Patent ID: 8397896

Claim:
A conveyor system comprising: a track section comprising a control system, a drive system that is controlled by the control system, a plurality of moving elements that are driven by the drive system, and a pallet support apparatus; and a plurality of pallets that are configured to engage with the moving elements and move on the pallet support apparatus; and a plurality of workstations provided along the track section, each workstation being a predetermined pitch from each other workstation, wherein at least some of the pitches are different among workstations, and each workstation having a predetermined cycle time, wherein at least some of the cycle times are different among workstations, such that the plurality of workstations comprise at least one workstation with multiple pallet locations; and wherein the control system, drive system and moving elements are configured to advance each pallet independent of the others of the plurality of pallets through the workstations based on the pitches and the cycle times of the workstations.