Equipment for arranging packages

Claim 1

A MECHANISM FOR SELECTIVELY ORIENTING PACKAGES COMPRISING THREE CONVEYORS MOUNTED IN GENERALLY SIDE BY SIDE RELATION, SAID CONVEYORS BEING ADAPTED TO RECEIVE PACKAGES FROM AN INPUT STATION AND TO DELIVER THEM IN DESIRED ORIENTATION TO AN OUTPUT STATION, THE TWO OUTBOARD CONVEYORS OF SAID THREE CONVEYORS HAVIANG THEIR PACKAGE SUPPORTING SURFACES, POSITIONED AT SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME LEVEL, SAID OUTBOARD CONVEYORS BEING SPACED APART A DISTANCE GREATER THAN THE WIDTH OF A PACKAGE TO BE ORIENTED AND LESS THAN THE LENGTH OF SUCH A PACKAGE, THE INBOARD CONVEYOR OF SAID THREE CONVEYORS HAVING ITS PACKAGE SUPPORTING SURFACE POSITIONED AT A LEVEL LOWER THAN THAT OF THE OTHER CONVEYORS, POWER MEANS CONNECTED WITH EACH OF SAID CONVEYORS FOR NORMALLY MOVING THE PACKAGE SUPPORTING SURFACES THEREOF, TOWARD SAID OUTPUT STATION, INCLUDING MEANS FOR MOVING THE PACKAGE SUPPORTING SURFACES OF THE OUTBOARD CONVEYORS AT SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME SPEED, AND MECHANISM FOR SELECTIVELY ALTERING THE RELATIVE SPEED OF THE PACKAGE SUPPORTING SURFACE OF ONE OF SAID OUTBOARD CONVEYORS, WITH RESPECT TO THE SPEED OF THE OTHER OUTBOARD CONVEYOR.