Patent ID: 7497316

Claim:
A method for transporting items on a conveyor system, the method comprising receiving destinations for a plurality of articles to be sequentially transported in a primary conveying direction on a primary conveyor system, wherein the primary conveyor system comprises pusher elements provided along the primary conveyor system and configured to move articles in a direction different than the primary conveying direction to selectively divert articles to branch destinations off of the primary conveyor system; spacing the articles apart on the primary conveyor system in the primary conveying direction, wherein the spacing of at least two adjacent articles is less than the width of a pusher element; assigning some of the pusher elements to each article; and providing a signal based upon the location of an article as it travels in the primary conveying direction, wherein the signal is configured to move pusher elements assigned to the article at an appropriate location along the primary conveyor system to cause the article to be moved in a direction different than the primary conveying direction and to rotate upon initiation of the movement, to thereby divert the article to their corresponding branch destinations off of the primary conveyor system.