Conveyor belt spiral overlay having intermediate loops

1. A spiral overlay for a conveyor belt having a lateral axis extending across the belt defining a lateral direction, a longitudinal axis extending along a conveying direction of the belt, and a vertical axis perpendicular to the lateral axis and the longitudinal axis, the vertical axis defining a vertical direction, the conveyor belt formed of a plurality of connecting rods extending laterally across the belt, said overlay comprising:

a plurality of wire spirals assembled together in intermeshing relationship to one another on the connecting rods to provide a conveying surface and an opposing surface with a belt thickness extending in the vertical direction;

each of said wire spirals formed of a single length of wire and forming a helix extending laterally across the belt, said spiral comprising opposed arcuate linking bends at a forward end and a rearward end along the longitudinal axis, and at least one intermediate loop formed between said opposed arcuate linking bends and disposed within the belt thickness, said spirals arranged relative to one another such that said linking bends of one spiral are intermeshed with linking bends of an immediately adjacent one of said spirals and said intermeshed linking bends of adjacent spirals are adapted to receive one of the connecting rods to operatively connect said spirals.

2. The spiral overlay of claim 1 , wherein said intermediate loop is formed between a forward arcuate linking bend and a rearward arcuate linking bend of said spiral.

3. The spiral overlay of claim 1 , wherein said wire spiral comprises a first plurality of intermediate loops formed between at least a first set of opposed arcuate linking bends, said first plurality of intermediate loops disposed within the belt thickness.

4. The spiral overlay of claim 3 , wherein said wire spiral comprises a second plurality of intermediate loops formed between at least a second set of opposed arcuate linking bends, both said loops disposed within the belt thickness; and

wherein the second plurality of intermediate loops consists of a different number of intermediate loops than the first plurality of intermediate loops.

5. The spiral overlay of claim 1 , wherein said spiral overlay comprises a first set of forward arcuate linking bends adjacent one another and a second set of forward arcuate linking bends adjacent one another; and

wherein the at least one intermediate loop is disposed laterally between the first set of forward arcuate linking bends and the second set of forward arcuate linking bends.

6. The spiral overlay of claim 1 , wherein the at least one intermediate loop is provided in a portion of the spiral overlay configured to be disposed proximate a lateral edge of a conveyor belt; and

wherein a central portion of the spiral overlay configured to form a substantial majority of a width of a conveyor belt is formed without intermediate loops between arcuate linking bends of the spiral.

7. The spiral overlay of claim 1 , wherein the at least one intermediate loop is provided in a central portion of the spiral overlay configured to be disposed in a central region of a conveyor belt; and

wherein a lateral portion of the spiral overlay configured to form a lateral edge portion of a conveyor belt is formed without intermediate loops between arcuate linking bends of the spiral.

8. The spiral overlay of claim 1 , wherein the at least one intermediate loop includes a plurality of intermediate loops having varying lengths in the conveying direction; and

wherein intermediate loops that are disposed in a lateral portion of the spiral overlay configured to be disposed proximate a lateral edge of a conveyor belt have shorter lengths in the conveying direction than intermediate loops located in a central portion of the spiral overlay.

9. The spiral overlay of claim 1 , wherein the at least one intermediate loop includes a plurality of intermediate loops having varying lengths in the conveying direction;

wherein the distances between opposed arcuate linking bends in the conveying direction are shorter in a lateral portion of the spiral overlay than in a central portion of the spiral overlay.

10. The spiral overlay of claim 1 , wherein the at least one intermediate loop includes opposed arcuate linking bends including a first arcuate linking bend configured to extend around a connecting rod of a conveyor belt.

11. The spiral overlay of claim 1 , wherein the opposed arcuate linking bends of the spiral are configured to span three connecting rods of a conveyor belt; and

wherein the at least one intermediate loop is configured to span a single connecting rod of a conveyor belt.

12. The spiral overlay of claim 1 , wherein the at least one intermediate loop includes one or more intermediate loops having a substantially oval shape.

13. The spiral overlay of claim 1 , wherein the at least one intermediate loop includes one or more intermediate loops having a substantially rectangular shape.

14. The spiral overlay of claim 1 , further including at least one intermediate loop formed between said opposed arcuate linking bends and having an upstanding portion configured to extend above the conveying surface.

15. The spiral overlay of claim 1 , wherein the intermediate loop is configured to limit longitudinal collapse of the belt by maintaining a predetermined minimum spacing between adjacent connecting rods.

16. The spiral overlay of claim 1 , wherein the length of wire including the intermediate loop is configured to form a portion of the conveying surface that is discontinuous at the intermediate loop.

17. The spiral overlay of claim 1 , wherein the length of wire includes first portions that extend in the first plane and second portions that extend in the second plane;

wherein the first portions of the at least one wire each extend at a non-zero angle with respect to the longitudinal axis.

18. The spiral overlay of claim 17 , wherein the second portions of the at least one wire extend in a longitudinal direction.

19. A spiral overlay for a conveyor belt formed of a plurality of connecting rods extending laterally across the belt, the belt having a conveying surface and an opposing surface, said spiral overlay comprising:

a plurality of wire spirals, each formed of a single length of wire and forming a helix configured to extend across the belt, each of said spirals comprising opposed arcuate linking bends at locations across each said spiral, said spirals arranged relative to one another such that said linking bends are intermeshed with linking bends of an immediately adjacent one of said spirals and said intermeshed linking bends of adjacent spirals adapted to receive one of the rods to operatively connect said spirals; and

wherein the plurality of wire spirals are configured in a first plane to define the conveying surface of the belt and configured in a second plane to define the opposing surface of the belt substantially parallel to the first plane, wherein the distance between the first plane and the second plane defines a vertical thickness of the spiral overlay;

wherein a belt space includes the first plane, the second plane, and the space between the first plane and the second plane;

wherein at least one wire forming the spiral overlay includes an intermediate loop between the opposed arcuate linking bends; and

wherein the entire intermediate loop is disposed within the belt space.

20. The spiral overlay of claim 19 , wherein the intermediate loop is configured to limit longitudinal collapse of the belt by maintaining a minimum spacing between adjacent connecting rods.

21. The spiral overlay of claim 19 , wherein the at least one wire including the intermediate loop is configured to form a portion of the conveying surface that is discontinuous at the intermediate loop.

22. The spiral overlay of claim 21 , wherein the at least one wire is configured to form two portions of the conveying surface having a gap between them; and

wherein the two portions of the conveying surface are offset laterally from one another by a distance that is greater than a thickness of the at least one wire.

23. The spiral overlay of claim 19 , wherein the at least one wire includes first portions that extend in the first plane and second portions that extend in the second plane; and

wherein the first portions of the at least one wire each extend at a non-zero angle with respect to the longitudinal axis.

24. The spiral overlay of claim 23 , wherein the second portions of the at least one wire extend in a longitudinal direction.

25. The spiral overlay of claim 19 , wherein the at least one wire includes portions that extend in the first plane and portions that extend in the second plane; and

wherein the portions that extend in the first plane are continuous; and

wherein the portions that extend in the second plane are discontinuous at intermediate loops disposed between the opposed arcuate linking bends.

26. A conveyor belt having a lateral axis extending across the belt and defining a lateral direction, a longitudinal axis in a conveying direction of the belt, and a vertical axis perpendicular to the lateral axis and the longitudinal axis and defining a vertical direction, the conveyor belt comprising:

a plurality of connecting rods extending laterally across the belt;

a spiral overlay including a plurality of wire spirals, each formed of a single length of wire and forming a helix extending across the belt, each of said spirals comprising opposed arcuate linking bends at locations across each said spiral, said spirals arranged relative to one another such that said linking bends are intermeshed with linking bends of an immediately adjacent one of said spirals and said intermeshed linking bends of adjacent spirals adapted to receive one of the rods to operatively connect said spirals; and

wherein the plurality of wire spirals define a conveying surface and an opposing surface of the belt;

wherein the conveying surface extends in a first plane and the opposing surface extends in a second plane substantially parallel to the first plane, wherein the distance between the first plane and the second plane defines a thickness of the spiral overlay;

wherein at least one wire forming the spiral overlay includes at least one intermediate loop between two of the opposed arcuate linking bends; and

wherein the at least one intermediate loop is coiled about a central axis that is substantially parallel to the first plane;

wherein the at least one intermediate loop has a first edge and an opposing second edge oriented opposite one another in the vertical direction; and

wherein the first edge of the at least one intermediate loop is disposed in the first plane.

27. The conveyor belt of claim 26 , wherein the opposing second edge of the at least one intermediate loop is disposed in the second plane such that the at least one intermediate loop has a height that is substantially the same as the thickness of the spiral overlay.

28. The conveyor belt of claim 27 , wherein the at least one wire includes first portions that extend in the first plane and second portions that extend in the second plane; and

wherein the first portions of the at least one wire each extend at a non-zero angle with respect to the longitudinal axis.

29. The conveyor belt of claim 28 , wherein the second portions of the at least one wire extend in a longitudinal direction.

30. The conveyor belt of claim 27 , wherein the at least one wire includes portions that extend in the first plane and portions that extend in the second plane; and

wherein the portions that extend in the first plane are continuous; and

wherein the portions that extend in the second plane are discontinuous at intermediate loops disposed between the opposed arcuate linking bends.

31. The conveyor belt of claim 26 , wherein the at least one intermediate loop is configured to limit longitudinal collapse of the belt by maintaining a predetermined minimum spacing between adjacent connecting rods.

32. The conveyor belt of claim 26 , wherein the at least one wire including the at least one intermediate loop is configured to form a portion of the conveying surface that is discontinuous at the intermediate loop.

33. The conveyor belt of claim 32 , wherein the at least one wire is configured to form two portions of the conveying surface having a gap between them; and

wherein the two portions of the conveying surface are offset laterally from one another by a distance that is greater than a thickness of the at least one wire.

34. The conveyor belt of claim 26 , wherein the at least one intermediate loop includes a plurality of intermediate loops spaced laterally across the belt;

wherein the conveyor belt further includes an elongate rod disposed within the laterally spaced intermediate loops.

35. The conveyor belt of claim 26 , wherein the plurality of wire spirals includes a first set of spirals and a second set of spirals, wherein the first set of spirals the second set of spirals are arranged in an alternating fashion;

wherein the first set of spirals includes wire segments in the conveying surface that are oriented in a first non-zero angle with respect to the longitudinal axis;

wherein the second set of spirals includes wire segments in the conveying surface that are oriented in a second non-zero angle with respect to the longitudinal axis; and

wherein the second non-zero angle is opposite the first non-zero angle.

36. The conveyor belt of claim 26 , wherein the plurality of wire spirals includes at least a first wire spiral formed of a wire having a first gauge and at least a second wire spiral formed of a wire having a second gauge, wherein the second gauge is larger than the first gauge.