ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 9 -- United States Patent no. 12,286,302, issued on April 29, was assigned to Flexible Steel Lacing Co. (Downers Grove, Ill.).
"Roller conveyor gap blocker" was invented by Mark Steven Pettinga (Grandville, Mich.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "In one aspect, a gap blocker is provided for a roller conveyor having rollers for conveying an object in a downstream longitudinal direction. The rollers include adjacent rollers having a longitudinally extending gap therebetween and at least one of the rollers has an annular groove for receiving a drive member. The gap blocker includes a body configured to be supported in the gap by the adjacent rollers and an upper blocking porti...