Slides for endless belt conveyors

Abstract

Slides for use on an endless belt conveyor belt and wear pads for use on slides for endless belt conveyors.

1 . A wear pad for use on a slide of an endless track conveyor belt comprising an elongated body having a flat top surface for slidably supporting a conveyor belt during travel of the belt over the top surface between leading and trailing edges of the top surface; and a plurality of grooves in said top surface extending between the leading and trailing edges of the body for discharging liquid falling onto the top surface, whereby drag between the wear pad and the belt is reduced.  
   
   
       2 . The wear pad of  claim 1 , wherein said leading and trailing edges of said body are beveled, and said grooves extend between said beveled edges.  
   
   
       3 . The wear pad of  claim 2 , wherein said grooves are parallel and spaced apart by a distance greater than their width.  
   
   
       4 . The wear pad of  claim 3 , wherein said grooves have square cross sections.  
   
   
       5 . A slide for use on an endless belt conveyor, said slide comprising a crossbar extending perpendicular to the path of travel of the endless belt, a wear pad on said crossbar for supporting said belt during travel of the belt, said wear pad extending perpendicular to said path of travel, a spacer between said pad and said crossbar for spacing said pad from said crossbar; and retaining means for retaining said pad and spacer on said crossbar.  
   
   
       6 . A slide according to  claim 5 , wherein said pad, spacer and crossbar each include a hole therethrough; a bolt extending through said pad, spacer and crossbar; a nut on said bolt for retaining said bolt, pad and spacer on said crossbar.  
   
   
       7 . A slide for use on an endless belt conveyor, said slide comprising a crossbar extending perpendicular to the path of travel of the endless belt, the top of said crossbar having a hole therethrough, a wear pad on said crossbar for supporting said belt during travel of the belt, said wear pad extending perpendicular to said path of travel and having a threaded hole therethrough; a synthetic fluorine-containing resin bolt in said threaded hole extending through said hole in said crossbar, and locking means for retaining said pad on said crossbar.  
   
   
       8 . A slide according to  claim 7 , wherein said bolt includes a threaded portion and a head; said locking means including a hole through said head and a cotter pin insertable in said hole.  
   
   
       9 . A return slide for use on an endless belt conveyor, which includes a pair of rollers and an endless belt extending around said rollers, said slide comprising a base for extending perpendicular to the path of travel of the endless belt beneath said rollers; and a wear pad on said base for supporting said belt during travel of the belt beneath said rollers, said wear pad having a top surface which is convex along its length for positioning beneath an endless belt with the pad extending perpendicular to said path of travel.  
   
   
       10 . The return slide of  claim 9 , wherein said base and pad are bowed upwardly along their entire length.  
   
   
       11 . The return slide of  claim 10  including longitudinally extending grooves in side edges of said pad; and inverted L-shaped brackets connecting said pad to said base.  
   
   
       12 . The return slide of  claim 11 , wherein said base is generally C-shaped, including a top wall and two downwardly extending side walls.  
   
   
       13 . The return slide of  claim 9 , including hangers for suspending the base from a conveyor frame beneath the rollers and belt, each of said hangers including a slot; and a bar for extending into said slot and beneath said base.  
   
   
       14 . A hanger assembly used for suspending a return slide from an endless belt conveyor frame comprising a hanger plate having a top end for suspending the hanger from the conveyor frame; a bottom end for supporting one end of a return slide; a keyhole slot in said bottom end for receiving a bar for connecting the hanger plate to one end of a return slide; and a clip for locking said bar in said slot.  
   
   
       15 . The hanger assembly of  claim 14 , including a flange on said top end of the plate for connecting the hanger to the conveyor frame; and an inclined web connecting said top end to said bottom end of the plate.  
   
   
       16 . The hanger assembly of  claim 14 , wherein said bar includes an inner end for supporting one end of said return slide; an outer end for extending through said keyhole slot in the hanger plate; and opposed grooves in said outer end for securing the bar in said slot.  
   
   
       17 . The hanger assembly of  claim 16 , wherein said clip is generally C-shaped including a horizontal top arm for straddling said out end of said bar and a lower arm, whereby, when the clip is placed on the bar and secured to said hanger plate, the bar is locked in said keyhole slot by said top arm of the clip.  
   
   
       18 . The hanger assembly of  claim 17 , wherein the clip is pivotally connected to said hanger plate for rotation between a closed position in which said top arm straddles said bar and an open position in which the lower arm covers a bottom end of said keyhole slot.