precisely positioned to receive the next article pair 22 as it is received from the lateral conveyor 16 if the vertical position of the base or stack is too high the article pair will be blocked and cannot reach the lift 24 if the vertical position of the base or stack is too low the next article pair 22 will fall from the lateral conveyor 16 but it may become misaligned or even turn on its side as it falls experience with the prototype of the apparatus 10 has shown that a vertical position of the top of the base or stack of previously deposited article pairs 22 is preferably about 1 4 inch below the level of the article pairs 22 on the chain belt 50 the controller 76 controls the vertical position of the base 64 through the operation of the motor 66 which positions the drive 68 the proper position is that point where the light beam of the optical sensor 70 is just broken the controller 76 also counts the number of article pairs 22 that have been stacked on the base 64 at any time to establish the size of the bundle 26 the bundle 26 formed of a number typically five of the article pairs 22 is vertically oriented as it is formed as illustrated in fig2 after the bundle is formed it is pushed sideways by a pusher plate 77 actuated by the movement of an air cylinder 78 from its position on the base 64 to lie upon the longitudinal conveyor 30 for the banding and stacking operations it is desirable that the bundle 26 be turned through 90 degrees to rest on its side to accomplish this turning operation the cradle 28.