Patent ID: 8684487

Claim:
A conveying apparatus comprising: a plurality of conveyance paths arranged in parallel and configured to receive a plurality of conveyance objects fed from an upstream side of the plural conveyance paths and convey the received plural conveyance objects to a conveyance destination situated at a downstream side of the plural conveyance paths; wherein for each conveyance path of the plurality of conveyance paths, a conveyance direction from the upstream side of the conveyance path towards the downstream side of the particular conveyance path is the same as the conveyance direction of each of the others of the plurality of conveyance paths, and wherein the plural conveyance paths are configured to convey the plural conveyance objects in the order in which the plural conveyance objects are received; a flip-over path disposed at the downstream side of the plural conveyance paths and configured to flip over the conveyance objects; and a delaying part for delaying the conveyance of the plural conveyance objects for each of the plural conveyance paths by temporarily stopping the conveyance of the plural conveyance objects or reducing the rate of conveying the plural conveyance objects, wherein the delaying part changes the number of conveyance paths to be used, based on a duration of standby time that is adjusted by temporarily stopping or delaying the conveyance of the plural conveyance objects with the delaying part, wherein the plural conveyance paths are configured to convey the plural conveyance objects in a single conveyance direction, and wherein the plural conveyance paths merge after conveying the plural conveyance objects in parallel in the same conveyance direction, and the flip-over path is disposed downstream of a position in which the plural conveyance paths are merged.