Conveyor system with distributed article manipulation

A method of manipulating articles, comprising:

• providing a bed having at least one conveying surface adapted to move articles in a direction of conveyance from an upstream end to a downstream end of said bed;
• providing at least one sensor and using said at least one sensor to determine the position of any articles on said bed during at least one moment in time;
• selecting an article on said bed to be manipulated;
• determining whether said selected article is to be rotated;
• moving said selected article in the direction of conveyance at a speed generally higher than articles traveling on said bed that have yet to be manipulated;
• and
• if said article is to be rotated, rotating the selected article.

A system for manipulating articles generally traveling in a direction of conveyance comprising:

• a bed having at least one conveying surface adapted to move articles in a direction of conveyance from an upstream end to a downstream end of said bed;
• at least one sensor adapted to determine the position of the articles traveling on said bed;
• and
• a controller in communication with said at least one sensor and said bed, said controller adapted to manipulate articles traveling on said bed by controlling the speed of said conveying surface, said controller further adapted to determine if two articles having overlapping alignment in a transverse direction on said bed are on opposite sides of a dividing line extending in the direction of conveyance, said transverse direction extending in a direction transverse to the direction of conveyance, said controller adapted to cause the two articles to exit a downstream end of said bed during at least one coincident moment in time if the two articles are on opposite sides of said dividing line.

A method of manipulating articles, comprising:

• providing a bed having at least one conveying surface adapted to move articles in a direction of conveyance from an upstream end to a downstream end of said bed;
• providing at least one sensor and using said sensor to determine the position of any articles on said bed during at least one moment in time;
• determining whether two articles on said bed have overlapping alignment in a transverse direction and whether said two articles are on opposite sides of a dividing line, said transverse direction extending in a direction transverse to the direction of conveyance, and said dividing line extending in the direction of conveyance;
• and
• if said two articles are on opposite sides of said dividing line and have overlapping transverse alignment, moving the two articles such that they exit a downstream end of said bed during at least one coincident moment in time.

A system for manipulating articles generally traveling in a direction of conveyance comprising:

• a bed comprising a plurality of conveyor groups, said conveyor group being generally aligned with each other in the direction of conveyance and each said conveyor group comprising a plurality of individual conveyors positioned side-by-side in a direction transverse to the direction of conveyance, said conveyors adapted to at least partially support articles traveling thereon and to move the articles in the direction of conveyance;
• at least one sensor adapted to determine the position of the articles traveling over said plurality of conveyor groups;
• and
• a controller in communication with said at least one sensor and said conveyors, said controller adapted to manipulate articles traveling on said bed by controlling the speed of said conveyors, said controller further adapted to be able to control the speed of said conveyors at more than two different non-zero speeds.

An article manipulation bed, comprising:

• a plurality of conveyor groups, said conveyor groups being generally aligned with each other in a direction of conveyance and each of said conveyor groups comprising a plurality of conveyor units positioned side-by-side in a direction transverse to the direction of conveyance;
• each of said conveyor units comprising a first conveyor belt reeved at least partially around at least two first idler rollers, said first conveyor belt adapted to move articles carried thereon in a direction of conveyance;
• each of said conveyor units further comprising a second conveyor belt reeved at least partially around at lest two second idler rollers, said second conveyor belt adapted to move articles carried thereon in said direction of conveyance, said second conveyor belt being positioned alongside said first conveyor belt;
• each of said conveyor units further comprising a first drive roller about which said first conveyor belt is at least partially reeved, said first drive roller rotatable about a first axis;
• and
• each of said conveyor units further comprising a second drive roller about which said second conveyor belt is at least partially reeved, said second drive roller rotatable about a second axis;
• wherein said first and second axes are not collinear with respect to each other in a direction transverse to the direction of conveyance.