Article handling apparatus

Claim 1

Article handling apparatus for pushing articles comprising a horizontally disposed shelf, spaced dividers on said shelf dividing the upper surface of said shelf into parallel lanes, said dividers having a rear end portion and a forward end portion, pusher means having a vertically disposed face for pushing articles along one of said lanes, said face extending generally perpendicular from the divider adjacent the lane in which the face is disposed, endless means supported by said divider for reciprocating said face along the lane in which it is disposed between a rear position adjacent said divider rear end position and a forward position, connecting means for connecting one end of said pusher means to a top run of said endless means so that said pusher means is pivotable about a vertical axis passing through said connecting means, a wheel supported by each end portion of said divider, at least the wheel at the rear end portion of said divider having a peripheral driving surface which is at least partially exposed so that it may be contacted by a drive means, said endless means extending around a portion of each wheel, said pusher means being pivotable only in its rear position from an article contacting position in its associated lane to a loading position wherein a major portion of said face projects beyond the longitudinal end of said divider and is generally parallel to a vertically disposed plane passing through the lengthwise dimension of said divider, and means to prevent said face from pivoting out of contact with an article when said face is in its associated lane and spaced from its rear position.