Guide particularly for conveyor belts

Abstract

A guide, particularly for conveyor belts, inside which it is possible to accommodate first elements for generating a magnetic field, each one being constituted by a single permanent magnet, which has a U-shaped cross-section and has at least one pair of wings that protrude upward; the magnet can be inserted within a complementarily shaped receptacle formed inside the guide structure that can support slidingly a chain composed of a plurality of conveyance elements, which have second elements for their mutual engagement and are made at least partially of ferromagnetic material.

1 . A guide for conveyor belts, comprising: a supporting and guiding structure; first means for generating a magnetic field accommodated in said structure; a chain supported at the guide that is composed of a plurality of conveyance elements; second engagement means for mutual engagement of said conveyance elements, said second engagement means being made at least partially of a ferromagnetic material, and wherein said first engagement means is constituted by single permanent magnets, each of said magnets having a U-shaped cross-sectional configuration with at least one pair of wings that protrude upward, each one of said magnets being insertable within a complementarily shaped receptacle formed inside the guide structure.  
   
   
       2 . The guide of  claim 1 , wherein said guiding structure has a transverse cross-sectional configuration that is externally U-shaped, so as to form at lateral ends thereof two rails that protrude upward from a bottom thereof that lays horizontally, said rails having a rectangular cross-section and being mutually parallel.  
   
   
       3 . The guide of  claim 2 , wherein said rails form an interspace with a seat that is open upward and has a rectangular cross-section, said seat being delimited laterally by two side walls constituted by mutually facing sides of said rails.  
   
   
       4 . The guide of  claim 3 , wherein said receptacle is formed downward and internally with respect to said guide structure and is U-shaped, said receptacle being open downward and surrounding said bottom of said guide structure.  
   
   
       5 . The guide of  claim 4 , wherein said receptacle has lateral ends which protrude vertically upward, are formed at and within said rails and have a height that is slightly lower than a height of said rails.  
   
   
       6 . The guide of  claim 5 , wherein said lateral ends are axially offset with respect to said rails, preferably toward said adjacent side wall.  
   
   
       7 . The guide of  claim 6 , wherein said at least one pair of wings of said permanent magnet are provided so as to be insertable within said lateral ends of said receptacle.  
   
   
       8 . The guide of  claim 7 , wherein said wings of said permanent magnet have a height that is substantially equal to said height of said lateral ends of said receptacle, said wings being arranged with one surface thereof adjacent to a respective side wall of said seat.  
   
   
       9 . The guide of  claim 8 , wherein north and south poles of said permanent magnet are arranged respectively at said two opposite wings.  
   
   
       10 . The guide of  claim 9 , comprising a plurality of individual magnets arranged along said guide structure, said individual magnets being longitudinally spaced from each other, and arranged at selected curved and/or straight portions of said guide structure, at a selected mutual distance.  
   
   
       11 . The guide of  claim 10 , wherein each one of said conveyance elements is slidingly supported by said guide structure and is provided, in an upper region thereof, with a loading surface that is substantially flat, has a rectangular plan shape, and rests at lateral ends thereof above said pair of rails.  
   
   
       12 . The guide of  claim 11 , wherein said loading surface is made of plastics, preferably plastics with good wear-resistance properties and a low friction coefficient with respect to a material of which said guide structure is made.  
   
   
       13 . The guide of  claim 11 , wherein said loading surface is at least partially made of ferromagnetic material.  
   
   
       14 . The guide of  claim 3 , wherein each said conveyance element has an upper loading surface, said second engagement means comprising two first bushes, which are arranged below said loading surface, are externally cylindrical and protrude from said loading surface in a direction of a longitudinal axis of said guide structure when the respective conveyance element rests on said guide.  
   
   
       15 . The guide of  claim 14 , wherein said first bushes are each provided with a hole along a longitudinal axis thereof, said longitudinal axis of the hole being perpendicular to a longitudinal central plane of said guide structure, longitudinal axes of said first bushes being aligned transversely to said guide structure, at a mutual distance that is shorter than a distance between said side walls of said seat, said first bushes being accommodated within said seat when the respective conveyance element rests on said guide structure.  
   
   
       16 . The guide of  claim 15 , comprising a second bush that protrudes below said loading surface, in an opposite direction with respect to said first bushes, said second bush having a slot or a hole along a longitudinal axis thereof, and being arranged with said longitudinal axis thereof perpendicular to said longitudinal central plane of said guide structure, said second bush being narrower than a mutual distance between said first bushes, so as to be accommodatable within said receptacle between said two first bushes of an adjacent conveyance element.  
   
   
       17 . The guide of  claim 16 , wherein said first and second bushes are preferably made of a same ferromagnetic or non-ferromagnetic material as said loading surface and are formed monolithically therewith.  
   
   
       18 . The guide of  claim 17 , further comprising pivots, each one of said conveyance elements being rotatably connected to a next one by way of a pivot of said pivots, which is preferably made of ferromagnetic material and is insertable within said two first bushes and said second bush, so as to ensure driving of the entire said chain, each one of said pivots being accommodated, when said chain is arranged above said guide structure, inside said seat and being arranged transversely between said side walls of said seat.  
   
   
       19 . The guide of  claim 18 , wherein a diameter of a said pivot is smaller than a diameter of the holes provided in the first bushes, so that said pivot is insertable therein with interference, and is smaller than a diameter of said slot or hole formed in said second bushes, so as to allow a relative rotation between two adjacent said conveyance elements on a plane of travel of said conveyor belt.  
   
   
       20 . The guide of  claim 4 , wherein said permanent magnet has U-shaped cross-sectional configuration, which forms a first pair of external wings, protruding upward at lateral ends of said permanent magnet, and a second pair of internal wings, which protrude upward proximate to said first wings and are arranged internally with respect to said first wings.  
   
   
       21 . The guide of  claim 20 , wherein said second wings are lower than said first wings, a height of said second wings being lower than a height of said guide structure at said bottom.  
   
   
       22 . The guide of  claim 21 , wherein a north and a south pole of said permanent magnet are arranged respectively at said two opposite first wings, each one of said second wings having a same magnetic polarity as said first wing, to which the second wing is laterally adjacent.  
   
   
       23 . The guide of  claim 22 , wherein the lateral ends of said receptacle, which is shaped complementarily with respect to said permanent magnet, have a step-like cross-sectional configuration and extend by, at lower regions thereof, which face each other and are directed toward an inside region of said guide structure, lateral ends of said bottom of said guide structure.  
   
   
       24 . The guide of  claim 23 , wherein said receptacle is U-shaped and is formed entirely at said bottom of said guide structure, lateral ends thereof being arranged at lateral ends of said bottom.  
   
   
       25 . The guide of  claim 4 , comprising at least two said guide structures, which are arranged longitudinally side by side, said guide structures being able to support slidingly a corresponding number of said chains arranged side by side.  
   
   
       26 . The guide of  claim 1 , wherein said guide structure is made of plastics, preferably plastics having better wear-resistance properties and lower friction coefficients with respect to other plastic, ferromagnetic, and metallic materials from which the chain, the engagement elements and magnets are made.