Patent ID: 6996454

Claim:
A control system for controlling a conveyor system that includes a plurality of conveyors, said control system comprising: a plurality of sensing units each associated with a specific one of the plurality of conveyors and being operable to collect status information concerning its associated conveyor; and a plurality of control units each associated with a respective one of the plurality of conveyors and being operable to receive status information concerning its respective conveyor from said sensing unit associated with the respective conveyor and to receive control information generated by at least a further one of said plurality of control units, said further control unit being associated with a further one of the plurality of conveyors that is adjacent to the respective conveyor, the control information being based on further status information concerning the further conveyor and further control information received by said further control unit that is generated by a still further one of said plurality of control units, the still further control unit being associated with a still further one of the plurality of conveyors that is adjacent to the further conveyor, the control information thereby being based on at least some of still further status information concerning the still further conveyor, said each control unit being further operable to control its respective conveyor based on the status information concerning the respective conveyor and the received control information.