Retarder for gravity conveyor

Claim 1

IN COMBINATION WITH A GRAVITY CONVEYOR HAVING A PLURALITY OF FREELY ROTATABLE ARTICLE TRANSPORTING ELEMENTS ARRANGED TO FORM A CONVEYING SURFACE ALONG WHICH THE ARTICLES TRAVEL, AN ARTICLE BRAKE COMPRISING: ONE OF SAID ELEMENTS BEING MOVABLY SUPPORTED TO SHIFT FROM A RAISED POSITION ABOVE SAID CONVEYING SURFACE TO A LOWERED POSITION GENERALLY FLUSH THEREWITH AND MEANS RESILIENTLY URGING SAID ONE ELEMENT INTO SAID RAISED POSITION; A BRAKE MEMBER MOVABLY MOUNTED TO SHIFT BETWEEN EXTENDED AND RETRACTED POSITIONS, SAID BRAKE MEMBER HAVING A SURFACE CHARACTERIZED BY A HIGH CO-EFFICIENT OF FRICTION ENGAGING SAID ONE ELEMENT WHEN SAID BRAKE MEMBER IS EXTENDED AND SAID ONE ELEMENT IS IN SAID LOWERED POSITION; AN ACTUATOR; SAID BRAKE MEMBER UPON ACTIVATION OF SAID ACTUATOR SHIFTING TO RETRACTED POSITION TO DISENGAGE SAID ONE ELEMENT; A SIGNAL GENERATING SENSOR TRIPPED BY SAID ONE ELEMENT WHEN SAID ONE ELEMENT SHIFTS TO ITS LOWERED POSITION, SAID SENSOR BEING OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO SAID ACTUATOR BY A SIGNAL CONDUCTING MEMBER; SAID SIGNAL CONDUCTING MEMBER HAVING A TIMER FOR DELAYING THE TRANSMISSION OF THE SENSOR''S SIGNAL TO THE ACTUATOR FOR A PREDETERMINED INTERVAL.