Ceramic conveyor roll having flat-sided spring retainer for non-rotatably mounting end caps to roller
US5316129A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 2, 1993 |
| Grant date | May 31, 1994 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 2, 2013 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC F)Mechanical Engineering; Lighting; Heating
- CPC primaryF16D2001/062
- WIPO fieldHandling
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A conveyor roll for conveying heated glass sheets along a conveyor assembly is provided that comprises a fused silica roller having opposing cylindrical ends, a pair of end caps formed from a machinable steel which may be heat resistant for rotatably mounting the ceramic roller within a conveyor assembly, wherein each end cap has a tubular wall for receiving and surrounding one of the cylindrical ends of the roller, and a spring retainer for non-rotatably mounting each of the end caps to the roller. Each spring retainer includes a coil spring formed from flat sided coils helically wound around a cylindrical end of the roller, each of which coils includes bent portions and straight portions for resiliently and frictionally inter-engaging the tubular wall of the cap and the cylindrical end of the roller, respectively, despite the thermal differential expansion that occurs between the tubular wall of the cap and the cylindrical end of the roller as the roll is exposed to elevated temperatures. Each end cap includes a screw thread around its open end that threadedly engages the coils of the retainer spring and axially secures the end cap to its respective cylindrical roller end.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.