US Patent Issued to Laitram on May 19 for "Split sprocket" (Dutch, American Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., May 19 -- United States Patent no. 12,630,371, issued on May 19, was assigned to Laitram LLC (Harahan, La.).

"Split sprocket" was invented by Michael Hendrik DeGroot (Rockford, Mich.), Peter Hilkhuijsen (Enschede, Netherlands), Martin Sprenkeler (Enschede, Netherlands) and Gerko Hulshof (Aalten, Netherlands).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A split sprocket for conveyor belts or chains comprises a first section and a second section that mates with the first section to form a sprocket with drive teeth distributed about the periphery and a central hub for retaining a shaft. The second section is inserted into a space in the first section and rotated into an engaged position to for...