Apparatus for securing cartons on the top of articles carried in a case

An apparatus for feeding cartons in succession from a stack of cartons, spaced openings provided in a main body portion of said carton for receiving articles, and a space provided between said main body portions of said cartons when carried in said stack, said apparatus comprising:

• a support plate;
• a plurality of picker fingers carried on said support plate;
• outwardly extending projections carried adjacent a top portion of said picker fingers;
• means for selectively moving said support plate to and from said stack of cartons for inserting said plurality of picker fingers adjacent said openings in at least the last carton of said stack of cartons allowing said outwardly extending projections to be inserted in the space between said last carton and the next to the last carton and for separating said last carton from the remainder of said stack of cartons;
• a pivotal means supporting each of said outwardly extending projections;
• and
• means for shifting said pivotal means moving said projections laterally of said fingers for inserting said projections between said last carton and said next to said last carton prior to removing said last carton from said stack,
• whereby said cartons are successively removed from said stack when said support plate is moved from said stack of cartons.