Conveyor system

A conveyor system comprising:

• a plurality of motors each being associated with one of a plurality of zones including plural rollers arranged in parallel with each other, each motor driving at least one of said rollers in the zone associated therewith, said zones being successively arranged in such a manner that an article can be conveyed from the upstream end to the downstream end of said conveyor system;
• a plurality of article detecting means each disposed in association with one of said zones for detecting when an article is present in the associated zone and developing an article-representative signal;
• current detecting means for detecting the sum of currents flowing through said motors, said current detecting means developing a first excessive-current representative signal when the sum current exceeds a predetermined first reference current value and developing a second excessive-current representative signal when the sum current is smaller than said first reference current value but equal to or larger than a predetermined second reference current value which is smaller than said first reference current value;
• and
• control means connected to each of said article detecting means and to said current detecting means for, when said first excessive-current representative signal is present, operating to allocate, only for a first plurality of selected motors including the motors in the zones where first and second ones in sequence of articles being conveyed on said conveyor system are present, respective such currents that the sum current is equal to or smaller a predetermined allowable current value, and, when said second excessive-current representative signal is present, causing a second plurality, larger than said first plurality, of selected motors including the motors in the zones where said first and second articles being conveyed on said conveyor system are present, to be driven.