Whisker driven conveyor system

Abstract

A conveyor apparatus for trays or the like comprising a framework for supporting a conveyor path along which the trays are to be conveyed; the framework having side rails for aligning the trays in a uniform orientation along the path of the apparatus; a plurality of freely rotating rollers mounted on the framework between the side rails; the rollers being mounted on the framework in serial spaced relationship such that the uppermost tangential surfaces of successive rollers lie in a continuous plane defining a support surface for the trays; a plurality of wheels mounted to the framework between the rails, the wheels having whiskers protruding from the circumference thereof; the whiskers being bendable from a position in which the whiskers normally protrude from the wheels and resiliently reformable back to the position in which the whiskers normally protrude; the wheels being mounted serially along the length of the conveyor path and between the rollers such that the whiskers extend above the continuous plane in which the uppermost surfaces of the rollers lie; the wheels being drivably rotatable such that the whiskers rotate and define a direction of travel for the trays; and the whiskers on a wheel contacting the underside surface of a tray traveling past a wheel and bending upon said contact, the whiskers exerting frictional force on a contacted tray and moving a contacted tray forward in the direction of travel defined by the rotatably driven wheels.