JPH025643B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to accumulating roller conveyors, and more particularly to providing a structure that substantially minimizes the driving force exerted on articles stopped relative to the conveyor.

A typical prior art conveyor, an improved version of which is provided by the present invention, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,199,657. This patent discloses a conveyor consisting of a plurality of conveyor rollers 30 attached to slots 32 provided in a support plate 33, the slots 32 being supported by the rollers 30 for conveyance. It is shown having a support surface 34 that is sloped upwardly and rearward relative to the progress of the item. roller 3
0 is contacted by belt B which drives rollers 30 in the direction of conveying the supported articles in the direction of the arrow. When the conveyed item comes to a stop, the continuous driving force of belt B causes roller 30 to move to the left as viewed in FIG. 8 and upwardly along support surface 34, thereby causing belt B and roller 30 to The driving force supplied between the two is released. Said movement of the rollers 30 up along the inclined support surface 34 may reduce the weight of the articles to be conveyed, e.g.
% of the frictional driving force of belt B. but,
Even if the driving force is reduced to only 6% of its maximum value,
The effect occurs beneath each item on the conveyor, so that if approximately 454 Kg (1000 lbs) of items are accumulated, the driving force is approximately 27 Kg (60 lbs).
become. This resultant drive force can shatter fragile items or cause them to jackknife, or alternatively, brake type If a roughened belt is used at the end of the accumulating conveyor as a stop, the driving force accumulated on several items will overcome the braking action and cause the item to travel farther along the conveyor when it is to be stopped. may proceed.

Another proposal for reducing the drive pressure between the conveyor rollers and the drive belt is US Pat. No. 4,109,782.
Disclosed in the issue. In this patent, the drive roller 12 is attached to a pivot link 18 so that when an engaged item 36 abuts the stop 40, the drive roller 12 pivots clockwise about the pivot axis. the drive roller, thereby reducing the drive force transmitted by the drive roller. This device is also subject to the criticisms and complaints already discussed in connection with US Pat. No. 3,199,657.

In U.S. Pat. No. 4,006,815, a conveyor
Although push drives or slip coupling means are arranged between the drive elements for the rollers and the conveyor rollers, such structures are subject to high levels of wear and as a result require continuous maintenance and replacement. This is not only undesirable due to the fact that after the stopped item is released, it is difficult to adjust the amount of slip and still ensure a good reliable drive and a good restart of the drive.

The drive belt that drives the conveyor rollers has raised or thickened sections that lift the conveyor roller out of contact with the main portion of the drive belt when the conveyed item is stopped. Accumulating conveyors have heretofore been provided that are adapted to serve. Examples of such devices are disclosed in US Pat. No. 3,650,376, US Pat. No. 3,730,330 and US Pat. No. 3,958,684. Each of these devices is considerably more complex than that of the present invention;
This not only results in unreliable operation, but also creates considerable maintenance and repair problems.

In one proposal to solve the above-mentioned problems, a more complex mechanism is provided. Examples of such mechanisms are U.S. Pat. No. 3,502,197;
Disclosed in No. 3716129, No. 3810538, No. 3877565, and No. 3905470. Each of these accumulating conveyors is so complex that its operation is extremely unreliable and its maintenance and repair costs are high.

Accordingly, the invention includes a frame, a plurality of conveyor rollers, and a ramp device on said frame, inclined in the direction of conveyance, each of said plurality of conveyor rollers having a cylindrical drive sleeve. the drive sleeve is supported by a longitudinal shaft passing through the drive sleeve transversely of the frame and engageable with the slope device and rotatably supporting the drive sleeve; - each of the rollers is typically positioned forwardly along the ramp device with respect to the conveying direction and frictionally engages and drives the conveyor roller to be supported on the conveyor roller; a drive device for transporting the article in the transport direction; and a conveyor associated with each of the shafts.
a one-way clutch mechanism coupled to the drive sleeve of the roller and movable between a clutch-inoperative state and a clutch-actuated state; in the clutch-inoperative state, the one-way clutch mechanism is connected to the drive sleeve of the roller; the one-way clutch mechanism allows relative rotational movement between the shaft and the drive sleeve about the axis of the shaft in one direction; and the drive sleeve, and prevents relative rotational movement between the conveyor and the drive sleeve.
The one-way clutch mechanism is declutched when the rollers are in their normal forward position along the ramp, and the conveyor rollers are responsive to the drive when in contact with a stationary item. The one-way clutch mechanism moves rearwardly along the ramp device toward a position out of engagement with the drive, and the one-way clutch mechanism causes the conveyor roller to move along the ramp device while in contact with the stopped item. a stack for conveying items in a conveying direction, wherein, in response to forward movement of said conveyor rollers, said clutch is activated to prevent further forward movement of said conveyor rollers along said ramp device; Provide roller conveyors.

The accumulating roller conveyor of the present invention substantially eliminates all driving force from the stopped items conveyed thereby, and reduces said driving force to less than a small percentage of the weight of one stopped item; This is all accomplished by a simple mechanical construction, reliable in its operation, and requiring substantially less maintenance and repair than conventional such accumulating conveyors.

Referring to FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings, there is shown an accumulating roller conveyor 100 embodying the principles of the present invention, which conveyor moves from the right side of FIG. 1 to the left side of FIG. 1 in the direction of arrow 60. The article or load 50 is
It is designed to carry and transport. When a plurality of items 50 are in contact with each other with the first item 50 in contact with the stop portion 55, the weak item 50 is removed so that the minimum driving force is applied to the item 50. It is desirable to protect against damage and to prevent jackknifing of items 50 that come into contact with each other.

Accumulating roller conveyor 100 has a frame 101 having four legs 102 supporting two spaced apart longitudinal side members 105 . Details of the construction of the side members 105 are most clearly shown in FIGS. 3 and 9, and as can be seen in these figures, each side member 105 has a vertical wall 106; an upper flange 107 disposed generally at right angles thereto; and an upper flange 107 also disposed generally at right angles thereto;
Lower flange 108 arranged parallel to 07
and has. The two longitudinal side members 105 are formed with a plurality of equidistantly spaced and horizontally aligned slots 110. Referring to FIG. 9, each slot 110 has an essentially vertical leading edge 111 and an essentially vertical trailing edge 112, with the lower ends of the leading edge 111 and the trailing edge 112 forming an inclined support surface 115. are connected by. The support surface 115 is tilted rearward and upward;
That is, when viewed in FIG. 1, it is inclined to the right in a direction opposite to the traveling direction of the article 50, and the angle of inclination of the support surface 115 with respect to the horizontal line is approximately 5 degrees. Instead of a straight support surface 115 as described above, it may also start at an angle of 5° and be horizontal at its upper end.

Disposed within the laterally aligned slot 110 is a conveyor roller 120, the details of which are clearly shown in FIGS. 3 and 8. More specifically, each conveyor roller 120 has a cylindrical sleeve 121;
has a cylindrical outer surface 122 and a cylindrical inner surface 123. The outer surface 122 and the inner surface 123 terminate in an end 124. Each sleeve 121 is supported on a hexagonal shaft 125. The shaft 125 extends past the associated sleeve 121 with their axes aligned with each other, and the ball bearing arrangement 126 extends through the associated sleeve 121 .
is located at each end of and receives an associated hexagonal shaft 125 therethrough placed in supporting relationship therewith. The ball bearing devices 126 each have a flange 127 that projects outwardly and contacts the adjacent end 124 of the sleeve. The housing 128 of the ball bearing assembly 126 is a snug fit within the adjacent end of the sleeve 121 and is retained by its inner surface 123.

Each end of the hexagonal shaft 125 extends through and is supported within an associated slot 110 in an adjacent longitudinal side member 105. To facilitate smooth and quiet movement of the hexagonal shaft 125 within the associated slot 110, each end of the shaft 125 is provided with a sliding member 130, preferably formed from plastic or pressed powder metal. It is set up. Each slide member 130 has a cylindrical body 131 with a hexagonal hole 132 disposed in the center;
2 easily fits and passes through the relevant end of the hexagonal shaft 125. Body 131 has a smooth cylindrical outer surface 135 and an outwardly projecting flange 136. The flange 136 guides against the inner surface of the vertical wall 106 of the associated longitudinal side member 105. The slide member 130 has a hexagonal shaft 12
5 in its associated slot 110 while allowing quiet and easy rolling along the sloped support surface 115. In this manner, conveyor roller 120 is mounted with its upper surface positioned higher than adjacent upper flange 107 of side member 105, thereby supporting item 50 thereon.

Conveyor rollers are used to drive items 50 in the direction of arrow 60 from right to left as viewed in FIG. Conveyor roller 120 itself is driven by a drive belt. Belt 140 is endless in its type and has an inner surface 141 and an outer drive surface 142. Furthermore, as seen in FIG. 5, a protrusion or thickened portion 145 is provided on the drive belt 140, the length of the protrusion 145 being as short as possible, and conveyed by the conveyor 100 as shown. approximately equal to the length of the item 50. The belt drive surface 142 is
The lower portion of conveyor roller 120 contacts the lower portion of conveyor roller 120 when conveyor roller 120 is in a forward and downward position within slot 115 as shown in FIG. When it is in the upper position, it does not come into contact with the lower part. When the conveyor roller 120 is in the position of FIGS. 5 and 6, only the protrusion or thickened portion 145 may contact the conveyor roller 120.

In order to drive the belt 140 in the direction of the arrow 146, a drive motor 150 is provided which has a drive pulley 152 as its output means and drives a gear box 151. Drive belt 140 is partially wrapped around drive pulley 152 and is driven thereby. Multiple idle rollers 153
is arranged, so that the drive belt 140
is continuously driven with its upper side below the conveyor roller 120 to move from left to right as viewed in FIG. 1, thereby rotating the contacted conveyor roller 120 in a counterclockwise direction. The item 50 is thus conveyed in the direction of the arrow 60.

To improve the contact between the drive surface 142 of the drive belt 140 and the sleeve 121 of the contacted conveyor roller 120, a plurality of supporting idler rollers 155 are provided, as seen particularly in FIGS. 2 and 3. It is arranged on the longitudinal side member 105. Pairs of elongate slots 116 are formed in side member 105, with each pair of slots 116 being laterally aligned and oriented with their longitudinal axes substantially perpendicular. Each support roller 155 has a hexagonal shaft 15 extending therethrough and supported at each end thereof by a ball bearing arrangement 159.
It has 6. The end of the hexagonal shaft 156 extends through one of the adjacent elongated slots 116;
Each one carries an adjustment cam plate 157 (especially the second
(see figure). The adjustment cam plate 157 has a plurality of flat surfaces arranged at different distances from its center, thereby adjusting the vertical position of the hexagonal shaft 156 relative to the lower flange 108 of the associated side member 105. ing. A retaining fastener 158 is arranged to secure the adjusting cam plate 157 to the hexagonal shaft so that the adjusting cam plate 157 is held in its adjusted position by the action of gravity. Adjustment cam plate 157
supports idler roller 15 when conveyor roller 120 is in its lower front position within slot 110.
5 is arranged to abut an inner surface 141 of the drive belt 140 between adjacent conveyor rollers, thereby compressing the drive belt 140 into driving relationship with the conveyor rollers 120. .

Meanwhile, the clutch 160 is connected to each conveyor roller 12.
The construction of clutch 160 is clearly illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 10-12. A generally cylindrical clutch member or center core 161 is provided, the center core 161 having a
A generally cylindrical outer surface 162 is disposed between an outer surface 163 and an inner surface 164. Clutch member 1
At the center of 61 is a hexagonal hole 165 into which the associated hexagonal shaft 125 is fitted.
The cylindrical outer surface 162 is arrayed with three equiangularly defined recesses 166, each recess 166 having a partially circular cross section to readily receive an associated ball 170. Each recess 166 is defined on one side by an outer wall 167, and the lower portion of each recess 166 has an integral slope 168 extending outwardly to reach the cylindrical outer surface 162. The ramp 168 permits the associated ball 170 to roll outwardly therealong against the outer surface 162 of the clutch member 161. The ball 170 is held in the recess 1 by the holding plate 175.
66, the retaining plate 175 is adapted to be pressed against the inner surface 164 of the clutch member 161 on one surface thereof and has an inner surface 177 disposed remote therefrom. In the center of the retaining plate is a hexagonal hole 176 through which the associated hexagonal shaft 125 passes. As most clearly shown in FIG.
1 is placed inwardly, ie to the left, with its outer surface 163 abutting the associated ball bearing arrangement 126 . Ball 170 is confined within recess 166 by associated sleeve 121. If you explain in detail,
Ball 170 is restrained by inner surface 123 of sleeve 121. The retaining plate 175 is the clutch member 1
Compression spring 1 is placed at the position adjacent to the left end of 61.
80. The spring 180 is positioned with one end against the inner surface 177 of the retaining plate 175 and with the other end against the projection 129 on the hexagonal shaft 125.

The one-way clutch 160 is actuated when one of the items 50 contacts the positive stop 55, whereby the continuous action of the belt 140 driving the conveyor roller 120 causes the conveyor roller 120 to move toward the tilt. Moving up the surface, the conveyor roller 120 moves the protrusion 1 on the belt 140.
45 and is located at the rearmost and uppermost position of slot 110. The sleeve 121 of the conveyor roller 120 conveys the item 50 in the direction of the arrow 60 in FIG. 1 in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. As long as the ball 170 is rotated in the direction 137, the ball 170 is retained within the recess 166 and thus the sleeve 121
is allowed to rotate freely relative to the hexagonal shaft 125. As soon as the conveyor roller 120 reaches the rearmost and uppermost position of the slot 110 and after the protrusion 145 has moved out of contact with the conveyor roller 120, the drive surface 142 of the conveyor roller 120 and the drive belt 140 2 and removes the conveyor roller 120 from frictional engagement with the drive surface 142 of the drive belt 140 so that the conveyor roller no longer experiences a counterclockwise torque as viewed in FIG. The weight of the item then causes the slide member 10 of the conveyor roller 120 to move forward down the support surface of the slot 110, thereby bringing the sleeve 121 into contact with the bottom surface of the item and causing it to rotate clockwise as viewed in FIG. .
However, such a sleeve 121
Clockwise as seen in the diagram (counterclockwise as seen in Figure 11)
That is, the tendency to rotate in the direction of arrow 187) is
The ball 170 is moved outwardly from the recess 166 into contact with the inner surface 123 of the associated sleeve 121, forcing the ball 170 between the ramp 168 and the inner surface, thus forcing the sleeve 121 into the clutch member 161. and the shaft 125 is immobilized. All parts of conveyor roller 120 are now immobilized together and move as one unit. As a result, as long as the sleeve 121 is in contact with the stopped item 50, the conveyor
The roller 120 is held at the rearmost and uppermost position of the slot 110 and is connected to the drive surface 1 of the drive belt 140.
42 and only occasionally contacts the upper surface of the protrusion 145 on the drive belt 140. As a result, the first item 50 is securely stopped by the stopper 55.
The only driving force applied to a row of items 50 in contact with each other is that generated as protrusion 145 passes under each item 50 in turn; Which item 5
The maximum driving force relative to zero is also only a small percentage of the weight of the article itself.

The general operation of the accumulating roller conveyor 100 will now be described with particular reference to FIGS. 4 through 7 of the accompanying drawings.

Conveyor roller 120, before the item 50 is conveyed by it, is located at the lower front portion of slot 110, i.e., when viewed in FIG.
It is located at the bottom left part of. Drive belt 1
40 is continuously driven via a drive motor 150, a gear box 151, and a drive pulley 152. Therefore, the upper side of the drive belt 140 is in the direction of the arrow 146 from left to right in FIG. moving in the direction. The inner surface 141 of the drive belt 140 is
It is supported along its upper side by a supporting idler roller 155, thereby allowing belt 140 to
The drive surface 142 of the conveyor roller 120 is in firm driving contact with the outer surface 122 of the sleeve 121 of the conveyor roller 120 at the lower portion thereof. Drive belt 140 and sleeve 121
The contact between is a frictional contact. Support idler roller 155 is configured to adjust cam plate 1 to provide proper frictional drive contact between drive surface 142 of drive belt 140 and sleeve 121 of conveyor roller 120.
57 will be understood. Movement of drive belt 140 in the direction of arrow 146 causes support idler roller 155
is rotated in a clockwise direction as represented by arrow 147 while conveyor roller 120
is rotated counterclockwise as represented by arrow 137.

When the item 50 is placed on the conveyor roller 120, the sleeve 1 of the conveyor roller 120
The upper portion of item 21 contacts the underside of item 50, and since conveyor roller 120 is rotating counterclockwise as represented by arrow 137, item 50 is rotated as shown by arrow 60. In Figure 4, it is transported from right to left. The articles 50 are conveyed the length of the conveyor 100 and finally reach the positive stop 55 which is located on the left when viewed in FIG. 1 and on the left when viewed in FIGS. 5 and 6. . Upon reaching the positive stop 55, the article 50 stops, but the roller 120 continues to be contacted by the drive surface 142 of the drive belt 140. Because the upper portion of the sleeve 121 of each conveyor roller 120 that contacts the stopped item 50 is also stopped, and the drive belt 14
0 drive surface 142 continues to push to the right the lower portion of the sleeve 121 of the conveyor roller 120 in contact with the stopped item 50, so that the conveyor roller 120 is propelled rearwardly and upwardly along the inclined support surface 115. Ru. When the protrusion 145 reaches the conveyor roller 120 in contact with the stopped item 50, the protrusion 145 completes such movement of the conveyor roller 120, causing the conveyor roller 120 to contact the stopped item 50. and move it to the position shown in FIG. In this case, since the drive surface 142 of the drive belt is no longer in contact with the conveyor roller 120, the shaft 125 or sliding member will tend to move forward and downward along the inclined support surface, thus causing the conveyor roller to move clockwise. try to rotate.

The slide member 130 attempts to roll down along the inclined support surface 115. conveyor roller 120
moves in the direction indicated by arrow 187 in FIG. 11, with the result that clutch 160, on the other hand, is actuated into the clutching position of its components as shown in FIG. 161 and shaft 125 as one unit. Thus, as long as the sleeve 121 is in contact with the stopped item 50, the conveyor roller 120 is in a lower position behind it within the slot 110, and more particularly
It is maintained in the position shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.

With the elements in the positions shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 and one clutch 160 of conveyor roller 120 in its operative position in contact with the stopped item 50, the conveyor
The roller 120 is held in an upper position behind the slot 110, and the outer surface 122 of the sleeve 121, which is in contact with the stopped article 50, is connected to the drive belt 14.
It has completely separated from the drive surface 142 of 0. Therefore, when the drive surface 142 is below the locked conveyor roller 120 as shown in FIG. No driving force is provided by 120. Projection part 1
45 is in contact with conveyor roller 120 as seen in FIG. Item 5
For example, it is about 5% to 6% of the weight of the item 50.

In the construction of drive belt 140, its protrusions 145 are spaced apart from each other at a distance selected such that only one protrusion 145 is present along the upper side of drive belt 140 at any given time. ing. For example, there may be only one protrusion 145 on the drive belt 140, or perhaps two equidistantly arranged protrusions 145, and in any case the protrusion 145 may be the only protrusion. 145 are spaced apart from each other such that they are along the upper side of drive belt 140 at any given time. As a result, extremely small driving force
It is also possible to simply feed a long series of items 50 that come into contact with each other with the leading item 50 against the positive stop 55 . For this reason,
The protrusions 145 are the only two groups of conveyor rollers 1 that are in contact with two stopped items 50 at one point in time.
20 and therefore has an effective driving force equal to only a few percent of the weight of one item 50. In other words, no driving force is built up along the series of stopped items 50, thus damaging a vulnerable item 50 or jack-knifing a series of adjacent items 50. ) is not generated.

After the desired group of items 50 has been accumulated behind the positive stop, the positive stop 55 is relocated and the situation relating to FIG. , the position of the released item 50 being resumed for conveyance along the conveyor 100 is shown in solid lines. For more information,
On the other hand, the conveyor on which the clutch 160 is
The roller 120 is in contact with the drive surface 142 of the drive belt 140 as the sloping surface 115 of the associated slot 110 rolls down from its dot-dashed line position to its solid line position. The elements now work as usual;
The sleeve 121 of the conveyor roller 120 in contact with the item is moved in the direction of arrow 137, thus causing one-way clutch 16 to move as shown in FIG.
0 is off. Operation of accumulating roller conveyor 100 now proceeds in the normal manner, conveying items 50 in the direction of arrow 60 in FIG. 7 from right to left. Once the positive stop 55 has been transferred, the entire collection line of items 50 immediately begins to be conveyed together in the same direction.

The accumulating roller conveyor 100 of the present invention is simple in its construction and entirely mechanical in its operation, thus requiring minimal maintenance and repair during its use. Drive belt 1
40 is extremely quiet as it is constructed from rubber or plastic which provides its quiet operation. The slide member 130 is formed from plastic or pressed powder metal to provide good lubricity and quiet operation, and the clutch member 16
0 and retaining plate 165 are also preferably formed from plastic, while ball 170 is formed from nylon or hard rubber to provide its extremely quiet movement.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 is a side view of an accumulating roller conveyor implementing the principles of the invention; FIG. 2 is an enlarged partial side view showing the support of the articles to be conveyed on the conveying rollers of the conveyor of FIG. 1; Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along line 3-3 in Figure 2; Figures 4 to 7
Figure 8 is a schematic diagram showing the operation of a conveyor when an item being conveyed by the conveyor engages a positive stop and is subsequently released;
The figure is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view of one structure of a conveyor roller constituting a part of the conveyor of the present invention; FIG. 9 is an end view of the conveyor roller of FIG. 8; FIG. 10 is a view of its clutch. FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 10 showing the position of the one clutch component in its inactive position; FIG. 1 is an enlarged exploded view of the elements that make up the one-way clutch that is part of the accumulating roller conveyor of the invention; FIG. In the figure, 100...accumulating roller conveyor; 1
01... Frame; 105... Side member; 107...
...Top flange; 108...Bottom flange; 110...
...Slot, 115...Support surface; 50...Item;
120... Conveyor roller; 121... Sleeve; 125... Shaft; 126... Ball bearing device; 128... Housing; 130... Slide member; 140... Drive belt; 145... Projection; 153... Idle roller; 142...drive surface;
155...support play roller; 160...one clutch; 166...recess; 170...ball; 16
8... Slope; 161... Clutch member; 55...
Secure stop.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A stacking roller conveyor for conveying articles in a conveyance direction, comprising a frame, a plurality of conveyor rollers, and a slope device on the frame that is inclined in the conveyance direction, Each of the rollers has a cylindrical drive sleeve, the drive sleeve passing through the drive sleeve transversely to the frame and having a longitudinal axis engageable with the ramp device and rotatably supporting the drive sleeve. directional shafts, each of the conveyor rollers being generally positioned forwardly along the ramp with respect to the conveying direction and frictionally engaging and driving the conveyor rollers. a drive device for transporting articles supported on said conveyor rollers in said conveying direction; and a drive device coupled between each of said shafts and a drive sleeve of an associated conveyor roller, the drive device a one-way clutch mechanism movable between an actuated state and a non-actuated state, said one-way mechanism engaging said shaft and said drive sleeve about an axis of said shaft in a first direction of transporting articles; in the clutch actuated state, the one-way clutch mechanism prevents relative rotational movement between the shaft and the drive sleeve about the axis of the shaft, and the conveyor rollers When in a normal forward position along the ramp, the one-way clutch mechanism is declutched, and when in contact with a stationary item, the conveyor rollers are responsive to the drive. moving rearwardly along the ramp device toward a position out of engagement with the device, the one-way clutch mechanism causing the conveyor roller to move forwardly along the ramp device while in contact with the stationary item. an accumulating roller conveyor characterized in that, in response to the movement of the conveyor rollers, the clutch moves into an actuated state to prevent further forward movement of the conveyor rollers along the ramp system. 2. In the accumulating roller conveyor according to claim 1, arranged at each end of each shaft,
Collecting roller conveyor characterized in that it has a sliding member mounted on an associated ramp device for smooth movement of the associated conveyor roller with respect to the frame. 3. An accumulating roller conveyor as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the bevel device comprises a pair of opposed slots in the frame, each of the slots being arranged with respect to the conveying direction of the conveyor. An accumulating roller conveyor characterized in that it has a support surface that slopes upwardly and backwardly. 4. An accumulating roller conveyor according to claim 3, wherein the upwardly and rearwardly inclined support surface is inclined at an angle of about 5° with respect to the horizontal. 5. In the integrated roller conveyor according to any one of claims 1 to 4, a drive device that frictionally engages with the conveyor rollers,
An accumulating roller conveyor characterized in that it is a continuous drive belt that engages the underside of the conveyor rollers. 6. An accumulating roller conveyor according to claim 5, characterized in that it has an idle support roller arranged below the extent of extension of the drive belt that engages the conveyor roller. . 7. An accumulating roller conveyor as claimed in claim 6, wherein an adjustment cam supporting the idler support roller, the vertical position of the idler support roller with respect to the associated conveyor roller and therefore the associated An integrated roller conveyor characterized in that it has an adjusting cam for adjusting the pressure acting on the conveyor rollers. 8. An accumulating roller conveyor according to claim 5, 6 or 7, wherein the drive belt has a limited length protrusion disposed towards the conveyor roller; Upon stopping movement of the item along the conveyor roller, the protrusion causes the contacting conveyor roller to stop moving.
An accumulating roller conveyor characterized in that the rollers are moved upwardly and rearwardly out of contact with the remainder of the drive belt. 9. Accumulating roller conveyor according to claim 8, characterized in that the projection has a longitudinal extent essentially equal to the longitudinal dimension of the articles to be conveyed by the conveyor. Roller conveyor. 10. The collecting roller conveyor according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the plurality of protrusions are provided at equal intervals along the drive belt. .