Compact article singulation conveyor

An article singulation conveyor, comprising:

• an alignment bed having a longitudinally extending vertical guidance surface and a conveying surface configured to convey articles longitudinally along said alignment bed while urging articles against said guidance surface;
• a recirculation bed extending from said alignment bed opposite said guidance surface and including at least one peel-away conveyor having a conveying surface moving substantially perpendicularly away from said alignment bed, at least one return conveyor having a conveying surface moving substantially perpendicularly toward said alignment bed upstream of said at least one peel-away conveyor and a coupling conveyor having a conveying surface for conveying articles from said peel-away conveyor to said return conveyor;
• and
• an inlet delivering articles upstream of said alignment bed and an outlet receiving singulated articles downstream of said alignment bed, wherein said outlet includes at least one powered roller directing upstream onto said at least one peel-away conveyor.

An article singulation conveyor, comprising:

• an alignment bed having a longitudinally extending vertical guidance surface and a conveying surface configured to convey articles longitudinally along said alignment bed while urging articles against said guidance surface;
• a recirculation bed extending from said alignment bed opposite said guidance surface and including at least one peel-away conveyor having a conveying surface moving substantially perpendicularly away from said alignment bed, at least one return conveyor having a conveying surface moving substantially perpendicularly toward said alignment bed upstream of said at least one peel-away conveyor and a coupling conveyor having a conveying surface for conveying articles from said peel-away conveyor to said return conveyor;
• and
• an inlet delivering articles upstream of said alignment bed and an outlet receiving singulated articles downstream of said alignment bed, wherein said outlet includes another conveying surface and separation means defined within said another conveying surface for producing a drag on one of a pair of side-by-side articles thereby further separating side-by-side articles.

An article singulation conveyor, comprising:

• an alignment bed having a longitudinally extending vertical guidance surface and a conveying surface configured to convey articles longitudinally along said alignment bed while urging articles against said guidance surface;
• a recirculation bed extending opposite said guidance surface which recirculates articles from a downstream portion of said alignment bed to an upstream portion of said alignment bed;
• and
• an inlet delivering articles upstream of said alignment bed and an outlet receiving singulated articles downstream of said alignment bed;
• wherein said guidance surface has a portion which laterally slopes toward said recirculation bed, and wherein said guidance surface is defined by a vertical belt moving in the direction of said alignment bed about a pair of vertical pulleys and further includes another vertical pulley positioned between said pair of vertical pulleys and offset toward said recirculation bed in order to define said guidance surface portion.

An article singulation conveyor, comprising:

• an alignment bed having a conveying surface configured to convey articles longitudinally along said alignment bed made up of a plurality of generally parallel powered rollers that are configured to urge articles toward a lateral edge of said alignment bed, said alignment bed further including a longitudinally extending vertical belt generally at said lateral edge having a surface moving in the direction of said conveying surface about a plurality of vertical pulleys, at least one of said pulleys laterally offset away from said lateral edge in order to define a surface portion which laterally slopes away from said lateral edge;
• a recirculation bed extending from said alignment bed opposite said lateral edge which recirculates articles from an downstream portion of said alignment bed to an upstream portion of said alignment bed;
• and
• an inlet delivering articles upstream of said alignment bed and an outlet receiving singulated articles downstream of said alignment bed.

A compact article singulation conveyor comprising:

• a receiving portion to which articles are delivered in random order including clusters of side-by-side articles and a discharge portion from which articles are discharged in a single file singulated stream;
• a first conveying surface defined by a plurality of generally laterally extending powered rollers that is adapted to transport articles longitudinally from said receiving portion to said discharge portion, said first conveying surface having a substantially uniform width and said powered rollers driven at substantially the same speed from said receiving portion to said discharge portion;
• and
• a recirculation bed which removes side-by-side articles from a downstream portion of the first conveying surface to an upstream portion of the first conveying surface, said recirculation bed made up of at least one peel-away conveyor having a second conveying surface defined by a plurality of generally longitudinally extending powered rollers adapted to move side-by-side articles laterally off the first conveying surface, at least one coupling conveyor having a third conveying surface defined by a plurality of generally laterally extending powered rollers adapted to move articles from said second conveying surface upstream and at least one return conveyor having a fourth conveying surface defined by a plurality of generally longitudinally extending powered rollers adapted to move articles from said third conveying surface to said first conveying surface;
• wherein clusters of articles tend to recirculate around said recirculation bed and said first conveying surface as individual articles of the cluster are pulled away along said first conveying surface.