Self-aligning roller for belt conveyors

Claim 1

In a roller assembly for a belt conveyor, the combination of a tubular belt-supporting roller mounted for axial rotation about a fixed axle having an axis normal to the direction of belt travel and free of any underlying roller-support structure, a non-resilient self-aligning spherical bearing mounted on said axle and carried wholly internally of said roller to provide a unitary rotating journal means centrally of said roller permitting dynamic universal pivotal angular displacement of said roller in any direction relative to the nominal axis of rotation defined by said axle while supporting said roller for true axial rotation about its own axis in any position thereof, an abutment assembly associated with said roller and presenting a pair of reaction faces spaced from each other for opposite reaction effects upon said roller, said reaction faces being spaced from said roller in the path of angular displacement thereof when said belt is running true, one or the other of said faces being engageable by said roller in response to belt-induced angular displacement of said roller to cause said rotating roller to be reactively displaced in a direction to restore said belt to running true in either direction of belt travel, and said abutment assembly being disposed in the path of universal angular displacement of said roller to limit the maximum extent of said displacement in every direction thereof.