Infeed apparatus for article handling system.

摘要

An infeed apparatus for an article handling system includes an infeed lane (12) for guiding a flow of articles in a facewise nested condition. A separating station (16) is located along the infeed lane (12) for receiving the flow of articles and a separating device (18) located adjacent the separating station separates the articles into groups (15) of articles of a predetermined length. A shuttle (20) receives a group (15) of articles from the separating device (18) and transports the group (15) of articles to an infeed station (22) located along the infeed lane (12) at a location remote from the separating station (16). A trailing end hold-up (24) engages a trailing end of a group (150 of articles in the infeed station (22) to permit the shuttle (20) to return to the separating station (16) to receive a subsequent group of articles. <IMAGE>