Production line accumulator

An accumulator apparatus for accumulating product from a production line conveyor when a downstream stoppage occurs, said apparatus comprising,

• a horizontal pass through conveyor for supplying product from a source to a discharge station,
• a cylindrical drum including a plurality of similar product supporting shelves, means securing said shelves in substantially side-by-side cylindrical relation, said drum being positioned in close proximal relation to said conveyor,
• means for rotating said drum about its axis, said rotational axis of the drum being disposed substantially parallel to the direction of movement of said conveyor,
• shiftable positioning means shiftable into and out of engaging relation with a pair of adjacent shelves to position each successive shelf to receive product from the conveyor or to unload product from the shelf upon the conveyor,
• shiftable stop means adjacent said conveyor shiftable into and out of obstructing relation with respect to product on said conveyor,
• shiftable loading means adjacent said conveyor and being shiftable to engage and load product from the conveyor upon each shelf as each shelf is moved to a loading position,
• and unloading means positioned interiorly of said drum and being shiftable to unload product from each successive shelf upon the conveyor as each shelf is rotated to an unloading position.