Drive for roller conveyors

Claim 2

A conveyor drive comprising in combination, a drive shaft, a driven shaft spaced from the drive shaft and at an angle thereto, one shaft having a fixed pulley and the other shaft having a floating pulley rotatably mounted thereon for friction drive, said floating pulley being axially movable on said other shaft, an endless resilient belt looped about both pulleys, the floating pulley having a surface as defined by a hyperboloid of revolution of one sheet, separated at its striction line and spaced apart by a cylindrical central portion having a length substantially equal to one-half the free helical pitch of the band path on said cylindrical portion, the hyperboloid defining a surface of revolution tangent to the entering and leaving portions of the band.

Claim 3

A conveyor drive as defined in claim 1 in which the hyperboloid has a shape defined in cross section by the relation (y2/b2) - (x2/a2) 1.

Claim 4

A conveyor drive as defined in claim 1 in which the radial width of the flanges at the end of the floating pulley is at least twice the diameter of the resilient band.

Claim 5

A conveyor drive as defined in claim 1 in which the driven and drive shafts are spaced apart to preload the flexible band when in a nondriving condition.

Claim 6

A conveyor drive comprising a drive shaft, a driven shaft spaced from the drive shaft and at an angle thereto, a pulley rotatably carried for slippable friction drive on at least one of said shafts, an endless transmission belt looped about said pulley and the other of said shafts, said pulley being frictionally coupled to said shaft to limit the amount of torque transmitted between said shaft, and said pulley having a surface as defined by a hyperboloid of revolution of one sheet, separated at its striction line and spaced apart by a cylindrical central portion having a length substantially equal to one half the free helical pitch of the band path on said cylindrical portion, the hyperboloid defining a surface of revolution tangent to the entering and leaving portions of the band.

Claim 7

A conveyor drive comprising a drive shaft, a driven shaft spaced from the drive shaft and at an angle thereto, a pulley rotatably carried for slippable friction drive on at least one of said shafts, an endless transmission belt looped about said pulley and the other of said shafts, said pulley being frictionally coupled to said shaft to limit the amount of torque transmitted between said shaft, and said pulley having a surface as defined by a hyperboloid of revolution of one sheet, separated at its striction line and spaced apart by a cylindrical central portion having a length substantially equal to one half the free helical pitch of the band path on said cylindrical portion, the hyperboloid defining a surface of revolution tangent to the entering and leaving portions of the band.

Claim 8

A conveyor for transporting and accumulating a plurality of articles comprising a plurality of spaced individually rotatable rollers, means for rotatably mounting said rollers to define a pass line extending along the length of said conveyor, a drive shaft spaced from said rollers and disposed at an angle thereto, slippable transmission means connecting each of said rotatable rollers to said drive shaft, said slippable transmission means including a pulley and an endless belt for each of said rotatable rollers, said pulleys each being rotatable and axially slidably mounted for friction drive on said drive shaft, said belts each engaging one of said pulleys and said associated roller, said pulleys being formed with a pair of flanges which define hyperbolic shaped suRfaces for receiving a helical belt wrap, and a spacer sleeve mounted on said drive shaft between each pulley for limiting to a determined range the axial sliding movement of said pulley relative to said shaft.

Claim 9

A conveyor for transporting and accumulating a plurality of articles comprising a plurality of spaced individually rotatable rollers, means for rotatably mounting said rollers to define a pass line extending along the length of said conveyor, a drive shaft spaced from said rollers and disposed at an angle thereto, slippable transmission means connecting each of said rotatable rollers to said drive shaft, said slippable transmission means including a pulley and an endless belt for each of said rotatable rollers, said pulleys each being rotatable and axially slidably mounted for friction drive on said drive shaft, said belts each engaging one of said pulleys and said associated roller, said pulleys being formed with a pair of flanges which define hyperbolic shaped suRfaces for receiving a helical belt wrap, and a spacer sleeve mounted on said drive shaft between each pulley for limiting to a determined range the axial sliding movement of said pulley relative to said shaft.