Patent ID: 6868961

Claim:
A roller conveyor for conveying a articles along a conveying surface, said roller conveyor comprising: a motorized roller mounted between opposite sidewalls of said roller conveyor, said motorized roller having an internal motor operable to rotate a driven portion of said motorized roller relative to a shaft portion of said motorized roller; a plurality of idler rollers mounted between said opposite sidewalk, each of said idler rollers having a roller portion and a drive portion rotatable about a shaft portion, said shaft portions mounting said idler rollers to said opposite sidewalls, said drive portion and said roller portion of each of said plurality of idler rollers being rotatable relative to said shaft portion via a bearing, each of said idler rollers including a sleeve member positioned between said bearing and said drive portion and said roller portion; and a plurality of drive members drivably interconnected with at least two adjacent rollers of said motorized roller and said idler rollers, said drive members being configured to rotatably drive said drive portions of said idler rollers in a first direction in response to rotation of said driven portion of said motorized roller, each of said idler rollers including a clutch device operable to drive said roller portion of said idler roller in response to rotation of said drive portion in said first direction and to allow said roller portion of said idler roller to rotate in said first direction relative to said drive portion, wherein said roller portion of each of said idler rollers is non-rotatably mounted to said sleeve member and said clutch device is positioned between said sleeve member and said drive portion.