Title of Invention	A PLATE LINK CHAIN IN THE FORM OF A CONVEYOR CHAIN
Abstract	The invention relates to a plate link chain embodied as a conveyor chain, especially for apron conveyors, bucket conveyors or similar conveying means, comprising at least two parallel runs of chain (10) consisting of a sequence of inner plates (11) and outer plates (12), said inner plates (11) and/or outer plates (12) being provided with angular holders (17) for applying other components of the conveying means. The inventive plate link chain is characterised in that the inner plates (11) and/or the outer plates (12) of the plate link chain consist of at least two individual plates (15, 16), one of said individual plates (16) being provided with the angular holder (17).

Title of Invention

A PLATE LINK CHAIN IN THE FORM OF A CONVEYOR CHAIN

Abstract

The invention relates to a plate link chain embodied as a conveyor chain, especially for apron conveyors, bucket conveyors or similar conveying means, comprising at least two parallel runs of chain (10) consisting of a sequence of inner plates (11) and outer plates (12), said inner plates (11) and/or outer plates (12) being provided with angular holders (17) for applying other components of the conveying means. The inventive plate link chain is characterised in that the inner plates (11) and/or the outer plates (12) of the plate link chain consist of at least two individual plates (15, 16), one of said individual plates (16) being provided with the angular holder (17).

Full Text	(new )Description The invention relates to a plate link chain in the form of a conveyor chain, especially for platform or apron conveyors, bucket conveyors, or similar conveying means, comprised of at least two chain strands that are disposed parallel to one another and are comprised of a sequence of inner plate members and outer plate members, whereby the inner plate members are provided with openings for receiving at least one sleeve for connecting the inner plate members of the oppositely disposed chain strands, and the outer plate members are provided with openings that are lined with the openings of the inner plate members in order to receive a link pin that extends through the sleeve and is fixed on the outer plate members, and at least the inner plate members and/or the outer plate members that form one chain strand are provided with angle brackets for the mounting of further components of the conveying means. A plate link chain having the aforementioned features is described in DIN Standard 8167 as well as in DIN Standard 8175. Such plate link chains have the problem that the maximum tensile load of the chain that can be taken up is determined by the weakest chain element, i.e. the inner plate member, the outer plate member, the sleeve or the link pin. In this connection, experience has shown that with the state of the art plate link chains, the inner plate member having the bore for receiving the chain sleeve, which bore weakens the cross-sectional area of the inner plate member, represents the weak point of a state of the art plate link chain. To the extent within the scope of the known manufacturing processes the plates are manufactured from rolled metal plate by stamping, shearing or laser cutting, out of economical reasons these manufacturing processes permit only a specific plate thickness, as a result of which the maximum permissible tensile load of the plate link chain is also limited. If greater tensile loads of the chain are necessary, disproportionately process-intensive, and hence expensive, forged chains are used. To the extent that with the plate link chain described in GB 193 547 components such as angle brackets that are to be attached are placed upon additionally arranged bolts, the problem presented with regard to the configuration of the inner plate members that carry the sleeves is not eliminated thereby. Known from GB 2 135 018 A, U.S. Patent 1,694,746 and JP 60-191903 are roller chains with which a shaft that carries the respective roller is likewise carried in the inner plate members and outer plate members of the chain, which to this extent are appropriately embodied the same; there thus does not result a differing loading of the inner plate members and outer plate members. It is therefore an object of the invention, with a plate link chain having the aforementioned features, to provide a uniform loading of all elements of the chain, and possibly to increase the permissible tensile load of the chain. The realization of this object, including advantageous embodiments and further developments of the invention, is derived from the contents of the patent claims that follow this description. The basic concept of the invention is that the inner plate members of the plate link chain are comprised of at least two individual plates, of which one individual plate is provided with the angle bracket. The invention has the advantage that the thickness of the material of the individual plates can be limited to a value that enables an economical manufacture without thereby limiting the permissible tensile load of the chain; rather, the tensile load of the chain can be increased while using two or more, in other words three or four or a number of individual plates that is advantageous in the technical design of the plate link chain for the respective formation of an inner plate member and/or an outer plate member. Since only one individual plate is connected with the angle bracket, the manufacture of this individual plate is also facilitated, since the loading of the plate link chain by the further components of the conveying means mounted on the angle brackets is less than the tensile loading that exists in the chain. Thus, the inventively configured chain respectively has the best material utilization coefficients. Pursuant to one embodiment of the invention, the angle bracket is monolithically formed with the individual plate that carries it, whereby the angle bracket is produced directly by bending, pressing, or some other appropriate manufacturing process. This embodiment has the special advantage that it is no longer necessary to deform the entire thickness of the corresponding plate of the chain, but rather that the appropriate forming process is limited to the individual plate that carries the angle bracket and has a limited material thickness. Pursuant to another embodiment of the invention, the inner plate members and outer plate members that form a chain strand are respectively formed with an overall thickness that is formed by a different number of individual plates. The invention thus permits, in an advantageous manner, the inner plate members of a chain strand to have a greater material thickness by using a greater number of individual plates relative to the outer plate members of the same chain strand; in this connection, the invention does not preclude the outer plate members of a chain strand, which alternate with the inner plate members that are composed of a plurality of individual plates, from being comprised of a single individual plate. If, pursuant to one embodiment of the invention, the individual plates that are used for the construction of the inner plate members have a different material thickness, there results thereby a greater freedom with regard to the dimensioning of the material thickness of the inner plate members or the outer plate members. Thus, thinner individual plates that alternate with thicker individual plates can be combined to form an outer plate member or an inner plate member. Pursuant to another embodiment of the invention, the individual plates are interconnected to form an inner plate member or an outer plate member, whereby the individual plates can be interconnected in an adhesive manner or some other manner. The inner plate members and/or the outer plate members that form the two chain strands can be provided with angle brackets. One embodiment of the invention is shown in the drawing and is described subsequently. The drawing shows: Fig. 1 a plan view upon a portion of a plate link chain, Fig. 2 a cross-sectional view taken along the line ll-ll in Figure 1. The plate link chain illustrated in Figure 1 is comprised of two chain strands 10 that are disposed parallel to one another, whereby each chain strand 10 is formed of a sequence of inner plate members 11 and outer plate members 12. The oppositely disposed inner plate members 11 and outer plate members 12 of the two chain strands 10 are respectively interconnected by sleeves 13 that connect the inner plate members 11, and link pins 14 that are inserted into the sleeves 13 through associated openings of the outer plate members 12. As already apparent from Figure 11 the inner plate members 11 and outer plate members 12 of the two chain strands 10 are each uniformly comprised of two parallel individual plates that are disposed on the sleeves 13 or the link pins 14, whereby in each case an inner individual plate 15 and an outer individual plate 16 are provided; the outer individual plates 16 are monolithically formed with an angle bracket 17 for the mounting of further components of the conveying means, for example for the mounting of buckets when the plate link chain is used for a bucket conveyor. The composition of the inner plate members 11 and outer plate members 12 can be seen in detail in Figure 2. To fix the position of the inner plate members 11, the outer ends of the sleeve 13 are respectively provided with a recess 18 that has a smaller diameter and that forms a shoulder 19. Two individual plates, and in particular an inner individual plate 15 and an individual plate 16 that is monolithically formed with a angle bracket 117, are placed onto the recess 18 in such a way that the inner plate member 11, which is formed from the individual plates 15, 16, rests against the shoulder 19 of the sleeve 13. In a corresponding manner, the outer plate member 12, which is disposed on the link pin that extends through the sleeve 13, is also respectively comprised of two individual plates that are placed upon the link pin 14, and in particular again of an inner plate 15 and an individual plate 16 that is monolithically formed with an angle bracket 17. The invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiment having an identical composition of inner plate members and outer plate members; rather, a different number of individual plates 15 or 16 for forming the inner plate member 11 or the outer plate member 12 is respectively also conceivable. The features disclosed in the preceding description, the patent claims, the abstract and the drawing can be important individually as well as in any desired combination with one another for realizing the various embodiments of the invention. (new) Patent Claims 1. Plate link chain in the form of a conveyor chain, especially for platform or apron conveyors, bucket conveyors or similar conveying means, comprised of at least two chain strands (10) that are disposed parallel to one another and are comprised of a sequence of inner plate members (11) and outer plate members (12), whereby the inner plate members (11) are provided with openings for receiving at least one sleeve (13) for connecting the inner plate members (11) of the oppositely disposed chain strands (10), and the outer plate members (12) are provided with openings that are aligned with the openings of the inner plate members (11) in order to receive a link pin (14) that extends through the sleeve (13) and is fixed on the outer plate members (12), and at least the inner plate members (11) and/or the outer plate members (12) that form one chain strand (10) are provided with angle brackets (17) for the mounting of further components of the conveying means, characterized in that the inner plate members (11) of the plate link chain are comprised of at least two individual plates (15, 16) of which one individual plate (16) is provided with the angle bracket (17). 2. Plate link chain according to claim 1, characterized in that the angle bracket (17) is monolithically formed with the individual plate (16) that carries it. 3. Plate link chain according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the inner plate members (11) and outer plate members (12) that form one chain strand (10) are respectively formed with an overall thickness formed by a different number of individual plates (15,16). 4. Plate link chain according to one of the claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the individual plates (15, 16) used for the construction of inner plate members (11) have a different material thickness. 5. Plate link chain according to one of the claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the individual plates (15, 16) are interconnected to form an inner plate member (11). 6. Plate link chain according to one of the claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the inner plate members (11) that form the two chain strands (10) are provided with angle brackets (17). 7. Plate link chain according to one of the claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the outer plate members (12) of the plate link chain are comprised of a single individual plate that is provided with the angle brackets (17). 8. Plate link chain according to one of the claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the outer plate members (12) of the plate link chain are comprised of at least two individual plates (15, 16), of which one individual plate (16) is provided with the angle bracket (17).

Full Text

(new )Description
The invention relates to a plate link chain in the form of a conveyor chain, especially for platform or apron conveyors, bucket conveyors, or similar conveying means, comprised of at least two chain strands that are disposed parallel to one another and are comprised of a sequence of inner plate members and outer plate members, whereby the inner plate members are provided with openings for receiving at least one sleeve for connecting the inner plate members of the oppositely disposed chain strands, and the outer plate members are provided with openings that are lined with the openings of the inner plate members in order to receive a link pin that extends through the sleeve and is fixed on the outer plate members, and at least the inner plate members and/or the outer plate members that form one chain strand are provided with angle brackets for the mounting of further components of the conveying means.
A plate link chain having the aforementioned features is described in DIN Standard 8167 as well as in DIN Standard 8175. Such plate link

chains have the problem that the maximum tensile load of the chain that can be taken up is determined by the weakest chain element, i.e. the inner plate member, the outer plate member, the sleeve or the link pin. In this connection, experience has shown that with the state of the art plate link chains, the inner plate member having the bore for receiving the chain sleeve, which bore weakens the cross-sectional area of the inner plate member, represents the weak point of a state of the art plate link chain. To the extent within the scope of the known manufacturing processes the plates are manufactured from rolled metal plate by stamping, shearing or laser cutting, out of economical reasons these manufacturing processes permit only a specific plate thickness, as a result of which the maximum permissible tensile load of the plate link chain is also limited. If greater tensile loads of the chain are necessary, disproportionately process-intensive, and hence expensive, forged chains are used.
To the extent that with the plate link chain described in GB 193 547 components such as angle brackets that are to be attached are placed upon additionally arranged bolts, the problem presented with regard to the configuration of the inner plate members that carry the sleeves is not eliminated thereby.

Known from GB 2 135 018 A, U.S. Patent 1,694,746 and JP 60-191903 are roller chains with which a shaft that carries the respective roller is likewise carried in the inner plate members and outer plate members of the chain, which to this extent are appropriately embodied the same; there thus does not result a differing loading of the inner plate members and outer plate members.
It is therefore an object of the invention, with a plate link chain having the aforementioned features, to provide a uniform loading of all elements of the chain, and possibly to increase the permissible tensile load of the chain.
The realization of this object, including advantageous embodiments and further developments of the invention, is derived from the contents of the patent claims that follow this description.
The basic concept of the invention is that the inner plate members of the plate link chain are comprised of at least two individual plates, of which one individual plate is provided with the angle bracket.
The invention has the advantage that the thickness of the material of the individual plates can be limited to a value that enables an

economical manufacture without thereby limiting the permissible tensile load of the chain; rather, the tensile load of the chain can be increased while using two or more, in other words three or four or a number of individual plates that is advantageous in the technical design of the plate link chain for the respective formation of an inner plate member and/or an outer plate member. Since only one individual plate is connected with the angle bracket, the manufacture of this individual plate is also facilitated, since the loading of the plate link chain by the further components of the conveying means mounted on the angle brackets is less than the tensile loading that exists in the chain. Thus, the inventively configured chain respectively has the best material utilization coefficients.
Pursuant to one embodiment of the invention, the angle bracket is monolithically formed with the individual plate that carries it, whereby the angle bracket is produced directly by bending, pressing, or some other appropriate manufacturing process. This embodiment has the special advantage that it is no longer necessary to deform the entire thickness of the corresponding plate of the chain, but rather that the appropriate forming process is limited to the individual plate that carries the angle bracket and has a limited material thickness.

Pursuant to another embodiment of the invention, the inner plate members and outer plate members that form a chain strand are respectively formed with an overall thickness that is formed by a different number of individual plates. The invention thus permits, in an advantageous manner, the inner plate members of a chain strand to have a greater material thickness by using a greater number of individual plates relative to the outer plate members of the same chain strand; in this connection, the invention does not preclude the outer plate members of a chain strand, which alternate with the inner plate members that are composed of a plurality of individual plates, from being comprised of a single individual plate.
If, pursuant to one embodiment of the invention, the individual plates that are used for the construction of the inner plate members have a different material thickness, there results thereby a greater freedom with regard to the dimensioning of the material thickness of the inner plate members or the outer plate members. Thus, thinner individual plates that alternate with thicker individual plates can be combined to form an outer plate member or an inner plate member.

Pursuant to another embodiment of the invention, the individual plates are interconnected to form an inner plate member or an outer plate member, whereby the individual plates can be interconnected in an adhesive manner or some other manner.
The inner plate members and/or the outer plate members that form the two chain strands can be provided with angle brackets.
One embodiment of the invention is shown in the drawing and is described subsequently. The drawing shows:

Fig. 1 a plan view upon a portion of a plate link chain,
Fig. 2 a cross-sectional view taken along the line ll-ll in Figure
1.
The plate link chain illustrated in Figure 1 is comprised of two chain strands 10 that are disposed parallel to one another, whereby each chain strand 10 is formed of a sequence of inner plate members 11 and outer plate members 12. The oppositely disposed inner plate members 11 and outer plate members 12 of the two chain strands 10 are respectively interconnected by sleeves 13 that connect the inner plate members 11, and link pins 14 that are inserted into the sleeves 13 through associated openings of the outer plate members 12.
As already apparent from Figure 11 the inner plate members 11 and outer plate members 12 of the two chain strands 10 are each uniformly comprised of two parallel individual plates that are disposed on the sleeves 13 or the link pins 14, whereby in each case an inner individual plate 15 and an outer individual plate 16 are provided; the outer individual plates 16 are monolithically formed with an angle bracket 17 for the mounting of further components of the conveying means, for

example for the mounting of buckets when the plate link chain is used for a bucket conveyor.
The composition of the inner plate members 11 and outer plate members 12 can be seen in detail in Figure 2. To fix the position of the inner plate members 11, the outer ends of the sleeve 13 are respectively provided with a recess 18 that has a smaller diameter and that forms a shoulder 19. Two individual plates, and in particular an inner individual plate 15 and an individual plate 16 that is monolithically formed with a angle bracket 117, are placed onto the recess 18 in such a way that the inner plate member 11, which is formed from the individual plates 15, 16, rests against the shoulder 19 of the sleeve 13. In a corresponding manner, the outer plate member 12, which is disposed on the link pin that extends through the sleeve 13, is also respectively comprised of two individual plates that are placed upon the link pin 14, and in particular again of an inner plate 15 and an individual plate 16 that is monolithically formed with an angle bracket 17.
The invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiment having an identical composition of inner plate members and outer plate members; rather, a different number of individual plates 15 or 16 for forming the

inner plate member 11 or the outer plate member 12 is respectively also conceivable.
The features disclosed in the preceding description, the patent claims, the abstract and the drawing can be important individually as well as in any desired combination with one another for realizing the various embodiments of the invention.

(new) Patent Claims
1. Plate link chain in the form of a conveyor chain, especially for platform
or apron conveyors, bucket conveyors or similar conveying means,
comprised of at least two chain strands (10) that are disposed parallel
to one another and are comprised of a sequence of inner plate
members (11) and outer plate members (12), whereby the inner plate
members (11) are provided with openings for receiving at least one
sleeve (13) for connecting the inner plate members (11) of the
oppositely disposed chain strands (10), and the outer plate members
(12) are provided with openings that are aligned with the openings of
the inner plate members (11) in order to receive a link pin (14) that
extends through the sleeve (13) and is fixed on the outer plate
members (12), and at least the inner plate members (11) and/or the
outer plate members (12) that form one chain strand (10) are provided
with angle brackets (17) for the mounting of further components of the
conveying means, characterized in that the inner plate members (11) of
the plate link chain are comprised of at least two individual plates (15,
16) of which one individual plate (16) is provided with the angle bracket
(17).
2. Plate link chain according to claim 1, characterized in that the angle
bracket (17) is monolithically formed with the individual plate (16) that
carries it.

3. Plate link chain according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the
inner plate members (11) and outer plate members (12) that form one
chain strand (10) are respectively formed with an overall thickness
formed by a different number of individual plates (15,16).
4. Plate link chain according to one of the claims 1 to 3, characterized in
that the individual plates (15, 16) used for the construction of inner
plate members (11) have a different material thickness.
5. Plate link chain according to one of the claims 1 to 4, characterized in
that the individual plates (15, 16) are interconnected to form an inner
plate member (11).
6. Plate link chain according to one of the claims 1 to 5, characterized in
that the inner plate members (11) that form the two chain strands (10)
are provided with angle brackets (17).
7. Plate link chain according to one of the claims 1 to 6, characterized in
that the outer plate members (12) of the plate link chain are comprised
of a single individual plate that is provided with the angle brackets (17).
8. Plate link chain according to one of the claims 1 to 6, characterized in
that the outer plate members (12) of the plate link chain are comprised
of at least two individual plates (15, 16), of which one individual plate
(16) is provided with the angle bracket (17).

Documents:

2204-chenp-2005 abstract granted.pdf

2204-chenp-2005 claims granted.pdf

2204-chenp-2005 description(complete) granted.pdf

2204-chenp-2005 drawings granted.pdf

2204-chenp-2005-abstract.pdf

2204-chenp-2005-claims.pdf

2204-chenp-2005-correspondnece-others.pdf

2204-chenp-2005-correspondnece-po.pdf

2204-chenp-2005-description(complete).pdf

2204-chenp-2005-drawings.pdf

2204-chenp-2005-form 1.pdf

2204-chenp-2005-form 18.pdf

2204-chenp-2005-form 26.pdf

2204-chenp-2005-form 3.pdf

2204-chenp-2005-form 5.pdf

2204-chenp-2005-pct.pdf

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Patent Number

226687

Indian Patent Application Number

2204/CHENP/2005

PG Journal Number

02/2009

Publication Date

09-Jan-2009

Grant Date

23-Dec-2008

Date of Filing

09-Sep-2005

Name of Patentee

AUMUND-FORDERERBAU GmbH & Co. KG

Applicant Address

SAALHOFFER STRASSE 17, 47495 RHEINBERG,

Inventors:

#	Inventor's Name	Inventor's Address
1	BURKHARD, POPPECK	HATTROPSTRASSE 127, 47198 DUISBURG,

PCT International Classification Number

B65G 17/38

PCT International Application Number

PCT/EP2003/014412

PCT International Filing date

2003-12-17

PCT Conventions:

#	PCT Application Number	Date of Convention	Priority Country
1	203 02 130.4	2003-02-11	Germany