Abstract: A loading apparatus for a cargo vessel comprising conveyor means including a loading-in conveyor, a first turning conveyor, a traversing conveyor, a second turning conveyor and a lowering conveyor; and conveyor switching means to move said first and second turning and traversing conveyors transversely of said vessel either to a first position in which one of said first and second turning conveyors projects from one of the sides of said vessel over a quay, or to a second position in which the other turning conveyor projects from the other side of said vessel over the quay. In the first position of the movable conveyors, the loading-in conveyor is arranged between the one turning conveyor and the quay in an inclined manner while the lowering conveyor is arranged between the other turning conveyor and the bottom of the uppermost hold of said vessel in an inclined manner.

Abstract: A conveyor handling system is described in which two endless belts are serially arranged along a predetermined path. The rollers supporting the two belts at adjacent ends of the belts are mounted on a common rotary shaft. The rotary shaft is supported upon a reciprocatable carriage which also supports the downstream belt and when activated, the carriage is arranged to reciprocate the downstream belt bodily. The upper run of the upstream belt is extendable to follow the reciprocation of the downstream belt. The upstream belt is driven at a constant speed.The downstream belt, which is coupled to the rotary shaft through a one way clutch, is initially driven at the same speed as the upstream belt, but when the carriage is reciprocated (at a speed greater than the upstream belt), the clutch locks and the downstream belt adopts the speed of the carriage.

Abstract: An improved method and apparatus for automatically loading a pallet including placing an empty pallet into loading position, loading items onto the pallet in a preselected arrangement, and removing the loaded pallet. The apparatus includes a conveyor system for delivering items to the loading means may move laterally, vertically and rotatably. The entire operation may be hydraulic, and may be controlled by a program, such as by the use of a program tape, or program cards, or by a conventional relay control panel.