Stacking of gloves

摘要

The present invention relates to a glove stacking apparatus (100) that has a receptacle (101) into which gloves (46) are placed for preparing a stack of gloves (50) prior to packing into a container such as a glove dispensing box, and to a method of stacking gloves prior to packing into a container. The receptacle (101) comprises: an opening to the receptacle for receiving gloves added to the stack of gloves; a floor (40) within the receptacle and opposite the opening for supporting the stack of gloves, the floor being movable relative to the opening, so that, in use, the floor may be moved relatively away from said opening so that as gloves are added to said stack of gloves said stack remains within the receptacle and so that when the stack of gloves is complete the floor may be moved relatively toward the opening to remove the stack of gloves from the receptacle, the movement of the floor within the receptacle thereby defining a substantially vertical packing axis (120) of the receptacle; and a plurality of sides (107, 108) which define the opening and that have corresponding side surfaces (117, 118) that extend away from the opening for containment of the stack within the receptacle. At least one of the sides comprises a first portion proximate the receptacle opening and a second portion that is relatively farther away from the opening than the first portion, this side having an angled side surface (30) that is at an angle to the packing axis (120) such that the angled side surface extends inwardly towards the packing axis from the second side portion towards the first side portion.