Today in 1953, US Patent 2633251 A was issued, an invention of John K. Bruce, for his “Palletizer.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

My invention provides a completely automatic machine for loading pallets. Empty pallets may be fed into one end of the machine, and cartons or boxes fed in from the side and loaded pallets may be delivered out the other end. Not only does my palletizer accurately layer and stack the cartons and boxes, but in addition arranges non-cubic boxes in any selected pattern so that the boxes of different layers will interlock or overlap and provide a stable and rigid stack on the pallet.