Patent ID: 7032736

Claim:
A system for conveying articles, comprising: a storage device, which comprises a plurality of mobile shelves with an input section, where a plurality of said shelves are substantially set on top of one another and are able to move in a vertical direction; and a device for conveying articles, which is able to receive a flow of incoming articles to be transferred onto the shelves of said storage device, the device for conveying articles including: an array of rollers set alongside one another so as to define, by homologous generatrices, a plane of conveyance of said articles; a plurality of motor-driven units for said rollers, each motor-driven unit being able to bring about rotation of at least one respective roller of said array; and a control unit, which acts on said motor-driven units and is able to control said motor-driven units with a speed that is selectively determined in such a way that said motor-driven units are divided into at least one first set of motor-driven units, with associated thereto a respective first set of rollers, which move in at least one first speed and at least one second set of motor-driven units with associated thereto a respective second set of rollers, which move in at least one second speed, said respective first and second sets of rollers being contiguous to one another along an ideal demarcation line, with said control unit being able to assign each motor-driven unit selectively to one or the other of said at least one first set and said at least one second set of motor-driven units so as to displace selectively said ideal demarcation line in a direction of advance of said articles on the array of rollers, wherein in which said at least one first respective set of rollers and said at least one second respective set of rollers constitute, respectively: a first conveying structure for receiving said flow of incoming articles, and a second conveying structure for transferring said articles from said conveying device to the shelves of said storage device, a speed of the first and second conveying structures being independently controllable.