Patent ID: 7156607

Claim:
Apparatus for stacking items, comprising: (a) a first conveyor receiving the items and controlling item flow into the apparatus, with the first conveyor having a discharge end; (b) a second conveyor having an infeed end receiving the items from the discharge end of the first conveyor and having a discharge end; (c) a stacker conveyor having an infeed end receiving the items from the discharge end of the second conveyor; (d) a plurality of moving stacker shelves receiving the items from the stacker conveyor; (e) a shifting mechanism for moving the stacker conveyor adjacent one of the plurality of moving stacker shelves, with the discharge end of the second conveyor moving with the infeed end of the stack conveyor such that angular relationships between the second conveyor and the first conveyor and between the second conveyor and the stacker conveyor change with movement of the stacker conveyor; and (f) a stack unloader.