Roll-up conveyor unit

Claim 2

A roll-up conveyor unit comprising a roll-up conveyor having opposed flexible side rails, said side rails having a plurality of one of rollers and skate wheels fixed therebetween, a housing within which said roll-up conveyor may be wound for storage and from which said conveyor may be paid out for use, a primary support frame fixed to the free end of said roll-up conveyor for support of said conveyor at the free end during use, at least one secondary support frame connected to said housing, said secondary support frame providing a floor plate over which said conveyor is adapted to slide as said conveyor is paid out from said housing, and said secondary support frame being adapted to support said conveyor intermediate its length when same is in the extended position, an extender device fixed to said housing for driving said secondary support frame between a storage position adjacent said housing and a use position intermediate the extended length of said conveyor, and connector means selectively interconnecting said extension means and said roll-up conveyor, said connector means operating to connect said extension means and said roll-up conveyor as said extension means drives said secondary support frame from the storage position to the use position, and said extension means being disconnected from said roll-up conveyor as said extension means drives said secondary support frame from the use position to the storage position, thereby positively driving said roll-up conveyor from the conveyor''s storage position in response to movement of the secondary support frame away from the secondary support frame''s storage position.

Claim 3

A roll-up conveyor unit as set forth in claim 1, each of said primary and secondary support frames including an inner post and an outer post, said posts being vertically extendable relative one to the other for positioning said roll-up conveyor as desired by an operator, and wheels fixed to said support frames, said wheels permitting said support frames to roll away from and toward said housing as said roll-up conveyor is extended from and retracted into said housing, respectively.

Claim 4

A roll-up conveyor unit as set forth in claim 2 each of said primary and secondary support frames including pinion gear and rack means associated with the posts of each of said frames, said pinion gear and rack means being adapted to vertically extend said posts relative to one another, and a latch device associated with each of said pinion gear and rack means, said latch device being continuously biased into the latching attitude to retain said posts in desired vertically extended relation.

Claim 5

A roll-up conveyor unit as set forth in claim 1 including telescope structure which connects said secondary support frame and said housing, said telescope structure permitting said secondary support frame to extend away from and to retract toward the storage position in response to operation of said extension means while remaining directly connected to said housing through said telescope structure.

Claim 6

A roll-up conveyor unit as set forth in claim 1, said extension mens including a horizontally disposed rack fixed to one of said secondary support frame and said housing, and a hollow sub-housing for said rack fixed to the other of said secondary support frame and said housing, and a pinion gear fixed to said sub-housing, said pinion gear being rotatable to extend said secondary support frame away from said housing and retract said secondary frame toward said housing.

Claim 7

A roll-up conveyor unit as set forth in claim 1, said connector means including at least one finger mounted to said secondary support frame, said finger being structured to grip said conveyor as said secondary support frame is extended away from said housing, and to release said conveyor as said secondary support frame is retracted toward said housing.

Claim 8

A roll-up conveyor unit comprising a roll-up conveyor having opposed flexible rails, said rails having a plurality of one of rollers and skate wheels fixed therebetween, a housing within which said roll-up conveyor may be wound for storage and from which said conveyor may be paid out for use, at least a primary support frame fixed to the free end of said roll-up conveyor for support of said conveyor at the free end during use, a tray connected to said housing, each support frame being located on said tray in storage attitude when said roll-up conveyor is fully retracted into said housing in storage attitude, and a raise/lower device connected to said tray, said device being adapted to raise said tray above that floor level on which said housing is located to a preferred use level, thereby permitting each support frame to be located at the preferred use level prior to moving said support frame away from said housing into the use position.

Claim 9

A roll-up conveyor unit comprising a roll-up conveyor having opposed flexible rails, said rails having a plurality of one of rollers and skate wheels fixed therebetween, a housing within which said roll-up conveyor may be wound for storage and from which said conveyor may be paid out for use, at least a primary support frame fixed to the free end of said roll-up conveyor for support of said conveyor at the free end during use, a tray connected to said housing, each support frame being located on said tray in storage attitude when said roll-up conveyor is fully retracted into said housing in storage attitude, and a raise/lower device connected to said tray, said device being adapted to raise said tray above that floor level on which said housing is located to a preferred use level, thereby permitting each support frame to be located at the preferred use level prior to moving said support frame away from said housing into the use position.

Claim 10

A roll-up conveyor unit as set forth in claim 7 including at least one secondary support frame connected to said housing, said secondary support frame providing a floor plate over which said conveyor is adapted to slide as said conveyor is paid out from said housing, said secondary support frame being adapted to support said conveyor intermediate its length when same is in the extended position, and said secondary support frame being movable between a storage position on said tray and a use position off said tray intermediate the extended length of said conveyor.

Claim 11

A roll-up conveyor unit as set forth in claim 8 including telescope structure which connects said primary and secondary support frames, said telescope structure permitting said support frames to extend away from and to retract toward the storage position in sequence relative to said housing.

Claim 12

A roll-up conveyor unit as set forth in claim 9, said telescope structure including a first post fixed to said primary support frame at one end thereof, a second post fixed to said secondary support frame at one end thereof, said first post being telescopingly engaged with said second post, and stop means mounted to said posts to prevent said posts from being removed from telescoping engagement one with the other.

Claim 13

A roll-up conveyor unit as set forth in claim 10, said telescope structure further including a third post fixed to said housing at one end thereof, said third post being telescopingly engaged with said second post, thereby directly connecting said support frames to said housing.

Claim 14

A roll-up conveyor unit as set forth in claim 10, said raise/lower device including a vertically disposed rack fixed to one of said tray and said housing, a pinion gear connected to the other of said tray and said housing, rotation of said pinion gear causing said tray to be raised or lowered as desired relative to said housing, and said telescope structure including a vertically disposed collar fixed to each post, said primary and secondary support frames being slidingly received in said respective collars, said support frames thereby being vertically movable relative to said posts during operation of said raise/lower device.

Claim 15

A roll-up conveyor unit as set forth in claim 7, said raise/lower device including pinion gear and rack means associated with said housing and said tray, said pinion gear and rack means being adapted to vertically move said tray relative to said housing, and a latch device associated with said pinion gear and rack means, said latch device being continuously biased into the latching attitude to retain said tray in the desired vertical position.

Claim 16

A roll-up conveyor unit comprising a roll-up conveyor having opposed flexible link side rails that are rigid in the vertically downward direction when extended into use configuration, but flexible in the vertically upward direction to permit wind up into storage configuration, a plurality of one of rollers and skate wheels disposed on fixed axes between said side rails, a housing into which said roll-up conveyor may be wound to position same in a storage attitude and from which said conveyor may be paid out to establish same in a use attitude, a primary support frame fixed to the leading end of said roll-up conveyor, said primary fixed frame being extended away from and retracted towards said housing as said roll-up conveyor is paid out of and retracted into said housing, respectively, at least one secondary support frame connected to said housing, said secondary support frame providing a floor plate over which said conveyor is adapted to slide as said conveyor is paid out from said housing, said secondary support frame being adapted to support said conveyor intermediate its length when same is in the extended position, and said secondary support frame being movable between a storage position adjacent said housing and a use position intermediate the extended length of said conveyor in response to extension of said conveyor from said housing, each of said primary support frame and at least one secondary support frame including an inner post and an outer post which are vertically extendable relative one to the other for positioning said roll-up conveyor as desired by an operator, height adjustment means associated with the posts of each of said frames, said height adjustment means being adapted to vertically extend said posts of each of said frames independent of and relative to the posts of the other of said frames to permit the height of said conveyor at said primary support frame to be positioned as desired relative to and different from the height of said conveyor at said secondary support frame when said conveyor is extended into use configuration, and a latch device associated with each of said height adjustment means, said latch device being movable into the latching attitude to retain said posts in the desired vertical position.

Claim 17

A roll-up conveyor unit comprising a roll-up conveyor having opposed flexible link side rails that are rigid in the vertically downward direction when extended into use configuration, but flexible in the vertically upward direction to permit wind up into storage configuration, a plurality of one of rollers and skate wheels disposed on fixed axes between said side rails, a housing into which said roll-up conveyor may be wound to position same in a storage attitude and from which said conveyor may be paid out to establish same in a use attitude, a primary support frame fixed to the leading end of said roll-up conveyor, said primary fixed frame being extended away from and retracted towards said housing as said roll-up conveyor is paid out of and retracted into said housing, respectively, at least one secondary support frame connected to said housing, said secondary support frame providing a floor plate over which said conveyor is adapted to slide as said conveyor is paid out from said housing, said secondary support frame being adapted to support said conveyor intermediate its length when same is in the extended position, and said secondary support frame being movable between a storage position adjacent said housing and a use position intermediate the extended length of said conveyor in response to extension of said conveyor from said housing, each of said primary support frame and at least one secondary support frame including an inner post and an outer post which are vertically extendable relative one to the other for positioning said roll-up conveyor as desired by an operator, height adjustment means associated with the posts of each of said frames, said height adjustment means being adapted to vertically extend said posts of each of said frames independent of and relative to the posts of the other of said frames to permit the height of said conveyor at said primary support frame to be positioned as desired relative to and different from the height of said conveyor at said secondary support frame when said conveyor is extended into use configuration, and a latch device associated with each of said height adjustment means, said latch device being movable into the latching attitude to retain said posts in the desired vertical position.

Claim 18

A roll-up conveyor unit as set forth in claim 14 wherein said height adjustment means includes rack and pinion gear means.

Claim 19

A roll-up conveyor unit comprising a roll-up conveyor having opposed flexible link side rails that are rigid in the vertically downward direction when extended into use configuration, but flexible in the vartically upward direction to permit wind up into storage configuration, a plurality of one of rollers and skate wheels disposed on fixed axes between said side rails, a housing into which said roll-up conveyor may be wound to position same in a storage attitude and from which said conveyor may be paid out to establish same in a use attitude, a spirally configured track mounted inside said housing, a series of idler rollers fixed to at least one of said conveyor''s side rails, said idler rollers being received in and guided by said track, a feed sprocket adapted to engage said idler rollers, said feed sprocket being rotatable to extend said roll-up conveyor from, and retract said roll-up conveyor into, said housing, a primary support frame fixed to the leading end of said roll-up conveyor, said primary fixed frame being extended away from and retracted towards said housing as said roll-up conveyor is paid out of and retracted into said housing, respectively, at least one secondary support frame connected to said housing, said secondary support frame providing a floor plate over which said conveyor is adapted to slide as said conveyor is paid out from said housing, said secondary support frame being adapted to support said conveyor intermediate its length when same is in the extended position, and said secondary support frame being movable between a storage position adjacent said housing and a use position intermediate the extended length of said conveyor in response to extension of at lest one of said conveyor and said primary support frame from said housing, and height adjustment means associated with said primary support frame and at least one secondary support frame, said height adjustment means cooperating with said frames to locate the vertical position of said conveyor independent of the length of said conveyor when said conveyor is paid out into the use attitude.

Claim 20

A roll-up conveyor unit comprising a roll-up conveyor having opposed flexible link side rails that are rigid in the vertically downward direction when extended into use configuration, but flexible in the vartically upward direction to permit wind up into storage configuration, a plurality of one of rollers and skate wheels disposed on fixed axes between said side rails, a housing into which said roll-up conveyor may be wound to position same in a storage attitude and from which said conveyor may be paid out to establish same in a use attitude, a spirally configured track mounted inside said housing, a series of idler rollers fixed to at least one of said conveyor''s side rails, said idler rollers being received in and guided by said track, a feed sprocket adapted to engage said idler rollers, said feed sprocket being rotatable to extend said roll-up conveyor from, and retract said roll-up conveyor into, said housing, a primary support frame fixed to the leading end of said roll-up conveyor, said primary fixed frame being extended away from and retracted towards said housing as said roll-up conveyor is paid out of and retracted into said housing, respectively, at least one secondary support frame connected to said housing, said secondary support frame providing a floor plate over which said conveyor is adapted to slide as said conveyor is paid out from said housing, said secondary support frame being adapted to support said conveyor intermediate its length when same is in the extended position, and said secondary support frame being movable between a storage position adjacent said housing and a use position intermediate the extended length of said conveyor in response to extension of at lest one of said conveyor and said primary support frame from said housing, and height adjustment means associated with said primary support frame and at least one secondary support frame, said height adjustment means cooperating with said frames to locate the vertical position of said conveyor independent of the length of said conveyor when said conveyor is paid out into the use attitude.

Claim 21

A roll-up conveyor unit as set forth in claim 16, said track having one of a generally elliptical path and a generally spiral path within said housing.