Abstract: An apparatus for gently transferring delicate produce from a supply conveyor into a dry storage bin. The discharge head of the apparatus has a reversible delivery board which directs and uniformly stacks the produce within the bin without bruising the produce. The transfer apparatus utilizes a series of opposed brushes on a parallel conveyor arrangement to gently support and transfer the produce to the bin. The discharge head and the bin move relative to each other in both the horizontal and vertical planes to provide uniform layers of produce and to adjust for the increasing layers in the bin.

Abstract: A bag at a filling station is automatically filled with loose fruit, such as apples, while the mouth of the bag is held open by a pair of finger gripping assemblies. Upon the conclusion of the filling operation the finger gripping assemblies, which are mounted upon a pivotable transfer arm, are swung away from the filling station to carry the filled bag into the throat of an automatic bag tying machine with the upper end of the bag being bunched together into a neck within the throat of the machine. When the bag is fully received in the throat of the machine, the machine is pivoted downwardly to bring the lower face thereof into engagement with the fruit in the bag. Thus, when the tie is thereafter applied about the neck of the bag within the throat of the machine a tight package is formed which will facilitate the later handling thereof and which will be more attractive to the ultimate consumer.

Abstract: Means for destacking or restacking sequences of bins wherein the bins are transferred serially from their initial position to their final desired position by clamping assemblies located at the outer end of pivot arms, the pivot arms being capable both of vertical translation and of rotation while maintaining the vertical orientation of the bin being transferred. One or more photosensing devices is used to properly position the pivot arms and associated clamping assemblies relative to the uppermost bin in the stack to be transferred.