Conveyor

In a conveyor, in which a driven conveyor means (3) is movable essentially in a horizontal plane between two spaced, driven support means (7,8) movable in synchronization with the movement of said conveyor means, said support means being arranged, prior to and after, respectively, the conveyance of an object (42) by means of the conveyor means (3), to fix said object in a stationary starting position and in a stationary end position respectively, the conveyor means (3) being of reciprocating type, the support means (7,8) being movable essentially vertically to lower objects onto and lift objects up from the conveyor means;

• the improvement in which the conveyor means and the support means have a common drive motor (9) with a mechanical driven train, the movements of the conveyor means and of the support means being synchronized with each other so that the conveyor means interrupts its movement while the support means move, the conveyor means (3) comprising a carriage movable in a frame (2) and coupled to said drive motor (9) via said driven train which includes a crank mechanism (12,19) in which a first crank (12) connected to the drive motor (9) engages a guide (13), movably mounted in the frame and actuating the carriage, said guide being arranged to be at rest during a portion of the rotational cycle of the first crank (12), and support means (7,8) that assume, during the movement of the conveyor means (3) from the starting position to the end position, a bottom, lowered position, and during the return movement of the conveyor means an upper, raised position, the reciprocal movement of the support means (7,8) between the raised and lowered position being controlled by a cam (35) rotating synchronously with the first crank (12).