Patent ID: 6415914
Filing Date: 2002-07-09
Classification: B65G

Abstract:
A conveyor system comprising:a plurality of motors each being associated with one of a plurality of zones each including plural rollers arranged in parallel with each other, each motor driving at least one of said rollers in the zone associated therewith, said zones being successively arranged in such a manner that an article can be conveyed from the upstream end to the downstream end of said conveyor system; a plurality of article detecting means each disposed in association with one of said zones for detecting when an article is present in the associated zone and developing an article-representative signal; current detecting means for detecting the sum of currents-flowing through said respective motors and developing an excessive-current representative signal when said sum exceeds a predetermined reference current value; and control means connected to each of said article detecting means and said current detecting means for, when said excessive-current representative signal is present, operating to allocate only for a plurality of selected motors including the motors in the zones where first and second ones in sequence of articles being conveyed on said conveyor system are present, such currents that the maximum value of the sum of the currents flowing through said selected motors is a predetermined allowable current value.