Patent ID: 8544634

Claim:
A conveyor comprising: a conveyor belt advancing along a carryway at a first speed in a direction of belt travel from an upstream end to a downstream end, the conveyor belt including: an outer conveying side and an opposite inner side; a plurality of article-supporting rollers extending outward of the outer conveying side and the opposite inner side and arranged to rotate on axes perpendicular to the direction of belt travel; a plurality of flights disposed at spaced apart locations along the length of the conveyor belt, the flights each including an actuating element extending outward of the inner side of the conveyor belt and a stop movable between a retracted position at or below the level of the rollers extending outward of the outer conveying side and a blocking position extending outward from the outer conveying side to a level above the level of the rollers; an activation belt underlying the conveyor belt in a portion of the carryway and providing a mobile bearing surface contacting the rollers and the actuating elements of the flights at the inner side of the conveyor belt, wherein the activation belt advances in the direction of belt travel at a second speed greater than the first speed to cause the flights to move into the blocking position and the rollers to rotate opposite to the direction of belt travel on the conveying side to push articles supported atop the rollers opposite to the direction of belt travel against the stops in the blocking position.