Belts, rollers, rods and frame

[Soul_Venom]

First time poster here so if this is not the correct forum for the topic the mods can move it.

I am designing a device for patent and part of the design is giving me fits. I have zero background in engineering. The part I am having trouble with is two sets of belts on 1"x2" rollers. The bottom set is fixed in position. There will be a 1/8" piece of sheet steel bent into a U shape [flat bottom], holes drilled into it to attach the rollers. One of the bottom rollers will have a sprocket and drive chain running to a motor. The bottom is not the problem. It is the top. In my current rough design I have the rollers attached to 1/4" rods. The rods require some sort of flat surface like a washer part way up the rod just high enough to clear the roller and 1/16" thick belt. There must be a spring on each rod exerting 6lbs of pressure. The rod must then travel through the frame and some sort of stop must hold it so it cant come out. So the top belt is turned by contact friction with the lower belt and small single semi-soft items will pass between the belts held in place by spring tension.as the items come through the springs compress and the top rollers lift to allow passage. I must figure out the best way to get both sides of each roller to lift evenly and not bind left to the left or right. Some sort of H frame but I cant envision how that would work & attach reliably to the rods. It also must have a base for the springs to push against. And then there is the frame itself. My first thought was to use two 2" strips of 1/8" steel with bushings and hex standoff between them but I am not sure if that is the optimal so I am posting here. Is there a better way to build a frame or mount these rollers?

 

[Stick.]

You'll have a much better chance of getting a good answer if you post a good sketch of your device. Walls of text are really poor ways to describe machines and mechanisms and we'll all probably have slightly different interpretations of what you mean. Also, keep in mind that none of us have any clue what you're talking about and we can only go off of the information you give us.

 

[Soul_Venom]

I understand. Yet at the same time we are talking about a device not yet protected by patent. I have to be somewhat circumspect concerning the details. It is a problem. I have to describe accurately the internal mechanics of a device yet leave you in the dark about size shape and most importantly function. I simply have to hope for the best. Basically limiting the scope to a single roller, the two rods that attach to it and how best to anchor it to a frame so that it moves up & down smoothly and the same on both sides without binding up. And also what form the frame it attaches to should take to both properly seat the rods and hold the required bushings. Not an easy ask, I know.

 

[dvd]

If you can describe it with words and not give away the secrets, you could come up with a sketch of your written image - maybe you'll even answer your own question.

 

[MintJulep]

You need to separate the description of function from the description of physical implementation.

For a patent you need to be able to describe what your device does, and how it does it in a novel way.

Belts, rollers, springs and slides are all fundamental mechanical elements.

Moving things on a belt, or between two belts wouldn't seem to be novel in any way.