Flight conveyor

Claim 1

A removable flight attachment for a flight conveyor for feeding a load of material in a predetermined moving direction through at trough of predetermined width, a series of chain links each interconnected by a hinge bolt, said links having a narrow shaft portion and a wider body portion, said body portion having two sidewalls and an opening for receiving the next succeeding narrow shaft portion with said body portion and succeeding shaft portion being joined by said hinge bolt passing through aligned apertures therein, said removable attachment comprising: a flight attachment adapted to receive at least selected ones of said chain links, said flight attachment forming lateral protrusions of predetermined length on each side of the respective chain link and including: a rest surface on said protrusion for engaging said conveying trough and bridging said chain link, a cross piece bridging the respective chain link and interconnecting both protrusions of the flight attachment, a bearing block on each lateral side of the respective chain link, said bearing blocks being connected to said cross piece and said rest surface, said bearing blocks, rest surface, and cross piece together defining an enclosing frame for receiving said body portion of a link and a slot sized to receive said narrow shaft portion but to prevent passage of said body portion, a bore in each one of said bearing blocks for receiving said hinge bolt, said bores being in alignment with each other and said aligned apertures, wherein each of said protrusions include a first inclined edge portion facing said trough and being forwardly inclined in said moving direction at a predetermined angle relative to said trough, and a main portion extending substantially perpendicular to said trough, said edge portion and said main portion having an edge-free transition to form a curved shape, said rest surface continuously engaging said trough substantially across its entire width, and at least one support surface on said flight attachment spaced from said rest surface longitudinally along the trough in order to absorb any moment acting on said flight attachment.