GB2172568A - Improvements in or relating to a belt conveyor - Google Patents

Abstract

An endless conveyor belt 7, with buckets or other digging or scraping elements secured to its outer surface at spaced locations, has at least one row of discrete blocks of resilient material bolted to the inner surface of the belt to form a continuous resilient material bolted to the inner surface of the belt to form a continuous resilient guide 7 member 11. As the endless belt passes around the end pulleys a wedging action is created as the discrete blocks, which have tapered side walls, press down into peripheral grooves 29 in the end pulleys which also have tapered, side walls but slightly narrower width than the members 11. The belt is preferably reinforced with embedded wire cables or fabric cords 9 so as to resist radial digging forces which tend to stretch the belt and pull it away from the end pulleys. Lateral forces generated as the digger is advanced into a pile of bulk material on a bias, which tend to cause the belt to creep laterally on the pulleys, are resisted by the restraint of the resilient guide members. Seals prevent bulk material from getting between the endless belt or its resilient guide members and the end pulleys, and scrapers remove any such material which gets past the seals and deflects it laterally out of the belt loop. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in or relating to a belt conveyor This invention relates to belt conveyors and espe axially to belt conveyors having digging, scraping or traction means on the outer surface thereof which impose radial, longitudinal, and lateral loads on the belt as it passes around one end pulley and also in some applications on the straight length pulleys.

Conveyors in the form bucket ladders are commonly used in lifting bulk materials and are often used as diggers which are advanced into or across a pile of material or a storage chamber full of material to reclaim such material. Typically, such conveyors comprise a series of buckets which are secured at spaced intervals along endless chains which are constrained to follow a path shaped as a loop by sprocket wheels. The teeth of the sprocket wheels resist any side loads imposed on the buckets if the conveyor advances into the material at an angle to its longitudinal axis. Tension in the chains or the weight thereof, depending upon the arrangement, resists the tendency of the digging forces to lift the chains off the sprockets.

Chain type bucket ladders are very heavy and cumbersome, however, and require very substantial supporting structures. This is a particular problem in reclaimers used to recover material from very large piles and in continuous ship unloaders where the bucket ladder is mounted on the end of a very long boom to pass into the hold of a stip. In addition, chain type bucket ladders operate at relatively slow speeds.

A belt type conveyor fitted with buckets is much lighter and less cumbersome than a chain type bucket ladder; however, as is well known, belts tend to creep axially along end pulleys even when no intentional side loads are imposed on the conveyor.

Where such a conveyor is fed into a pile with a component of motion lateral to the plane of the belt loop, very significant side loads are generated which must be resisted. In addition, at the digging end, the radially outward digging force tends to pull the belt away from the end pulley causing rapid deterioration of the belt.

Reinforcement, such as wire ropes has been embedded in conveyor belts to increase their tensile strength which aids in resisting the radial digging forces but this in itself does nothing to resist the lateral forces. Separate wire ropes have also been used inside the loops of endless belts to sustain the tensile load. In a great many of these arrangements the belt is frictionally supported on wire ropes when running on the level or when on relatively shallow angled work runs, but is separated from the wire ropes at the end of the work run and goes around its own end pulley while the wire ropes are reeved through a separate arrangement of pulleys which applies driving tension to them.

In one prior art arrangement, a wire rope is coupled to the vertical portion of a belt type conveyor having integral pockets for holding bulk material, by two rows of resilient blocks secured to the inside of the belt. The wire rope is forced into half round grooves in confronting faces of the blocks by a pulley at the beginning of the vertical run and is gripped tightly by pairs of pulleys spaced along the vertical run which urge the blocks toward each other with the wire rope in between.At the top of the vertical run, the blocks are received in a square cut peripheral groove in the deflection pulley and the wire rope is pulled out from between the resilient blocks as the belt, with the blocks attached, is deflected 90" from the vertical to the horizontal while the wire rope continues 1800 around the pulley and proceeds vertically downwardly.

In these prior art arrangements, the wire rope is used to carry at least some of the tension forces imposed on the belt on the work run. The wire rope is either separated physically from the belt at the pulleys at the end of the work run or is othewise decoupled from the belt in this area.

According to one aspect of this invention there is provided a belt arrangement comprising: an endless belt having inner and outer surfaces; a frame including a pair of spaced pulleys around which said endless belt rotates; at least one resilient guide member secured to the inner surface of said endless belt, said resilient guide member having side edges which are tapered inwardly toward each other from the endless belt, and said pulleys each having at least one peripheral groove therein having a crosssection, inlcuding tapered wide walls, corresponding to, but slightly smaller in width than the crosssection of said resilient guide member for receiving the guide member so that as the endless belt and resilient guide member pass around said pulleys together, said resilient guide member is wedged down into the pulley grooves to resist any forces tending to cause the belt to creep axially along the pulleys.

According to another aspect of this invention there is provided a belt conveyor comprising: and endless belt having inner and outer surfaces and having digging means protruding from the outer surface thereof at spaced locations along its length; a frame including a pair of spaced pulleys around which said endless belt rotates; at least one resilient guide member secured to the inner surface of said endless belt, said resilient guide member having side edges which are tapered inwardly toward each other from the endless belt, and said pulleys each having at least one peripheral groove therein having a crosssection, including tapered side walls, corresponding to, but slightly smaller in width than the crosssection of said resilient guide member for receiving the guide member so that as the endless belt and resilient guide member pass around said pulleys together, said resilient guide member is wedged down into the pulley grooves to resist any forces tending to cause the belt to creep axially along the pulleys.

Thus the invention provides a belt arrangement which is reinforced, preferably by a plurality of small, endless wire ropes embedded throughout their length within the loop of an endless belt. At least one resilient guide member is secured to the inner surface of the belt. The resilient guide member is composed of a series of discrete resilient blocks, for example, of a rubber or elastomeric material. The side edges of each resilient guide member are tapered inward toward each other from the inner surface of the belt. The end pulleys are provided with peripheral grooves of a cross-section corresponding to that of the resilient guide member, including tapered side walls, but of slightly narrower width, in which the resilient guide members are received as the endless belt and resilient guide members pass around the end pulleys together.Since the pulley grooves are slightly narrower in width than the resilient guide members, the tension in the belt produces a radial component which forces each resilient guide member down into the corresponding pulley groove thereby wedging it into gripping engagement with the pulley. Lateral forces imposed on the belt, such as by moving the conveyor laterally into a pile of bulk material, are resisted by the resilient guide members so as to oppose the lateral force tending to cause the belt to creep longitudinally along the pulley. Similarly, any force which tends to pull the belt radially away from the end pulley, such as a digging force, is resisted by the embedded wire ropes or other reinforcement means associated with the belt.While the radial digging force tends to relieve the wedging action produced by tension in the endless belt, the resiliency of the resilient guide members and the use of a resilient lagging material in the pulley grooves are such that sufficient gripping forces remain to insure that there is no objectionable slipping between the pulley and the belt.

As previously stated, the endless belt preferably includes reinforcing means to increase its tensile strength in order to withstand the forces imposed during digging and also in vertical lifting. The severity of the expected service would determine the type and amount of reinforcement to be employed.

Thus, the belt reinforcement means may be nylon or polyester endless fibres embedded in the belt for light duty tasks. For heavy duty applications such as in stackerlreclaimers, the belt reinforcing means is preferably a plurality of small wire ropes.

The outer surface of the endless belt may be provided with digging means, preferably discrete digging members such as, for example, cleats or buckets. These discrete digging members are secured to the belt. In the case of buckets, one end may be secured to the belt by means which permit longitudinal adjustment to accommodate for the change in straight line distance between the securing points on the belt as the belt and buckets pass around the end pulleys. This means may take the form of a linkage, pivotal in the plane of the belt loop. Furthermore, the buckets are preferably provided with back and side walls but no bottom wall.

Instead, the endless belt serves as the bottom of the bucket. This eliminates wear on the belt caused by material lodging between a rigid bucket bottom wall and the belt, and also, due to the flexing of the belt as it bends around the end pulleys, prevents material from caking in the buckets which would reduce the capacity of the conveyor and increase the power required.

The present invention is useful in any conveyor subjected to lateral and/or radial loading and is particularly useful in belt type bucket ladders where the conveyor is advanced in a direction which has a lateral component. It is also particularly useful in the cleated tracks for a tethered vehicle for moving bulk material.

It is important to the life of the endless belt that the bulk material and other foreign matter be prevented from getting between the pulleys and the belt or its resilient guide members. Accordingly, seals are preferably provided which block the entry of bulk material between the belt, resilient guide members and pulleys as the belt begins to wrap around the pulleys. The seals may include scrapers which remove from the grooves any material which may have lodged therein and defiect it laterally outward as the belt leaves the pulley.

In order that the invention may be more readily understood, and so that further features thereof may be appreciated, the invention wili now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a side elevation view of a bucket conveyor constructed according to the teachings of the invention; Figure 2 is a partial vertical section taken through the conveyor of Figure 1 along the line 2-2; Figure 3 is a top plan view of a portion of the conveyor of Figure 1 with parts broken away; Figure 4 is an isometric view illustrating two of the resilient guide members seated on the endless belt of a conveyor in accordance with the teachings of this invention; Figure 5 is an enlarged view of a portion of Figure 1 with parts removed for clarity;; Figure 6 is an isometric view of a section of a seal used to prevent material from getting under the belt of the conveyor; Figure 7 is an isometric view of a scraper seal; Figure 8 is a partial vertical section taken through a conveyor and pulley forming part of another embodiment of the invention; Figure 9 is a plan view of the resilient guide member of Figure 8; and Figure 10 is an end elevation view of the resilient guide member of Figures 8 and 9.

The drawings illustrate a digger unit for recovering bulk material. The unit includes a pair of end pulleys 1 and 3 supported in spaced relation by a frame 5. An endless conveyor belt 7 is trained around the pulleys and is driven by drive means (not shown) connected to one of the pulleys. The belt 7 as seen in Figure 2 has a plurality of steel cables 9 of small diameter embedded therein. Cables 9 serve to increase the tensile strength of the belt and render it suitable for heavy duty digging and vertical lifting applications.

Such steel cable reinforced belts are well known in the bucket elevator art.

As best seen in Figures 2 and 4, the underside of the belt is provided with two elongate resilient guide members 11 which are made up of two rows of discrete blocks 13 formed of resilient material, such as a rubber or elastomeric material, with each row forming a respective guide member. The discrete blocks 13 are all identical and have opposed, flat upper and lower surfaces 15 and 17 extending between tapered, outer side edges 19. The edges 19 of the composite guide member 11 taper inwardly toward each other from the inner surface of the belt 7 to give the guide member a trapezoidal crosssection. Opposite ends of each resilient block 13 are provided with complementary projections 21 and recesses 23 which mesh with those on the adjacent blocks in the row to provide a flexible but effectively continuous guide member.Each of the discrete blocks 13 is secured to the inner surface of the endless belt 7 by apair of headed bolts 25, each seated in a countersunk transverse bore 27 in the block. As seen in Figure 4, the abutting ends of the blocks 13 have inclined, planar surfaces 20 which are angled inwardly toward the outer surface 15 to provide a clearance gap 22 between adjoining blocks. The gaps 22 allow the blocks 13 to move to be inclined toward one another as the belt 7 passes around the pulleys 1 and 3, without any binding interference therebetween.

The end pulleys 1 and 3 of the digger are provided with peripheral grooves 29 in which the resilient guide members 11 are received as the endless belt 7 and guide members pass around the pulleys. The grooves 29 are of the same trapezoidal cross-section as the guide members 11, having tapered side walls 31, but are slightly narrower than the blocks when in their usual condition. Tension in the belt pulls the resilient guide members 11 down into the grooves 29 in the end pulleys. The wedging action thus generated by the side walls 19 of the discrete blocks 13 of the resilient rail member bearing against the tapered walls 31 of the grooves 29 compresses the discrete blocks into firm gripping engagement with the grooves 29 so as to resist lateral forces on the belt.

As will be described in detail below, the belt 7 is equipped with a plurality of buckets 33 for digging and lifting bulk material. Where the buckets dig into the material as they pass around one end pulley, very significant radial forces can be developed which tend to pull the belt away from the peripheral face of the pulley causing premature belt failure because of the sharp local bend in the belt. Thus, it is desirable to utilize a belt having reinforcement means such as the embedded steel cables 9 in order to prevent the belt from pulling away from the pulley as a result of these radial digging forces.

The buckets 33 are mounted on the belt 7 in a continuous series (only 4 are shown in Figure 1) and each include side walls 35, a curved back wall 37 which flares outward at the mouth of the bucket, and side panels 39 which extend outward from the side walls under the flared portion ofthe back wall. Wear plates 41 and 43 are welded onto the top and side edges, respectively, of the mouth of the bucket to resist abrasion from digging into bulk material. Filler plates 45 close the gap below the side panels 39. The buckets are illustrated most clearly in Figures 2 and 3.

The buckets are secured to the conveyor belt 7 at the leading end by means of projections 47 on the side walls 35 which are pivotally connected to devises 49 by pins 51. Each clevis 49 is bolted to the belt 7 by the bolts 25 which also secure the confronting discrete resilient blocks 13 in the rows of blocks making up the resilient guide member 11 on the belt. As best seen in Figure 2, a resilient buffer plate 50, of rubber or elastomer, for example, is positioned between the clevis 49 and the belt 7. The buffer plate 50 is employed in order to distribute the high localized load concentration which may be present at the interface between the clevis 49 and the belt. Through the use of buffer plates 50, the steel cable reinforcements 9 are not subjected to premature fatigue bending failure.

Referring to Figures 3 and 5, the trailing end of each bucket 33 is secured to the belt on each side through a flexible connection which permits this end to reciprocate in the direction of belt movement relative to the fixed connection to the belt. To this end, a boss 53 on the rear of each side wall 35 is pivotally connected to one end of a link 55 which is pivotally connected at the other end to a clevis 57 by pin 59. Each clevis 57 is bolted to the belt 7 in the same manner as the devises 49 by headed bolts 25 which also pass through discrete blocks 13 in the row of blocks making up the resilient guide member on that side of the belt. Rubber buffer plates 50 are also positioned between each clevis 57 and the belt 7, as previously described.Those blocks 13 which are not attached to a clevis 49 or 57 are attached to the belt by bolts 25 and a flat bearing plate 26, as shown beneath the bucket "c" in Figure 5.

The purpose of the mounting which includes the link 55 is to accommodate for the change in the straight line distance between the clevis pins 51 and 59 as the belt passes from the straight runs to the curved path around the end pulleys I and 3. As the belt 7 bends around the end pulleys, its length at the mean diameter of its curvature remains constant, but the straight line distance between any two points on the mean diameter becomes shorter because the chord is shorter than the curved path assumed by the belt. For objects mounted on the surface of the belt, such as the devises 49 and 57, the change in the straight line distance is dependent upon the radial distance of the pertinent point from the mean axis of the belt.For two objects close to the belt surface, the straight line distance between them decreases as the belt curves around the pulleys. However, for objects farther removed from the belt surface, such as the clevis pins 51 and 59, this distance increases during passage around the pulleys. The effects of this are illustrated in Figures 1 and 5. As the buckets such as A, B and C, pass in a counterclockwise direction around the end pulley 3, and the section of the belt 7 between each pair of clevises 49 and 57 assumes the curvature of the pulley causing the straight line distance between the associated clevis pins 51 and 59 to increase, the links 55 pivot counterclockwise on the clevis pins 59 to accommodate for the rigid dimension of the side walls 35 of these buckets. As a bucket reaches the straight run between end pulleys, the links 55 rotate to the position shown for the bucket D in Figure 5.

It should be noted that the buckets 33 have only side walls 35 and a back wall 37. The bottom wall is provided by the endless belt 7. This eliminates the problems associated with material becoming lodged between an integral bottom wall of a bucket and the endless belt which would subject the belt to undue wear, especially where, as in the preferred embodiment, the buckets move relative to the belt surface.

There is another advantage to using the belt as the bottom wall of the buckets. Since the belt bends as it passes around the end pulleys, and the buckets move longitudinally, and to some extent radially, with respect to the belt surface, the tendancy of sticky material to become lodged in the buckets is reduced. As seen in Figures 1 and 5, the bottom edges 61 of the side walls 35 of each bucket are concavely curved to be concentric with the periphery of the end pulleys to provide a relatively close fit as the bucket digs into bulk material. Even though this creates a gap between the side walls and the belt on the straight sections, it has been found that very little material is lost through such a gap.

In order to prevent bulk material and otherforeign objects from getting between the endless belt 7 or its resilient guide members 11 and the pulleys 1 and 3, seals are mounted on the frame 5. This frame includes elongated members in the form of I-beams 63 which extend longitudinally along the sides of the endless belt with the end pulleys 1 and 3 journaled for rotation in the webs 65 thereof at each end.

Where the endless belt 7 approaches an end pulley, a first seal unit 67 is provided. Such a seal is shown in the isometric drawing of Figure 6 and includes a flange portion 69 which abuts the flange 71 of l-beam 63. A planar member 73, recessed from the longitudinal edge of the endless belt, extends at right angles from the flange portion 69 toward the resilient guide member on the associated side of the belt and terminates in a first offset portion 75 which extends laterally and then diagonally outward parallel to the bottom and side faces of the resilient guide member, followed by a second offset portion 77 which extends laterally outward parallel to the inner surface of the belt 7.These offset portions form, with the confronting surfaces of the resilient guide member and the endless belt with which they are in close proximity, a labyrinth seal which prevents bulk material from getting under the belt and guide members.

The planar member 73 and its offset portions 75 and 77 extend longitudinally to the points of intersection of the endless belt and guide member with the end pulley which they approach. A curved cover plate 79 mounted perpendicular to the planar member 73, covers the groove 29 in the pulley and the peripheral surface of the pulley outboard of the groove, and is provided with a notch 81 through which the resilient guide member passes to enterthe groove in the pulley. The edge 83 of the cover 79 lies along the intersection of the bottom surface of the resilient guide member 11 and the peripheral surface of the end pulley, the edge 85 lies along the tapered side 19 of the guide member and the edge 87 lies along the intersection of the inner surface of the endless belt and the peripheral surface of the end pulley.

An arcuate member 91 secured at right angles to the edge of curved cover plate 79 extends around the end of the end pulley from the flange 69 to about the point of tangency of the endless belt and the end pulley to prevent material from entering from the end of the pulley. A reinforcing plate 93 is secured to the arcuate member 91 at the distal end to strengthen it and a stiffener 95 is welded to this reinforcing plate for added rigidity.

A second seal unit 97 is provided where the endless belt leaves the end pulley. This seal unit, which is shown in Figure 7, also includes a flange portion 99 which abuts a flange 71 on the frame I-beam. Similarly, a planar member 101, recessed from the longitudinal edge of the endless belt, extends at right angles from the flange portion 99 toward the resilient guide member 11 and terminates in a first offset portion 103 which accommodates the guide member and a second offset portion 105 which parallels the inner surface of the endless belt and extends around the longitudinal edge of the belt to form therewith a labyrinth seal.

This second seal unit 97 also serves as a scraper for removing any material that may have gotten past the seals and lodged in the grooves in the end pulleys, or adhered to the inner surface of the endless belt or the resilient guide member. Hence, this seal unit includes a first planar member 107 which extends inwardly and laterally outward from the inner surface of the endless belt and intersects the flange portion 99. The leading edge of this planar member 107 is contoured with a first portion 109 which scrapes the bottom of the groove 29 in the end pulley, a second portion 111 which scrapes the side of the groove 29 and a third portion 113 which scrapes the peripheral surface of the end pulley outside the groove 29.A second planar member 115 which abuts the trailing edge of the first pianar member 107 extends inwardly from the inner such face of the endless belt and trails longitudinally in the direction of belt movement. This second planar member which extends perpendicularly to the plane of the loop of the endless belt, intersects the planar member 101 and its first and second offset portion 103 and 105 respectively, and is provided with a notch 117 through which the resilient guide member passes. The bottom edge 119 of this notch is provided with a resilient scraper 121 which cleans the bottom surface of the resilient guide member.

The seal units 67 and 97 are provided for the end pulley at the digging end of the conveyor. They may also be provided, as shown in Figure 1, at the discharge end, again with seal unit 67 used where the belt approaches the pulley 1 and the unit 97 where it leaves the pulley. Between these end seal units are seal members 123 having flanges 125 which abutthe flanges 71 on I-beam 73 and planar members which extend outward from the flange with first and second offset portions which accommodate the resilient rail members and the edge of the endless belt, respectively, to form therewith a labyrinth seal which is a continuation of the labyrinth seal formed by the seal units 67 and 97.

The bucket digger/conveyor depicted in Figures 1-5 is usually used in an environment characterized by heavy duty, high tonnage rate work. Because of this, it is preferable to employ two resilient guide members 11 and also a conveyor belt 7 which is reinforced with embedded steel cables 9. Less strenuous work environments may call for physically smaller conveyor sizes in which it is possible to utilize only one resilient guide member and to dispense with the steel reinforcement in the belt.

One presently preferred embodiment of such an arrangement is shown in Figures 8 to 10. In these lighter duty applications, which may include horizontal scraping and conveying work, the pulley 3' is spanned by a single resilient guide member 11' which is comprised of a single row of discrete blocks 14. The blocks 14 are similar to the previously described blocks 13 and are also formed of a resilient material such as a rubber or elastomer. The blocks 14 are all identical and have tapered side edges 18 which slope inwardly toward each other from the inner surface of the belt 7' to give the guide member atrapezoidal cross section. Opposite, abutting ends of each resilient block 14 are provided with complementary projections 21 ' and recesses 23', as shown in Figure 9 and 10.These projections 21' and receses 23' mesh with those on the adjacent blocks in the row to provide a flexible but effectively continuous guide member. Each of the discrete blocks 14 is secured to the inner surface of the endless belt 7' by headed bolts 25', each seated in a countersunk, transverse bore 16 formed through the block and the belt. The bolts 25' also secure clevis elements 49' to the belt, which, in turn, may support scrapers, cleats or the like (not shown). The abutting ends of the blocks 14 are also provided with inclined planar surfaces 20' which are angled inwardly toward the pulley face to provide a gap between adjacent blocks. This gap permits the blocks 14to pass around the pulley without any binding interfer ence therebetween.

The belt 7' shown in Figure 8 is suitable for light duty service and, hence, does not have the steel cable reinforcement which is present in the belt 7 of Figures 1 to 5. The belt 7' does, however, have some conventional longitudinal reinforcement, in the form of fabric cords 9', such as nylon or polyester in order to resist the expected tensile forces which may be applied to the belt during operation. In some applications, it may be necessary or desirable to increase the friction between the inner face of the resilient guide members 11 or 11' and the pulleys 3 and 3', respectively. This is accomplished through the use of a conventional, resilient lagging ring of rubber or elastomer, tightly fitted around the lower face of groove 29' in the pulley 3' as shown in Figure 8.

Figure 8 depicts the belt with no tension thereon. In operation, there would be no gap between the lagging 24 and the member 11'.

The bucket digger disclosed in Figures 1 to 5 can be advanced with a lateral component into a bulk material pile or storage chamber because the unique arrangement which couples the belt to the end pulleys which overcomes the forces tending to cause the belt to creep along the pulleys. For these reasons, it is particularly suitable as a digger head on the end of the elongated boom of a reclaimer.

Longer versions of the digger are also useful as replacements for the conventional chain type bucket ladders in such installations as continuous ship unloaders and drag flight conveyors.

The embodiment of the invention depicted in Figures 8 to 10 is also applicable to conveyors having other types of digging elements which would contribute to the development of lateral forces on the endless belt, such as cleats. Such other digging elements could be discrete devices bolted to the belt in a similar manner to the buckets or could be formed integrally with the belt. One other application of the invention is to be cleated tracks used in a vehicle for moving bulk material.

Claims (26)

1. A belt conveyor comprising: an endless belt having inner and outer surfaces and having digging means protruding from the outer surface thereof at spaced locations along its length; a frame including a pair of spaced pulleys around which said endless belt rotates; at least one resilient guide member secured to the inner surface of said endless belt, said resilient guide member having side edges which are tapered inwardly toward each other from the endless belt, and said pulleys each having at least one peripheral groove therein having a cross-section, including tapered side walls, corresponding to, but slightly smaller in width than the cross-section of said resilient guide member for receiving the guide member so that as the endless belt and resilient guide member pass around said pulleys together, said resilient guide member is wedged down into the pulley grooves to resist any forces tending to cause the belt to creep axially along the pulleys.

2. A conveyor according to claim 1, wherein said resilient guide member comprises a series of discrete blocks arranged in abutting relationship in a row.

3. A conveyor according to claim 2 wherein the abutting ends of each of the blocks have inclined planar surfaces to provide a clearance gap between adjacent blocks to prevent binding interference between the blocks as the belt passes around the pulleys.

4. A conveyor according to claim 3, wherein each of the discrete blocks have complementary projections and recesses which mesh with like mating recesses and projections an adjacent blocks in the row.

5. A conveyor according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the endless belt includes reinforcement means embedded therein to increase the tensile strength of said belt.

6. A conveyor according to claim 5 wherein the belt reinforcement means includes a plurality of wire ropes.

7. A conveyor according to claim 5 wherein the belt reinforcement means includes a plurality of fabric cords.

8. A conveyor according to any one of the preceding claims wherein said digging means comprises discrete digging members and wherein said resilient guide member and discrete digging members are secured to the inner and outer surfaces respectively of said endless belt by elongated fasten ers passing through the guide member, the belt and said discrete digging members.

9. A conveyor according to claim 8 wherein the discrete digging members are cleats.

10. A conveyor according to claim 8, wherein the discrete digging members are buckets.

11. A conveyor according to claim 10, wherein said buckets are secured to the outer surface of the endless belt at the leading and trailing ends thereof at longitudinally spaced points along the belt and include means for accommodating the change in the straight line distance between said spaced points as the endless belt and buckets pass around the pulleys.

12. A conveyor according to claim 11 wherein said accommodating means includes bucket mounting means including first mounting means at one of said longitudinally spaced points which allows the end of said bucket mounted thereby to reciprocate relative to said point in the plane of the loop formed by the endless belt.

13. A conveyor according to claim 11 or 12 wherein the bottom wall of each bucket is formed by said endless belt.

14. The conveyor of claim 13 wherein the side walls of said buckets extending along the endless belt having bottom edges facing the belt which are concavely curved to accommodate the curvature of the peripheral surface of the pulleys.

15. A conveyor according to claim 12, 13 or 14 wherein said first mounting means connects the trailing end of said bucket to the endless belt and includes a linkage pivotally connected to the bucket and to a fixed pivot on the endless belt at one of said spaced points for rotation in the plane of the loop formed by said endless belt and wherein the leading end of the bucket is pivotally connected to the belt at the other spaced point by a fixed pivot of second mounting means.

16. A conveyor according to claim 10, wherein said discrete digging members are buckets and including means for pivotally connecting the buckets to some elongated fasteners, which mount the buckets on the belt, at one end of the buckets and pivotally mounted linkages connecting the bucket to further elongated fasteners at the other end thereof such that said other end of the bucket can move in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the belt relative to the elongated fasteners to which it is connected by the pivotally mounted linkage to accommodate for the change in the straight line distance between the elongated fasteners connected to the two ends of the buckets as they pass around the end pulleys.

17. A conveyor according to any one of claims 10 to 16, wherein means for connecting the buckets to the belt includes a resilient buffer plate positioned at the outer surface of the belt at each connection location to distribute high localized load concentrations.

18. Aconveyoraccording to any one of the preceding claims wherein said frame includes an elongated longitudinal member extending along each side of the conveyor outside of the endless belt and overlapping said end pulleys, and seal means including means filling the spaced bounded by said frame, the lateral edges of the endless belt and the end pulleys, said means including at least one end pulley means which overlap the ends of the pulley between the frame and the edges of the portion of the belt which is approaching said one end pulley as the endless belt rotates, and scraper means extending into the grooves in said one pulley at the point where the resilient guide members leave the grooves for scraping deposits from the grooves and diverting them laterally out of the plane of the endless belt.

19. A conveyor according to claim 18 wherein said scraper comprises a first pianar member extending inward and laterally outward from the inner surface of the endless belt with a leading edge contoured to scrape the groove and the face of the one pulley between the groove and the end of the pulley and a second planar member abutting the trailing edge of said first planar member and extending inward from the inner surface of the endless belt and longitudinally in the direction of belt movement with a notch in the edge toward the inner surface of the belt contoured to scrape the surface of said resilient guide member as it passes therethrough.

20. A conveyor according to claim 19, wherein said seal means includes third planar members recessed from the side edges of said endless belt and extending from the frame to the resilient guide members at right angles thereto and which then extend laterally outward and around the resilient guide members and the inner surface and longitudinal edges of the endless belt to form a labyrinth seal to keep material and foreign matter from getting under the belt and resilient guide members.

21. A conveyor according to claim 20, wherein the seal means includes curved plate members abutting the ends of said third planar members where the latter approach said one end pulley, said curved plate members extending laterally outward to the ends of said one end pulley and circumferentially around said pulley in close proximity thereto to cover the grooves therein between the frame and the endless belt where it begins to wrap around the pulley and with said overlapping means extending from the curved plate members around the ends of said one end pulley.

22. A conveyor according to any one of the preceding claims including resilient lagging means positioned around the face portions of the or each of the pulley grooves, whereby friction between the pulleys and the resilient guide members is increased.

23. A belt arrangement comprising: an endless belt having inner and outer surfaces; a frame including a pair of spaced pulleys around which said endless belt rotates; at least one resilient guide member secured to the inner surface of said endless belt, said resilient guide member having side edges which are tapered inwardly toward each other from the endless belt, and said pulleys each having at least one peripheral groove therein having a crosssection, including tapered side walls, corresponding to, but slightly smaller in width than the crosssection of said resilient guide member for receiving the guide member so that as the endless belt and resilient guide member pass around said pulleys together, said resilient guide member is wedged down into the pulley grooves to resist any forces tending to cause the belt to creep axially along the pulleys.

24. A belt arrangement substantially as herein described with reference to and as shown in Figure 1 to 7 of the accompanying drawings.

25. A belt arrangement substantially as herein described with reference to and as shown in Figures 8to 10 ofthe accompanying drawings.

26. Any novel feature or combination of features disclosed herein.