Patent ID: 7344018

Claim:
A conveyor comprising: a conveyor carryway extending from an upstream end to a downstream end; a conveyor belt supported in the carryway and advancing in a direction of belt travel from the upstream end to the downstream end of the conveyor carryway; wherein the conveyor belt extends laterally from a first side edge to a second side edge and in thickness from an outer side to an inner side; wherein the conveyor belt further includes a plurality of belt rollers having salient portions extending past the outer and inner sides of the conveyor belt; wherein the belt rollers are arranged to rotate on axes oblique to the direction of belt travel; a series of bearing surface element groups arranged end to end in the direction of belt travel along the carryway, each of the groups individually movable, independently of the other groups, into and out of contact with the salient portions of the belt rollers extending past the inner side of the conveyor belt, each group corresponding to an alternate travel path oblique to the direction of belt travel, wherein the groups enable selective diverting of articles while allowing a reduced spacing between articles in the direction of belt travel.