Flexible endless conveyor belts that are adapted to form a (pear shaped) pouch for carrying goods are known in the art, e.g. from U.S. Pat. No. 4,915,213, U.S. Pat. No. 5,860,510, U.S. Pat. No. 6,036,000, U.S. Pat. No. 7,032,744 and WO 2010/103238. This type of conveyor belt is typically manufactured in rubber to provide sufficient strength and the flexibility to form the goods-carrying pouch and having longitudinal edges adapted to be engaged by belt drives. The thickness of the known rubber belts are typically on the order of 5 mm or higher. Thus, even though such rubber belts are flexible and bendable they cannot withstand kinking, which limits the minimum turning radius that can be achieved in a conveyor system incorporating closable rubber belts. Kinking a rubber belt may introduce unrepairable damages to the belt.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds