Abstract: This invention relates to a power-driven conveyor system for transporting and accumulating a plurality of items along a path of movement from a source to a destination. The system includes a horizontally oriented section for accumulating the items along the path and an apparatus for transporting the items therealong. The apparatus may be either a plurality of parallel, spaced-apart endless belts or a plurality of conveying sections interconnected together to form an endless carrier. Each section of the carrier may constitute itself a device for directly carrying one of the items. The invention provides an effective horizontal accumulator for items on a production or an assembly line operating at a relatively high speed. The accumulator operates on the FIFO principle so that, upon a malfunction of either upstream or downstream equipment, dated or otherwise sequentially marked items are stored in such a manner that the first item into the system is the first item to come out.

Abstract: This invention relates to a power-driven conveyor system for transporting and accumulating a plurality of items along a path of movement from a source to a destination. The system includes a horizontally oriented section for accumulating the items along the path and an apparatus for transporting the items therealong. The apparatus may be either a plurality of parallel, spaced-apart endless belts or a plurality of conveying sections interconnected together to form an endless carrier. Each section of the carrier may constitute itself a device for directly carrying one of the items. The invention provides an effective horizontal accumulator for items on a production or an assembly line operating at a relatively high speed. The accumulator operates on the FIFO principle so that, upon a malfunction of either upstream or downstream equipment, dated or otherwise sequentially marked items are stored in such a manner that the first item into the system is the first item to come out.