Abstract: Two pairs of spaced conveyor chains 18, 19 and 20, 21 are disposed one inside the other, and traverse identical rectangular runs between an infeed station 28 and an outfeed station 58. Each pair carries a respective serial array of pickup devices 22-23 and 33-41 arranged in two oppositely spaced groups for accommodating rolls of paper towels or the like. The conveyor chain pairs are independently driven by separate motors 6, 7 in such a manner that while one group of pickup devices is being intermittently stepped or indexed through the infeed station for loading, the other, previously loaded group is continuously advanced to the outfeed station for unloading and thereafter back to the vacated infeed station.

Abstract: When packaging round articles such as bottles, jars and the like, it is a desideratum that the articles be automatically arranged in such a formation so that the largest possible number of articles are brought together on a parallelepipedic base of a given size.Such a formation -- a scroll pattern formation -- can be obtained in a most simple manner in using a method and nodwire by which the articles are formed to rows, which through a feed opening are fed to a surface at which the scroll pattern formation shall be obtained, said feed opening being adjusted between every row feeding operation so that it, after every second feed operation, is moved a step sidewise and after the other feed operations is moved to its original position.