Abstract: An automated arrangement for filling a shipping rack structure with water bottles (or any other type of bottle) includes an elevator arrangement and a pusher component, both under the control of a programmed control element (such as a microprocessor), to automatically present a plurality of filled bottles to an open rack “column” and move (push) the bottles from the elevator into the rack. The loader system is pre-programmed with inputs including the array size of the rack being loaded (i.e., how many bottles “deep” along each rail, the number of rows in the rack and the number of columns in the rack). With this information, the elevator will thus lift the proper number of bottles into place to fill a column, and then stop. Once the elevator stops, the pusher component will advance to move the column of bottles into the rack. The pusher then retracts, the elevator is re-started, and the next column of filled bottles is loaded into the elevator.

Abstract: An automated arrangement for filling a shipping rack structure with water bottles (or any other type of bottle) includes an elevator arrangement and a pusher component, both under the control of a programmed control element (such as a microprocessor), to automatically present a plurality of filled bottles to an open rack “column” and move (push) the bottles from the elevator into the rack. The loader system is pre-programmed with inputs including the array size of the rack being loaded (i.e., how many bottles “deep” along each rail, the number of rows in the rack and the number of columns in the rack). With this information, the elevator will thus lift the proper number of bottles into place to fill a column, and then stop. Once the elevator stops, the pusher component will advance to move the column of bottles into the rack. The pusher then retracts, the elevator is re-started, and the next column of filled bottles is loaded into the elevator.