Patent ID: 7779606

Claim:
A method of packaging articles into a series of cartons comprising: conveying the articles along an article infeed path; picking up each of the cartons with a carrier moving along a loading path and conveying the cartons about a first side of a loading carousel along an initial portion of the loading path in a direction substantially parallel to and opposite from the article infeed path; as the cartons are moved along the initial portion of their loading path, opening the cartons to a configuration for receiving the articles therein; moving the cartons to a lowered position below the article infeed path of the articles after pickup; redirecting and conveying the opened cartons about a second side of the loading carousel and along a downstream portion of their loading path in a direction substantially parallel to and into alignment with the articles moving along the article infeed path; as the cartons are moved along the downstream portion of their loading path, raising the cartons to a loading position below the articles; and lowering the articles into the cartons.