An automatic packaging apparatus has an arraying and supplying station, a
sorting station and a packaging station. The arraying and supplying
station forcibly arrays and supplies encased products to orient their
caps in one direction. The sorting station selectively sorts the arrayed
encased products to a first feed path for feeding the encased products to
package the encased products in a abreast-arrayed attitude and a second
feed path for feeding the encased products to package the encased
products in a tandem-arrayed attitude. The packaging station
automatically packages the encased products by a shrink sheet in the
abreast-arrayed attitude or the tandem-arrayed attitude.