Patent ID: 8573380

Claim:
A plane item accumulation table for a conveyor installation configured to be installed on a frame, comprising: two parallel plane conveyors that are placed side by side and that are driven in opposite directions to cause said articles to circulate longitudinally, one of the conveyors is an article entry conveyor and the other conveyor is an article exit conveyor, both conveyors forming, as a function of requirements, a transit area for accumulation of said articles the receiving area of which is variable, a deflector member that is mobile longitudinally and that transfers said articles disposed on said entry conveyor toward said exit conveyor, wherein said deflector member takes the form of a curved wall that extends over substantially all of the width of the entry conveyor, between a lateral slide serving as a guide for the articles disposed on said entry conveyor and a structure disposed between said two conveyors, which wall is carried by a carriage that is fastened to said structure, which structure is mobile longitudinally, said accumulation table including an introduction area for introduction of articles onto said exit conveyor, said introduction area being disposed outside said transit area, said accumulation table comprising a control system for means for moving said deflector member, said control system including: means for detecting the presence or the absence of articles in place in the vicinity of a surveillance area that is situated at the downstream end of the deflector member on the exit conveyor, and means for analyzing information on the occupancy of said surveillance area, which information is supplied by said detection means to the analysis means, said analysis means being associated with a computer that controls the means for moving the deflector member to modify the position of said deflector member in one of said directions or the other, according to the occupancy of said surveillance area and depending on whether the detection means reach or overshoot a first or a second position, said first and second positions being situated on respective opposite sides of a reference position and being included within said surveillance area.