Patent ID: 7080725

Claim:
A sorting conveyor for traveling a plurality of transporting units connected to each other along a transporting route of a loop shape provided on a plane surface so as to displace a carrying item at a sorting position on the transporting units, comprising: a center rail and both-side guide rails provided along the transporting route; transporting units guided by the center rail and the both-side guide rails, said transporting units comprising a chassis formed with a beam shaped link for subsequently connecting the transporting units and a base fixed to a center of an upper part of the link in a direction perpendicular to a traveling direction of the transporting units; a conveyor for cross sorting mounted on the upper part of the chassis in such a manner that the cross-sorting conveyor can be driven reversely in the direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the transporting units; a bilateral pair of coaster shaped traveling wheels mounted on both sides of the base so as to come into contact with the both-side guide rails; and a center guide wheel suspended from a connecting portion of the link so as to come into contact with the center rail; and a drive unit provided at a predetermined location of the transporting route for traveling the transporting units by a belt having a friction roller moving in such a manner to contact with both side surfaces of the beam shaped link under pressure, wherein said traveling wheels travel along a circular locus whose center is a focus point of the curved transporting route while traveling on a curved part of the transporting route.