Patent ID: 7731010

Claim:
A conveyor comprising: a carryway extending longitudinally in a conveying direction from an upstream end to a downstream end and laterally in width from a first side edge to a second side edge; at least one conveyor belt advancing along the carryway in the conveying direction and forming an outer conveying surface, wherein the conveyor belt includes rollers extending upward through the thickness of the conveyor belt into supporting contact with conveyed articles along the carryway; wherein the outer conveying surface is divided into at least two regions including a first region nearer the first side edge and a laterally offset second region nearer the second side edge and wherein the rollers in the first region are oriented to rotate in a first direction and the rollers in the second region are oriented to rotate in a second direction; roller control means for causing the rollers in the first region to rotate at a first velocity and the rollers in the second region at a second velocity, wherein the component of the first velocity in the conveying direction is different from the component of the second velocity in the conveying direction.