Patent ID: 7506751

Claim:
A conveyor system comprising: a conveyor belt having a plurality conveyor belt rollers configured to divert objects on the conveyor belt as the conveyor belt advances; and a roller drive mechanism including: a plurality of rotatable cartridges, each cartridge having a cartridge gear and a freely rotatable drive roller that engages the conveyor belt rollers from below the conveyor belt; a plurality of actuator gears, each engaged with one of the cartridge gears, to rotate the cartridges to change the orientations of the rotatable drive rollers with respect to the conveyor belt rollers; and an actuator configured to move the plurality of actuator gears to rotate the cartridges between a first orientation in which the engagement between the drive rollers and the conveyor belt rollers causes the conveyor belt rollers to rotate in a first direction as the conveyor belt advances and a second orientation in which the engagement between the drive rollers and the conveyor belt rollers causes the conveyor belt rollers to rotate in an opposite second direction.