Importance

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Abstract

An apparatus for dispensing individual containers, for example flower pots, from a nested stack of containers. The apparatus may be used to dispense rows of individual containers into a larger container, for example, a tray. The apparatus includes a first extendable arm for holding the stack of containers in an elevated position within a hollow column adapted to hold the stack of containers vertical, a second extendable arm for wedging the stack of containers, with the exception of the bottom container in the stack, against the side of the column and a third extendable arm for contacting the bottom container in the stack, thereby causing the bottom container to separate from the stack and fall into the tray. The apparatus also includes a wedge disposed within the column, opposite to the second extendable arm for facilitating the exposure of the lip of the bottom container. The wedge does not extend all of the way to the bottom of the column, and therefore, when the second extendable arm pushes the stack of containers laterally against the wedge, the bottom container does not contact the wedge, but rather extends towards the third extendable arm further than the other containers.

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First Claim