Patent ID: 7896150

Claim:
A conveyor apparatus comprising: a conveyor belt having: a first belt segment that, when operated, moves along a first axis to convey an article; a second belt segment that, when operated, moves along the first axis side-by-side with and substantially parallel to the first belt segment; a first detector that detects a width of the article in a direction that lies transverse to the first axis; a second detector that provides an indication that the article is jammed on the conveyor belt; and a controller that controls the first belt segment and the second belt segment to operate in at least two modes, wherein: the controller controls the first belt segment to move relative to the second belt segment to rotate the article on the conveyor belt and then controls the first belt segment to move in conjunction with the second belt segment in a forward direction in a first of the at least two modes when the width is greater than a threshold value, and the controller controls the first belt segment to move in conjunction with the second belt segment to move the article in a backward direction and then controls the first belt segment to move with respect to the second belt segment to rotate the article on the conveyor belt in a second of the at least two modes when the article is indicated to be jammed on the conveyor belt.