Patent ID: 7997417

Claim:
Upwardly oriented storage ( 100 ) having an interior space ( 110 , 112 ) for storing height-wise returnable items ( 10 ), such as bottles, cans and the like of plastic, glass or metal, said storage comprising: a) a bottom ( 120 , 121 , 122 ) and at least one side wall ( 130 , 131 , 132 ), wherein the storage further comprises: b) a feed opening ( 140 , 142 ) arranged i) in the bottom or ii) in the sidewall and at a relatively short distance height-wise from the bottom such that a substantial part of the storage space is located above the feed opening to accommodate randomly stacked returnable items laying one on top of another, and c) a conveyor means ( 200 ) adjacent to the feed opening and adapted to force a returnable item towards the feed opening, and wherein the storage space has a width dimension ( 111 ) that is a multiple of the width dimension or in excess of a length dimension of a returnable item for storage in said upwardly oriented storage, whereby a plurality of returnable items can be accommodated in said interior space as one of more of: substantially side by side, at least in part side by side, and in a random “criss-cross” manner.