Apple Bagger

An apple packing house was hand loading apples into plastic tote bags. As demand for the tote bags grew, this operation consumed an increasing amount of hand labor. In addition, the amount of apples per bag varied significantly, depending on the worker.

After studying ways to move apples without bruising, as well as the sizes and shapes of the bags available, Graybill designed and built an apple bagger that holds the plastic tote bag open and rolls the apples into the bag in a controlled manner. Bags are moved along a racetrack-shaped course from the bag loading station, through apple loading and bag unloading.

The customer was pleased with the reduced labor cost and less give-away due to controlled bag weights, as well as the ability to fill larger orders more easily. More recently, capability to bag apples in one-handled paper tote bags has been added.