bottom belt. At least one deflection pulley is arranged
in a loading
station and in an unloading station, between which the material is conveyed.
Also, continuous conveyors with a circulating conveyor belt are known, in
which support
roller are rotatably arranged on the conveyor belt, whereas the support roller
rolling on
support ropes which are stretched between two end points of the conveying path
of the
continuous conveyor. The advantage of such systems is to be seen in the fact
that very large
spans can be achieved with the support ropes, so that only a few supports are
required for
the support ropes along the conveying path. Even with such continuous
conveyors, the
conveyor belt is guided over deflection pulleys in the end stations. Examples
of such
continuous conveyors can be found in EP 1 538 112 B1, EP 1 338 531 B1 or EP 2
030 919
Bl.
Often it is also necessary to overcome a height difference in conveyor
applications. In the
case of large differences in height, vertical conveyors are used in
particular, in which the
conveyor belt is arranged so as to be substantially vertical, because they
require a small
base surface. Such vertical conveyors having very high conveying heights in
the range of a
few hundred meters are used, for example, in the mining field in order to
convey material
from the mine to the surface. Smaller conveying heights can be found, for
example, in
handling facilities, for example ship unloading devices in a port. With such
vertical conveyors
it is also possible to convey in both directions, for example in the case of
handling facilities
for goods or materials.
An example of a vertical conveyor can be found in US Pat. No. 5,392,897 A,
which shows a
vertical conveyor in which two conveyor belts are used which are arranged
facing one
another, so that the two upper runs touch one another in the vertical
conveying section. The
material to be conveyed is enclosed between the two upper runs and thereby
conveyed
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vertically upwards. For this purpose, an upper run extends in a zigzag shape
over supporting
rollers, whereas the supporting rollers being connected to one another in the
form of a chain.
When this arrangement in the form of a chain is stretched in the longitudinal
direction, the
associated upper run is thereby pressed against the opposite upper run in
order to hold the
material to be conveyed securely between the two upper runs.
A vertical conveyor is known from EP 1 102 715 B1, with a conveyor belt on
which a plurality
of carrier members for receiving conveyed goods are attached. The conveyor
belt itself
consists of a number of traction members and a number of guide ropes and is
guided over a
number of deflection pulleys and guide pulleys. Due to the sometimes very
large length of
the conveyor belt in the vertical region, a horizontal deflection (in this
direction the conveyor
belt has practically no rigidity) is possible and is problematic. This can
lead to vibrations of
the conveyor belt and the conveyor belt can also touch parts of the shaft in
which it is
arranged, which can result in damage to the conveyor belt or the shaft. Last
but not least,
such vibrations can also cause conveyed material to fall out of the conveyor
belt and fall
down in the shaft, which could also lead to damage and system downtime. In the
vertical
conveying region, therefore, EP 1 102 715 B1 provides guide pulleys and a
guide housing in
order to avoid a horizontal deflection of the conveyor belt.
With such vertical conveyors, a very deep vertical shaft in which the vertical
conveyor is
arranged may be required. However, the larger the necessary base surface of
the vertical
shaft, the more complex is its manufacture, for example by drilling the shaft.
If maintenance
parts, such as guide elements as described in EP 1 102 715 B1, have to be
arranged in the
shaft, then these must of course be accessible to maintenance personnel, which
increases
the cost of such a vertical conveyor considerably. Apart from the relatively
complex
maintenance of such guide elements, a larger shaft is therefore also required
from the
outset.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a vertical
conveyor having the
smallest possible cross-sectional area, which vertical conveyor can also be
arranged in a
shaft and which is as simple as possible to maintain.
According to the invention, this object is achieved in that a number of
vertical support
elements is arranged in a vertical conveying section of the vertical conveyor
on either side of
the top belt and/or of the bottom belt of the conveyor belt, in that adjacent
first support rollers
and second support rollers are arranged on the conveyor belt offset against
one another by a
transverse offset and in that the first support rollers and second support
rollers roll on the
number of support elements, so that the conveyor belt in the vertical
conveying section
deflects in the direction of the transverse offset as the first support
rollers and second
support rollers roll against the number of support elements, and thereby
presses the first
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support roller and second support roller against the number of supporting
elements. Due to
the transverse offset of the support rollers, the conveyor belt (top belt or
bottom belt) is
deflected, whereby the offset support rollers are pressed against the number
of supporting
elements. This results in a reliable guidance of the conveyor belt in the
vertical conveying
section on the number of supporting elements, so that very large height
differences in the
range of a few hundred meters can be realized. The particular advantage of
this
embodiment, however, is that only the supporting elements need to be arranged
in the
vertical conveying section, so that practically no maintenance parts, which
are all arranged
on the conveyor belt itself, are required in the vertical conveying section.
This also makes it
possible to manufacture the vertical conveying section with a very small cross-
sectional area,
which in turn keeps costs down.
In a first possible, simpler embodiment, a vertical supporting element is
arranged on both
sides and the first and second offset support rollers roll on this one
supporting element. This
means that only a single supporting element is required on both sides.
In a further advantageous embodiment, a first and a second vertical support
element are
arranged on both sides so that the deflection of the conveyor belt causes the
first support
rollers to roll only on the first supporting element and causes the second
support rollers to roll
only on the second supporting element.
With the same track width of the offset support rollers, the distance between
the at least two
supporting elements in the direction of the transverse offset is preferably
greater than the
diameter of the running surfaces of the first and second offset support
rollers in order to
prevent a support roller from being clamped between the two supporting
elements.
In an advantageous embodiment, further support rollers are arranged between
the adjacent
first and second support rollers, which are arranged in transverse direction
between the first
and second offset support rollers. In the embodiment with two supporting
elements per side,
it can thus be achieved that these additional support rollers do not roll on
supporting
elements in the vertical conveying section, which reduces the wear and tear on
these support
rollers. For this purpose, it can also be provided that the diameter of the
running surfaces of
the further support rollers is different, preferably smaller, than the
diameter of the running
surfaces of the first and second support rollers arranged offset to one
another.
In a simple embodiment, every nth support roll, with n 3, can be arranged
offset by the
transverse offset, so that the offset support rollers can be implemented very
easily.
For a simple and safe decoupling of the offset support rollers in the region
of the upper end
and/or the lower end of the vertical conveying section, an expansion frame is
preferably
provided when using supporting ropes as supporting elements, which spaces
apart two
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supporting ropes from the distance to a larger distance. In addition, the
expansion frame can
also guide the supporting ropes to a larger track width.
The present invention is explained in more detail below with reference to Fig.
1 to 10, which
show schematic and non-restrictive advantageous embodiments of the invention
by way of
example. In the drawings:
Fig. 1 is a representation of a vertical conveyor,
Fig. 2 is a section of a conveyor belt of the vertical conveyor,
Fig. 3 is a view of a first end station of the vertical conveyor,
Fig. 4 is a view of a second end station of the vertical conveyor,
Fig. 5 is a view of the vertical conveying section of the vertical conveyor
having a
guidance according to the invention by means of supporting elements,
Fig. 6 is a representation of the offset support roller on the conveyor belt,
Fig. 7a and 7b are possible arrangements of the support roller on the conveyor
belt,
Fig. 8 and 9 show an embodiment of the supporting elements as ropes in the
region of
the first and second end stations, and
Fig. 10 is an embodiment of the guidance having one supporting element per
side.
Fig. 1 shows an application of a vertical conveyor 1 according to the
invention in a mine by
way of example. In the underground, at a first height level, a loading station
2 is provided at
which conveyed goods to be conveyed, for example bulk goods, are loaded onto
the
circulating endless conveyor belt 4 of the vertical conveyor 1. How the
conveyed goods are
loaded onto the conveyor belt 4 is irrelevant to the invention. At a second
height level, for
example on the surface or also underground, an unloading station 3 is
provided, at which the
conveyed goods are unloaded from the conveyor belt 4. It is also unimportant
for the
invention how the conveyed goods are unloaded at the unloading station 3. The
difference
between the first height level and the second height level substantially
results in the height
difference that has to be overcome with the vertical conveyor 1. The endless
conveyor belt 4
circulates between the loading station 2 and the unloading station 3, for
which a first
reversing pulley 5 is arranged in the region of the loading station 2 and a
second reversing
pulley 6 is arranged in the region of the unloading station 3, over which the
conveyor belt 4
runs. At least one of the reversing pulleys 5, 6 is driven in a well-known
manner in order to
make the conveyor belt 4 rotate in a circle.
The conveying direction of the vertical conveyor 1, that is from bottom to top
or vice versa, is
arbitrary and depends only on the direction of rotation of the drive. It is
also possible to
convey either only in the top belt 11 or simultaneously in the top belt 11 and
in the bottom
belt 12. This can also be changed if necessary.
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Deflection pulleys 7 and/or deflection regions 8 are usually also provided
along the
conveying path of the vertical conveyor 1 in order to adapt the orientation of
the endless
conveyor belt 4 to the requirements. In the illustrated embodiment, the
conveyor belt 4 is
aligned slightly obliquely upward in the region of the loading station 2. In a
deflection region
8, the transition to a vertical conveying section 9 takes place, in which the
top belt 11 of the
conveyor belt 4 runs substantially vertically. In the region of the unloading
station 3, a
deflection of the top belt 11 of the conveyor belt 4 takes place again into a
substantially
horizontal orientation. The bottom belt 12 of the conveyor belt 4 is
preferably returned
substantially parallel to the top belt 11. Of course, the guidance of the
conveyor belt 4 along
the entire conveying path can also be designed differently, but at least one
vertical conveying
section 9 is present in the vertical conveyor 1.
In this connection and in the context of the invention, however, "vertical"
with regard to the
alignment of the conveyor belt 4 in the vertical conveying section 9 is not to
be understood
strictly as vertical. The conveyor belt 4 can in principle also be inclined at
a specific angle
with respect to a vertical. With the desired very large height differences of
a few hundred
meters, however, every degree of inclination of the conveyor belt 4 can mean a
necessary
widening of the vertical conveying section 9 by a few meters. If the vertical
conveying section
9 is drilled, this would increase the drilling costs significantly. The
vertical conveying section
9 itself can, however, also be oriented obliquely with respect to a vertical
line, whereby the
cross-sectional area of the vertical conveying section 9 could again be kept
small despite the
obliquely oriented conveyor belt 4. However, here too there are manufacturing
limits. For
example, the technical drilling limit is about 700 inclination. Thus, in the
context of the vertical
conveyor according to the invention, "vertical" is understood to mean an
alignment of the
conveyor belt 4 of 20 around the vertical.
A cross section through the conveyor belt 4 is shown in Fig. 2. On the
conveyor belt 4 in the
longitudinal direction (which corresponds to the conveying direction of the
conveyor belt 4) a
plurality of crossbeams 20 are provided, which protrude over the width of the
conveyor belt 4
and at the axial ends of which support rollers 21 are arranged so as to be
rotatably mounted.
Running surfaces 23 of the support rollers 21 run on support elements 22, such
as ropes,
pipes, round bars, rails, etc., which are provided along the conveying path of
the vertical
conveyor 1. The axial distance between the running surfaces 23 determines the
track width
W of the support rollers 21, which of course corresponds to the support
element track width
of the support elements 22. On the conveyor belt 4, lateral boundary walls 24
are also
arranged on both sides, which protrude from the conveyor belt 4 in order to
create a channel-
shaped receptacle for the conveyed goods. As the conveyor belt 4 is usually
deflected
several times along the conveying path, the boundary walls 24 are preferably
designed so
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that they allow a certain longitudinal expansion or bending, for example as
known corrugated
edges or with slots which are spaced apart in the longitudinal direction.
Due to the guidance of the conveyor belt 4 over reversing pulleys 5, 6 and due
to the
boundary walls 24 on the conveyor belt 4, it may also be necessary to turn the
conveyor belt
4 before a deflection, since the conveyor belt 4 on the side with the boundary
walls 24 cannot
be guided over a deflection pulley 7. In Fig. 1, for example, turning stations
10 are provided
for this purpose, which can be designed as described in EP 1 338 531 B1, and
which rotate
the conveyor belt 4 by 1800 in the longitudinal direction.
On the conveyor belt 4, on the side of the boundary walls 24 and distributed
over the length
of the conveyor belt 4, a plurality of partition walls 25 can be provided
between the boundary
walls 24, in order to be able to hold the conveyed goods in the vertical
conveying section 9.
Of course, the conveyor belt 4 can also be designed differently for receiving
the conveyed
goods.
Fig. 3 shows a detailed view of the region of the unloading station 3. This
shows the drive 13
which drives the reversing pulley 6. It can also be seen that in the reversal
region 8 for the
top belt 11 of the conveyor belt 4, a large number of supporting rollers 14
are arranged in an
arc to support the conveyor belt 4 over a large area and thus reduce the load
on the top belt
11 of the conveyor belt 4, which is filled with conveyed goods. The support
elements 22, for
example tensioned ropes, on which the support rollers 21 of the conveyor belt
4 roll in the
unloading station 3, are also indicated in Fig. 3. After turning by an angle
of 180 , the bottom
belt 12 can be deflected into the vertical conveying section 9 over a simple
deflection pulley
7.
Fig. 4 shows the region of the loading station 2 in detail. Here, too, it can
be seen that the
heavily loaded top belt 11 of the conveyor belt 4 is preferably deflected over
an arcuate, very
elongated deflection region 8, while the bottom belt is deflected again over a
deflection pulley
7. The deflection region 8 is designed, for example, with curved pipes 15 as
support
elements 22 which are arranged on a stationary structure, wherein the support
rollers 21 of
the conveyor belt 4 roll in the deflection region 8 on the curved pipes 15. In
the deflection
region 8, a plurality of support roller 21 should preferably roll
simultaneously on a support
element 22. Further support elements 22 are indicated, on which the support
rollers 21 of the
conveyor belt 4 roll in the loading station 2.
It should only be mentioned for the sake of completeness that the loading
could also or
additionally take place at the top and the unloading could also or
additionally take place at
the bottom, but this would not change anything in the present invention.
In order to safely guide the conveyor belt 4 in the vertical conveying section
9 and, in
particular, to avoid a deflection of the conveyor belt 4 in a direction normal
to the surface of
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the conveyor belt 4 (also referred to as vertical direction z), according to
the invention, at
least one supporting element 31 for the top belt 11 and/or the bottom belt 12
is arranged on
each side of the conveyor belt 4, which support element is oriented
substantially vertically (
200 around the vertical) in the vertical conveying section 9. The supporting
element 31 can
be a rigid structural part, such as a pipe, a rail, a rod, etc., or can also
be designed as a
tensioned rope. In a further embodiment, two supporting elements 31,32 are
arranged on
each side of the conveyor belt 4 so as to be substantially vertically ( 20
around the vertical)
along the conveyor belt 4, as explained with reference to Fig. 5 to 9.
Fig. 5 shows part of the vertical conveying section 9, which is designed, for
example, as an
approximately circular, vertical bore 30. On the top belt 11 of the conveyor
belt 4, the
boundary walls 24 and the partition walls 25 can also be seen therein. In this
exemplary
embodiment, a first supporting element 31 and a second supporting element 32
are arranged
vertically on both sides (viewed in the longitudinal direction x) for the top
belt 11 and the
bottom belt 12. The axial distance between the supporting elements 31, 32 on
the two sides
in the transverse direction y (transverse to the longitudinal direction x)
preferably
corresponds to the track width W of the support rollers 21 on the conveyor
belt 4.
Two in the longitudinal direction x adjacent support rollers 21', 21" are
arranged on the
conveyor belt 4 offset to one another in a vertical direction z (normal to the
longitudinal
direction x and to the transverse direction y) by a transverse offset V, as
shown in Fig. 6.
Support rollers distributed over the entire length of the conveyor belt 4 are
arranged offset to
one another. The transverse offset V between two adjacent support rollers 21',
21" does not
always have to be the same. The vertical direction z is substantially normal
to the surface of
the conveyor belt 4. As a result of this transverse offset V of the support
rollers 21', 21",
which are arranged between the two supporting elements 31, 32, the conveyor
belt 4 is
deflected in the vertical conveying section 9 in the vertical direction z. Due
to this deflection,
the support rollers 21', 21" are pressed against the supporting elements 31,
32, wherein first
support rollers 21' are pressed against the first support element 31 and
second support
rollers 21" which are offset by the transverse offset V are pressed against
the second
support element 32. This results in a defined guidance of the conveyor belt 4
in the vertical
conveying section 9 between the two supporting elements 31, 32, not only in
the longitudinal
direction x, but also in the vertical direction z, and also in the transverse
direction y.
The track width of the two supporting elements 31, 32, and thus also the track
width of the
assigned offset support rollers 21', 21", need not be the same. In the case of
the same track
width, the distance S between two supporting elements 31,32 on one side of the
conveyor
belt 4 is preferably greater than the diameter D', D" of the running surfaces
23 of the offset
support rollers 21', 21" of the conveyor belt 4. The diameters D', D" of the
running surfaces
of the support rollers 21', 21" are preferably the same, but can also be
different.
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The selected distance S and this transverse offset V and the resulting
deflection of the
conveyor belt 4 also ensure that an offset support roller 21', 21" rolls on
one supporting
element 31, 32 in a defined manner and suffers little wear. A support roller
21', 21" is
therefore not clamped between two supporting elements 31, 32, which would
result in an
uncontrolled sliding of the support roller 21', 21" on one or both supporting
elements 31, 32,
which in turn would increase the wear considerably.
Fig. 6 shows the relationships in a greatly exaggerated manner. The lateral
transverse offset
V is usually in the range from 1 to 50 cm. That of course also depends on the
size of the
conveyor belt 4, since a larger transverse offset V can of course also be
implemented on a
larger conveyor belt 4. On the other hand, the transverse offset should of
course be kept as
low as possible in order to limit the forced deflection of the conveyor belt 4
in the vertical
conveying section 9. The transverse offset V must, however, be so great that
there is
sufficient pretensioning of the conveyor belt 4 in the direction of the
supporting elements 31,
32 in order to ensure reliable guidance. The distance between two adjacent,
offset support
rollers 21', 21" can also be varied depending on the requirements. Distances
in the range
from 5 to 200 m are typical. This transverse offset V does not interfere with
the movement of
the conveyor belt 4 in the conveying direction, not even in the conveying
sections away from
the vertical conveying section 9 or in the deflection regions 8. With such
guidance of the
conveyor belt 4, height differences in the range of a few hundred meters can
be overcome
with the vertical conveying section 9.
In principle, the directly adjacent support rollers 21', 21" on the conveyor
belt 4 could each
be offset to one another by a transverse offset V. However, this is not
absolutely necessary
for the guidance of the conveyor belt 4 in the vertical conveying section 9.
Between two
support rollers 21', 21" offset to one another with transverse offset V, a
number m of further
support rollers 21 can therefore be arranged in the longitudinal direction x,
which are
arranged laterally (in the direction of transverse offset V) between the two
offset support
rollers 21', 21", as shown in Fig. 7a. A number of 1 to 20 further support
rollers 21 are
typically arranged between the support rollers 21', 21" which are offset to
one another.
These support rollers 21 would not be in contact at all with the supporting
elements 31, 32 in
the vertical conveying section 9, which would reduce the wear on these support
rollers 21 in
the vertical conveying section 9. This means that m 0 applies to the further
support rollers
21, with the first support roll 21' being immediately adjacent to the second
support roll 21" in
the case of m = 0 (Fig. 6). These further support rollers 21 could also have a
different
diameter D of the running surface, preferably a smaller diameter, than the
diameter D', D" of
the support rollers 21', 21" arranged offset to one another. However, the
diameter D of the
further support rollers 21 should be smaller than the distance S between two
supporting
elements 31, 32.
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In this embodiment, the support rollers 21', 21" arranged offset to one
another could also
have a different track width than the further support rollers 21 arranged
between them. In this
way, the conveyor belt 4 would preferably only be guided on the further
support rollers 21
away from the vertical conveying section 9 and not on the support rollers 21',
21" which are
.. arranged offset to one another. With a different track width, the diameter
D of the support
rollers 21 could even be greater than the distance S between two supporting
elements 31,
32.
In a further possible embodiment, every nth support roller 21", with n 3,
could be offset by
a transverse offset V with respect to other support rollers 21', as shown in
Fig. 7b. In this
case there are no further support rollers 21 between them. The track width W
of the support
rollers 21', 21" would preferably, but not necessarily, be the same.
The same effect can also be achieved with only one supporting element 31, as
will be
described with reference to Fig. 10. Here, only one supporting element 31 is
arranged on
each side of the conveyor belt 4. The support rollers 21', 21" on the conveyor
belt 4 are
again arranged offset to one another by a transverse offset V. The support
rollers 21, 21" are
guided on the support element 31 in such a way that the contact points of the
running
surfaces of the offset support rollers 21', 21" with the supporting element 31
face each other,
i.e., the supporting element 31 is arranged in the vertical direction z
between the offset
support rollers 21', 21". Due to the transverse offset V, the conveyor belt 4
is deflected again
and reliable guidance is achieved again in that the support rollers 21', 21"
are pressed
against the supporting element 31. In this embodiment, too, further support
rollers 21 can be
arranged between the offset support rollers 21', 21", as already described
above with
reference to Fig. 7a. An embodiment as described with Fig. 7b is of course
also conceivable.
In the same way, the offset support rollers 21', 21" can again have different
track widths than
other support rollers 21, just as the diameters D, D', D" can be the same or
different. The
specification on the transverse offset V and the number of further support
rollers 21 also
applies in the same way to this embodiment.
In conveying sections other than the vertical conveying section 9, for example
in horizontal or
approximately horizontal conveying sections, and in particular also in the
deflection regions
8, the conveyor belt 4 would, however, preferably be supported on the
associated support
elements 22 by all the support rollers 21, 21', 21" present, which reduces the
load on the
individual support rollers 21, 21', 21". If the offset support rollers 21',
21" have a different
track width than the further support rollers 21 in between, then the support
would preferably
only take place with the further support rollers 21.
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In a practical embodiment, the offset support rollers 21', 21" on the conveyor
belt 4 could be
arranged in the longitudinal direction x at a distance of approximately 50 m.
In between, for
example, five further support rollers 21 could be provided.
Fig. 8 and 9 explain how the supporting elements 31, 32 can be arranged in the
vertical
conveying section 9 when they are designed as ropes.
At the upper end of the vertical conveying section 9 (Fig. 8) an upper anchor
frame 40 is
arranged, to which the ends of the rope-shaped supporting elements 31, 32 are
clamped. For
this purpose, of course, corresponding tensioning devices can also be provided
for the
supporting elements 31, 32. At the end of the vertical conveying section 9,
the conveyor belt
4 must of course be decoupled from the guidance of the supporting elements 31,
32. For this
purpose, an expansion frame 41 can be arranged in the region of the upper end
of the
vertical conveying section 9, which brings the supporting elements 31, 32 from
the distance
S in the vertical conveying section 9 to a greater distance S'. At the same
time, the
expansion frame 41 can guide the supporting elements 31, 32 on both sides from
the track
width W laterally in the transverse direction y further apart from one another
(as can be seen,
for example, in Fig. 3). Such an expansion frame 41 is preferably arranged on
each side of
the conveyor belt 4. Thereby, the support rollers 21', 21" are decoupled from
the supporting
elements 31, 32 and all support rollers 21, 21', 21" can subsequently be
coupled to support
elements 22 in the other conveying sections of the conveying path. If a
turning station 10 is
provided, for example on the down running bottom belt 12 of the conveyor belt
4, then the
conveyor belt 4 in the turning station 10 is of course guided therein and the
supporting
elements 31, 32 are only then brought to the distance S and the correct track
width W, for
which a corresponding expansion frame 41 can again be provided.
The lower end of the vertical conveying section 9, as shown in Figure 9, is of
course
designed alike. A lower anchor frame 50 is provided, to which the opposite
ends of the rope-
shaped supporting elements 31, 32 are clamped. Corresponding tensioning
devices can of
course also be provided for the supporting elements 31, 32, with a tensioning
device at the
top or bottom usually being sufficient. In the same way, an expansion frame 51
is provided in
order to decouple the support rollers 21', 21" at the end of the vertical
conveying section 9
from the supporting elements 31, 32. Such an expansion frame 51 is preferably
arranged on
each side of the conveyor belt 4. On the top belt 11 running up, the
supporting elements 31,
32 are of course only brought to the correct distance S and to the correct
track width W after
the deflection region 8, for which a corresponding expansion frame 51 can
again be
provided.
The coupling and decoupling of the support rollers 21, 21', 21" of the
conveyor belt 4 is of
course carried out in an analogous manner in the case of rigid supporting
elements 31, 32.
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Here too, if necessary, the distance S, and possibly the track width W, is
changed
accordingly in order to couple or decouple the support rollers 21, 21', 21"
to/from the
supporting elements 31, 32.
A considerable advantage of this embodiment of a vertical conveying section 9
is that no
maintenance parts have to be arranged in the vertical conveying section 9.
This makes it
possible to design the vertical conveying section 9 with a very small cross
section, which
significantly reduces the cost of manufacturing the vertical conveying section
9. When
erecting the vertical conveyor 1, only the supporting elements 31, 32 are to
be arranged in
the vertical conveying section 9, for example by lowering ropes, which are
arranged on the
upper anchor frame 40, and clamping them on the accessible lower anchor frame
50. The
assembly of rigid supporting elements 31, 32 in the vertical conveying section
9 can also be
carried out easily. The conveyor belt 4 can also simply be lowered or pulled
up, wherein the
existing guidance with the support rollers 21, 21', 21", support elements 22,
and supporting
elements 31, 32 ensures that the conveyor belt 4 can be threaded safely.
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