Patent ID: 8186503

Claim:
A conveyor for conveying articles along a conveyor path, the conveyor comprising: a curved conveyor section, a curved guide fence, and a plurality of actuators, said plurality of actuators comprising at least a first actuator and a second actuator; the curved conveyor section defining an arcuate portion of the conveyor path; the curved guide fence being an integral, continuous member extending along one side of the curved conveyor section and comprising a surface facing and extending along the curved conveyor section, the surface bounding a side of the conveyor path; each of the said plurality of actuators actuatable for straight-line movement along an axis and actuatable between extended and retracted positions along the axis; each of the said plurality of actuators rigidly fastened to a respective attachment portion of the curved guide fence for conjoint movement of the attachment portion of the curved guide fence with the actuator; the curved guide fence having a substantially constant first radius of curvature when the actuators are in the extended position and a second, different, substantially constant radius of curvature when the actuators are in the retracted position.