Patent ID: 8376118

Claim:
A conveyor system for intended use in conjunction with the sorting of articles, comprising: a plurality of first substantially continuous conveyors, each including an endless belt or chain extending in a first direction in a first substantially horizontal plane, each belt or chain of the first conveyor providing a first continuous, uninterrupted conveying surface for conveying the articles in the first direction; a plurality of second substantially continuous conveyors, each including an endless belt or chain extending in a second direction in a second substantially horizontal plane, each belt or chain of the second conveyors providing a second conveying surface for any articles transferred from the belt or chain of one or more of the first conveyors, at least one of said second conveying surfaces extending below at least one of said first conveying surfaces; and means for transferring articles from at least one first conveyor to at least one second conveyor, wherein the transferring means forms a part of the first conveying surface in a home condition; wherein at least two parallel belts or chains of the first conveyors at least partially overlap a portion of at least one belt or chain of at least one of the second conveyors.