APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PACKAGING SIDING PANELS

摘要

An apparatus (100) for sorting and packaging vinyl siding panels (301). The apparatus comprises a panel receiving section (101) for positioning in line with a panel extrusion line, pins (102) for inverting and stacking the panels atop each other with the pins being coupled to a frame supporting the panel receiving section and situated below the panel receiving section, a panel accumulation section situated below the panel receiving section and the pins, and a mechanism means, preferably a ram mechanism (18), situated at a first end of the panel accumulation section for pushing the panels from the panel accumulation section and into a container (401), such as a pre-made carton, situated at a second end of the panel accumulation section that is opposite the first end. The apparatus substantially reduces ergonomic issues associated with the current apparatus for packaging vinyl siding panels and substantially increases the vinyl siding panel extrusion rate. A method is also disclosed.