Palleting apparatus

Claim 1

Palleting apparatus comprising a transfer station at the end of a delivery conveyor for articles that are to be deposited on a pallet in layers, means disposed adjacent said transfer station for supporting the pallet, said pallet-supporting means being adapted to be rotated intermittently and to be lowered by a distance equivalent to the height of one layer of articles on the pallet after each complete layer of articles has been deposited, wherein said transfer station comprises a plurality of rotatable rollers forming a roller track for receiving and supporting the articles and having axes extending transversely to the conveying direction of said delivery conveyor, a transfer rake having prongs that are parallel to said rollers and of substantially the same length as said rollers, said transfer rake being vertically movable from a first position at which said prongs are disposed between said rollers beneath an article thereon to an elevated second position at which said prongs and the article thereon are disposed above the supporting plane of said roller track and also being horizontally movable to an elevated third position at which said prongs and the article thereon are disposed above said pallet, and means for sweeping an article off the said prongs for depositing it on the said pallet, said roller track and transfer rake being displaceable in a direction lengthwise of the conveying direction of said delivery conveyor after each layer of articles has been deposited on said pallet so as to change the location of disposition of articles that are to form the next layer.