Article transfer apparatus

In combination with a pair of horizontal belt conveyors with one conveyor being located above the other conveyor, apparatus for transferring articles from the lower horizontal conveyor to the upper horizontal conveyor, said apparatus being positioned to one side of said conveyors and comprising an upstanding relatively narrow frame supporting an elevator device having first and second horizontally spaced sprocket wheels located adjacent the upper conveyor, third and fourth horizontally spaced sprocket wheels located adjacent the lower conveyor, the first and third sprocket wheels being vertically aligned, fifth and sixth sprocket wheels rigidly connected to and axially aligned with the first and third sprocket wheels respectively, a first endless chain entrained about said first, second, third and fourth sprocket wheels and having a plurality of lifter members uniformly spaced a predetermined distance from each other and connected to the first chain along the length thereof, a second endless chain entrained about said fifth and sixth sprocket wheels and having a plurality of lifter members connected thereto that are uniformly spaced at distances equal to the predetermined distance between the lifter members on said first chain, all of said sprocket wheels being identical and being so arranged that when one of said sprocket wheels is driven the lifter members of said first and second chains are horizontally aligned in pairs along a plane perpendicular to the rotational axes of the fifth and sixth sprocket wheels for supporting vertically spaced articles, a chain-driven ejector, said ejector comprising a third endless chain and a plurality of sprocket wheels located within the confines of said frame, said third chain being entrained about said last mentioned sprocket wheels which include seventh and eighth sprocket wheels that rotate about the same axes as the first and second sprocket wheels respectively, at least one ejector element secured to said third chain for movement in a closed path and for engaging one article carried by one horizontally aligned pair of lifter members located at an elevation higher than said upper conveyor for discharging the article onto the upper conveyor, a motor, means drivingly connecting the motor to the first, second and third chains whereby the ejector and lifter members move synchronously so when each horizontally aligned pair of said lifter members are raised a distance equal to said predetermined distance the ejector causes said one article to be discharged from said one pair of the lifter members onto the upper conveyor, and control means including a first switch means located in axial alignment with said lower conveyor and actuated by a article deposited by the lower conveyor into the apparatus for energizing the electric motor and a second switch means actuated by said lifter members for deenergizing said electric motor after the article is raised by the accommodating lifter members a distance equal to said predetermined distance.