Patent ID: 8322970

Claim:
A conveying and stacking apparatus for stacking items or substrates carrying items thereon received from an infeed conveyor, comprising: a stacker having a housing and at least one movable platform upon which the item or the substrate with one or more items located thereon is placed; an overhead loading belt assembly including at least one belt assembly positioned to travel on top of at least a portion of the infeed conveyor adjacent to the at least one moveable platform and the at least one movable platform with a slack portion of the at least one belt assembly to carry the item or the substrate with the one or more items located thereon to a stacking position on the at least one platform; and a movable roller that can be moved between a first position where the slack portion of the at least one belt assembly is in contact with at least one of the at least one moveable platform or the item or the substrate with the one or more items located thereon to be stacked positioned on the at least one platform, and a second position where the slack portion of the at least one belt assembly is lifted to a position that does not contact the at least one of the platform or the item or the substrate with the one or more items located thereon to be stacked positioned on the platform, and the movable roller is in the second position during actuation of the at least one movable platform.