Patent ID: 8701867

Claim:
A conveyor comprising: a conveying surface conveying articles in a conveying direction; a retractable stop disposed along the conveying surface and movable in a direction of motion between a blocking position stopping conveyed articles and a retracted position allowing conveyed articles to be conveyed in the conveying direction; wherein the retractable stop has a contact surface arranged to contact conveyed articles without sliding on the conveyed articles as the retractable stop moves between the blocking and retracted positions and releases conveyed articles to be conveyed in the conveying direction; wherein the conveying surface is separated across a gap and wherein the retractable stop includes a roller movable through the gap between the blocking and retracted positions; a second roller disposed in the gap and wherein the conveying surface is formed by a conveyor belt diverted below the level of the conveying surface in the gap around the second roller and wherein the second roller is driven by the conveyor belt and drives the roller in the retractable stop when the stop is in the retracted position.