Patent ID: 7233840

Claim:
A system for manipulating articles generally traveling in a direction of conveyance comprising: a bed having at least one conveying surface adapted to move articles in a direction of conveyance from an upstream end to a downstream end of said bed; at least one sensor adapted to determine the position of the articles traveling on said bed; and a controller in communication with said at least one sensor and said bed, said controller adapted to manipulate articles traveling on said bed by controlling the speed of said conveying surface, said controller further adapted to determine if two articles having overlapping alignment in a transverse direction on said bed are on opposite sides of a dividing line extending in the direction of conveyance, said transverse direction extending in a direction transverse to the direction of conveyance, said controller adapted to cause the two articles to exit a downstream end of said bed during at least one coincident moment in time if the two articles are on opposite sides of said dividing line.