Patent ID: 6997304

Claim:
An accumulating conveyor system having a beginning and an end, the conveyor system comprising: an upper support member having an upper horizontal leg and a lower horizontal leg positioned substantially parallel to the upper horizontal leg; a lower support member having an upper horizontal leg and a lower horizontal leg positioned substantially parallel to the upper horizontal leg; an endless transport member supported along the lower horizontal leg of the upper support member and the lower horizontal leg of the lower support member; a shoe engageable with the endless transport member for movement along the upper support member and lower support member; first means for transporting the shoe from the lower support member to the upper support member at the beginning of the conveyor system; second means for transporting the shoe from the upper support member to the lower support member at the end of the conveyor system; and wherein the shoe includes a body, a first skid attached to the body and having a substantially flat bearing surface engageable with the endless transport member when the shoe is positioned adjacent the upper support member, a second skid attached to the body and having a substantially flat bearing surface engageable with the endless transport member when the shoe is positioned adjacent the lower support member, and at least one transverse roller attached to the body of the shoe and positioned along a plane that passes between the bearing surface of the first skid and the bearing surface of the second skid.