Conveyor apparatus

Claim 1

An endless belt conveyor comprising: a. an endless belt of a type constructed to permit it to move along a curved path, including a plurality of longitudinally spaced belt carriers, each having laterally spaced supporting and guiding rollers thereon, b. a pair of laterally spaced elongated guideways along which the carriers are adapted to move, c. said guideways comprising a plurality of aligned sections, d. each section comprising a pair of laterally spaced relatively short, like-run portions, and rigid means extending therebetween securing same together against relative movement, e. each run portion having a substantially horizontal wall along which a roller rolls for supporting the belt and a substantially vertical wall along which a guide roller rolls for maintaining the belt laterally aligned with the guideways, f. a rigid fixed support disposed at each of the opposite ends of the guideways, g. a resilient rod extending between the rigid supports and through all of said rigid means substantially along said central line, h. opposite ends of said horizontal and vertical walls having mating adjacent interlocking tongues and recesses so constructed that when the rod is bent, the interlocking tongues and recesses remain in abutting relation along one guideway and spread apart along the other, thereby providing a greater length of curvature along the latter than the former, i. the connections between the resilient rod and rigid supports, and with said rigid means, being such that when said supports are oriented relatively to desired fixed positions, the rod is flexed to a curved configuration, which in turn, moves said sections to curved configurations conforming to the curvature of the rod.