Conveyor bidirectional roller assembly and conveyor therewith

A roller conveyor configured to transport conveyed items along a transport path, and to divert certain of the conveyed items therefrom along a diversion path, said roller conveyor comprising:

• a plurality of repositionable bidirectional roller assemblies each including a plurality of bidirectional wheels that rotate both in a conveyor transport direction and in a diversion direction, and a first and a second hub assembly each having a reversibly compressible shaft to facilitate a repositioning of the bidirectional roller assembly within the roller conveyor;
• and
• a roller shaft having a first roller shaft end in connection with the first hub assembly and a second roller shaft end in connection with the second hub assembly.

A method of reconfiguring a unidirectional roller conveyor to include therein a plurality of repositionable bidirectional roller assemblies, said method comprising the steps of:

• removing a plurality of unidirectional roller assemblies from the roller conveyor;
• and
• inserting therein a corresponding plurality of the repositionable bidirectional roller assemblies each including a plurality of bidirectional wheels that rotate both in a conveyor transport direction and in a diversion direction, a first and a second hub assembly each having a reversibly compressible shaft to facilitate the repositioning of the bidirectional roller assembly within the roller conveyor, and a roller shaft having a first roller shaft end in connection with the first hub assembly and a second roller shaft end in connection with the second hub assembly.