Handling of packed containers

Claim 1

APPARATUS FOR STACKING GENERALLY RECTANGULAR CONTAINERS ON PALLETS IN LAYERS HAVING PREDETERMINED PATTERNS COMPRISING: A FEED CONVEYOR DIVIDING INTO TWO PATHS; A GROUPING STATION COMMUNICATING WITH SAID PATHS; ONE OF SAID PATHS FEEDING THE CONTAINERS TO SAID GROUPING STATION AT RIGHT ANGLES TO THE OTHER PATH; MEANS OPERATIVE AT THE JUNCTURE OF SAID FEED CONVEYOR AND SAID PATHS FOR SELECTIVELY DEFLECTING THE CONTAINERS CARRIED THEREBY TO EACH OF SAID PATHS IN A PREDETERMINED SEQUENCE RESPONSIVE TO THE NUMBER OF CONTAINERS FED THERETO; A STRIPPER PLATE DEFINING A HORIZONTAL PLATFORM ALIGNED WITH SAID GROUPING STATION, SAID STRIPPER PLATE BEING HORIZONTALLY MOVABLE IN TRANSVERSE RELATIONSHIP TO SAID GROUPING STATION; URGING MEANS FOR ALIGNING AT LEAST FIVE OF SAID CONTAINERS FED TO SAID GROUPING STATIONS IN SEQUENTIALLY ALTERNATING LAYERS, THE CONSECUTIVELY FORMED LAYERS BEING OPERATIVE FOR INTERLOCKING RELATIONSHIP WHEN STACKED UPON ONE ANOTHER, SAID URGING MEANS BEING OPERATIVE TO TRANSFER THE CONTAINERS TO SAID STRIPPER PLATE; A VERTICALLY MOVABLE PALLET LOADING STATION POSITIONED IN THE TRANSVERSE PATH OF MOVEMENT OF SAID HORIZONTAL PLATFORM, AND OPERATIVE TO RECEIVE A CONTAINER LAYER WHEN SAID PLATFORM IS POSITIONED THEREOVER, AND MEANS FOR STRIPPING THE CONTAINER LAYER FROM SAID STRIPPER PLATE ONTO SAID PALLET LOADING STATION WHEN SAID STRIPPER PLATE IS MOVED TRANSVERSELY BACK TO ITS POSITION ADJACENT SAID GROUPING STATION.