Patent ID: 7559737

Claim:
An assembly line for stacking products on pallets to a specified total height, comprising: a. a pallet conveyor having a conveyor path direction, including i. a first build position, ii. a second build position downstream of the first build position in the conveyor path direction; b. a pallet supply adjacent the conveyor, including an elevator for sequentially placing a plurality of pallets onto said pallet conveyor; c. a product supply device supplying a plurality of products to be stacked on said pallets, wherein the product supply is offset in a horizontal direction from the pallet conveyor, wherein said product supply further comprises: i. a first product conveyor supplying said products to a first pick position located proximate said first robot; ii. a second product conveyor supplying said products to a second pick position located proximate said second robot, and wherein said first pick position is at a low elevation and said second pick position is at a high elevation; d. a first robot, located proximate said first build position and positioned on a first base at a low elevation so that the range of motion of said first robot encompasses said product supply and said first build position up to an elevation greater than one half of said specified total height of said pallets, said first robot configured to pick up a first product selected from said plurality of products from said product supply, transport said first product from said product supply to said first build position, and deposit said first product on one of said pallets; and e. a second robot, located proximate said second build and positioned on a second base which elevates the second robot higher than first base elevates the first robot, wherein the second base is at a high elevation, so that said range of motion of said second robot encompasses said product supply and said second build position up to an elevation greater than said specified total height of said pallets, said second robot configured to pick up a second product selected from said plurality of products from said product supply, transport said second product from said product supply to said second build position, and deposit said second product on one of said pallets.