Patent ID: 8210340

Claim:
A conveyor system to singulate and sort bulk articles, comprising: (a) a first counter-current conveyor belt with a first machine direction; (b) a second counter-current conveyor belt with a second machine direction and a transverse width wherein the second conveyor belt slopes downward in a transverse direction away from the first conveyor belt and the first conveyor belt slopes upward in the first machine direction relative to the second conveyor belt; (c) a first guide means for urging articles conveyed on the first conveyor belt onto the second conveyor belt; and (d) a second guide means along the second machine direction of the second conveyor belt for urging articles on the second conveyor belt toward the first conveyor belt until the transverse width of the second conveyor belt between an inside edge of the second conveyor belt and the second guide means is less than twice a minor horizontal dimension of the article being conveyed when in a stable rest position.