Patent ID: 8915696

Claim:
A method for depalletizing stacked containers located one above another in a stack, comprising the steps of: moving an assembly over at least an uppermost container in said stack, said assembly comprising two movable support base members each having a leading edge at which a roller is mounted, said support base members being initially positioned to form an open space between the respective rollers; positioning said assembly relative to the uppermost container to cause the uppermost container to be located in said open space while frictionally engaging opposite sides of said uppermost container with the respective rollers; repositioning said assembly to bring said rollers beneath said uppermost container and closing said support base members beneath said uppermost container while said uppermost container rides on said rollers, to bring said leading edges of said support base members toward each other to produce a support base beneath said uppermost container; and lifting said uppermost container off of said stack on said opposite sides thereof with said support base beneath said uppermost container.