CONVEYOR SYSTEM HAVING NON-SINGULATING ACCUMULATION CONVEYOR

摘要

A conveyor system includes an accumulation conveyor that is particularly useful in a location outbound of a sortation spur in combination with a receiving conveyor which receives products from the accumulation conveyor at a generally constant rate. The accumulation conveyor includes a plurality of powered rollers that are selectively actuatable in groups of tandemly arranged zones in order to convey product to the receiving conveyor. A product sensor associated with each zone senses the presence of product in that zone, and a control that is responsive to the product sensor actuates all of the rollers associated with zones upstream of any sensor that is not sensing product in order to transport product to the receiving conveyor without singulation, yet provide an accumulation capability. The control is pneumatic and uses pilot-actuated valves configured in a manner that connects the associated roller drive actuator directly with a source of pneumatic fluid in order to provide an exceptionally responsive control.