A TRANSPORT APPARATUS

A transport apparatus (1) comprises a conveyor (3) for conveying discrete products to be sorted and a loading unit (5) for receiving a product which loading unit (5) is located along the conveyor (3) and a product transfer device (8) for transferring a product from the loading unit (5) to the conveyor (3). The transport apparatus also comprises a first product detector for detecting a free location at the conveyor (3) for receiving a product, a second product detector for detecting a product at the loading unit (5) and a controller having an input for receiving signals from the first and second product detectors, respectively, and an output for sending a control signal to the product transfer device (8). The controller is configured such that when the first product detector detects a free location at the conveyor (3) and the second product detector detects a product at the loading unit (5) the product transfer device (8) transfers the product from the loading unit (5) to the free location when the free location passes the loading unit (5).