Patent ID: 8770376

Claim:
A buffer conveyor for conveying and buffering products, comprising: at least a first elongated conveyor, which can be driven in a first direction and which has a first inlet end, a second elongated conveyor, which can be driven in a second direction, opposite to the first direction and which has a first discharge end, which first and second conveyor at least partially extend in helical paths about one or more common vertical axes, at least substantially parallel to each other wherein the first conveyor includes a first inner radius and the second conveyor includes a second inner radius, a transfer unit having a second inlet end and a second discharge end, which are movable at least substantially parallel to the first and the second conveyor in the aforesaid path, which transfer unit is provided with at least one drivable transfer element separate from the first and second elongated conveying members, the transfer element configured to transfer the products from the first conveyor to the second conveyor, so that the products can be transferred from the first inlet end of the first conveyor to the first discharge end of the second conveyor via the transfer unit, which transfer unit comprises a drive unit configured to move the transfer unit along the paths of the respective conveyors with its ends, preferably in dependence on the speeds of the first and the second conveyor, wherein said at least one transfer element of the transfer unit describes a path between the second inlet end and the second outlet end which makes at most an angle smaller than the pitch angle of the first and the second conveyor and which extends outside the area defined by the adjacent paths of the first and the second conveyor.