Patent ID: 8109384

Claim:
A spacing conveyor comprising: a conveying surface advancing from an upstream end to a downstream end in a conveying direction and having a plurality of retractable stops at spaced apart locations along the length of the conveying surface and a plurality of article-supporting rollers protruding above the conveying surface to a roller top level; a bearing surface disposed proximate the conveying surface to contact the rollers and cause the rollers to rotate as the conveying surface advances in the conveying direction and propel articles supported atop the rollers along the conveying surface in the conveying direction; an actuator selectively movable into contact with the retractable stops to move the stops from a retracted position below the roller top level to a blocking position above the roller top level for receiving an article propelled by the rollers; a sensor upstream of the actuator for measuring the length of a conveyed article and providing a corresponding length signal; a controller selectively actuating the actuator in response to the length signal to move selected stops to the blocking position according to the length of the conveyed article and a predetermined spacing between consecutive articles.