Patent ID: 7237670

Claim:
A conveyor comprising: a conveyor belt having laterally spaced first and second sides defining the width of the conveyor belt, outer and inner faces defining the thickness of the conveyor belt, and a plurality of belt rollers extending through the thickness of the conveyor belt with salient portions of the belt rollers protruding past the outer and inner faces; a conveyor belt drive selectively stopping and advancing the conveyor belt in a direction of belt travel along a carryway; wherein the belt rollers are arranged to rotate on axes parallel to the direction of belt travel; a plurality of powered rollers underlying the conveyor belt along the carryway and selectively movable into and out of contact with the salient portions of the belt rollers protruding past the inner face of the conveyor belt, wherein the powered rollers rotate on axes parallel to the direction of belt travel to rotate the belt rollers by contact when the conveyor belt is stopped.