Patent ID: 8033385

Claim:
A system comprising: a roller belt extending from a loading area to a depositing area; the roller belt including a lengthwise portion between the loading area and the depositing area that inclines at an angle between approximately thirty and ninety degrees with respect to horizontal; at least at said inclined lengthwise portion of said roller belt, said roller belt including a first roller belt section overlapping a second roller belt section to define an oval-shaped cross section that contains an amount of fill that occupies at least 95% of said oval-shaped cross section; a plurality of support elements positioned proximate said roller belt along the inclined lengthwise portion of said roller belt where a distance, as measured along the length of said roller belt, between adjacent support elements of said plurality of support elements is no greater than approximately 500 millimeters; and each support element of said plurality of support elements includes a plurality of spring-loaded rollers attached thereto, said spring-loaded rollers guiding said roller belt in a transporting direction and compressing said overlapping sections of said roller belt to maintain said oval-shaped cross section of said roller belt.