CA1113128A - Carton forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present invention provides means for transferring articles between article conveyors disposed in different planes, comprising: wheel means mounted for rotation about an axis dis-posed at a first angle as respects the direction of travel of one of said conveyors; means defining spaced article retaining pockets on the periphery of said wheel means, each said pocket disposed at a second angle relative to the rotational plane of said wheel means; and means for incrementally rotating said wheel means and one of said conveyors to feed articles from the latter individually into said pockets for transfer thereby upon rotation of said wheel means and transfer to the other of said conveyors in inverted and aligned relationship to the position of the article as fed by said one conveyor.

Description

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The present invention relates to packaging, and more particularly to improvements in apparatus for forming tubular carton shells from single blanks of paperboard or the like.
This application is a divisional application of copend-ing application No. 314,054 filed October 24, 1978.
In manufacturing operations involving the packaging of products in paperboard cartons it has been a practice for the packaging party either to purchase so-called pre-glued, flat-folded carton shells or to purchase carton-forming machinery of the type used by carton manufacturers. The carton purchasing procedure of course requires ordering, sorting, and setting-up of flat-folded carton shells in anticipation of the need for same, and the carton self-manufacturing procedure requires invest-ment in carton forming apparatus. Requirements of this herein-above described type represent, of course, cost factors in a highly competitive art.
The present invention provides improved carton shell forming apparatus that is economical both in its structure and in ~its operation.
~ The present invention also provides improved carton shell forming apparatus that is readily adaptable for use in com-~bination with carton filling apparatus of known type.
; The present invention further provides improved carton ~` ~ shell forming appàratus that is versatile, both in its structure -and~ln its~adaptability for use in combination with other carton handling apparatus.
In copending application No. 314,054 there is disclosed and claimed an àpparatus for forming carton blanks into tubular carton~shells each~having at least one shell sealing flap on a 30~; ~lateral portlon thereof, comprising; means defining serially ~ dl~sposed stations through which said carton blanks sequentially :- ~ : , ~ may be moved; incrementally driven conveyor means for moving said _, ., carton blanks throllgh said stations with a pause at each said station; means defining a mandrel extending along the path of movement of said conveyor means, and on which said carton blanks are formed into carton shells; means for sequentially forming shells on said mandrel as said carton blanks are moved by said conveyor means; carton blank ~eeding means for delivering individ-ual carton blanks to said conveyor means upon incremental drive thereof; said conveyor means comprising first and second sections extending in substantially parallel, mutually spaced relation in the direction of the recited path of travel, said first section extending between said blank feeding means and the upstream end of said mandrel, said second section extending between said blank feeding means and the downstream end of said mandrel; and means disposed along the path of travel of said conveyor means for ~ -adhering said sealing flaps to seal said carton shells.
The invention again provides improved transfer apparatus for carton shells or like articles operative to remove carton shells from a forming machine and to rotationally orient same for presentation to further shell handling apparatus, such as, for example, a carton filiing machine.
According to !-he present invention ~here is proviZed transfer means for transferring flat-sided boxes between a pair of first and second conveyors disposed in different horizontal planes, the first of the conveyors moving a box in the process of being folded along a folding mandrel toward a discharge end of the mandrel and the second conveyor receiving the folded box discharged from the mandrel for transporting the received box to a filling machine, and comprising: a plurality of mutually spaced box carriers supported on a shaft for rotational movement about an axis disposed between said planes at the end ; of the conveyor associated with the mandrel and extending at a ~ first:45 angle as respects the direction of travel of that ~:

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conveyor, said carriers being disposed at a second 45 angle as respects ~he rotational plane of movement thereof about said axis;
and an indexing means for effecting incremental movement of said first conveyor and like incremental movement of said box carriers about said axis in unison to accommodate feed of said boxes from the discharge end of said mandrel individually to related areas of said container carriers for transfer individually to the second of said conveyors, thereby to turn and invert said boxes 1~0 about their longitudinal and 90 abou.t their transverse axes with respect to said first conveyor.
In a particular aspect of the present invention -each said carrier comprises a base portion and opposite side wall.portions extendi~ generally radially outwardly as respects said rota~iona~ axis and presentable to the discharge end of said mandrel laterally to receive and to hold a box in provision of its transfer between said conveyors, each said carrier being presentable in juxtaposed relation to and at said other conveyor to discharge a box radially from said carrier to said other conveyor, and means effective by vacuum at the time of juxta-position to transfer-a box from each said carrier to said other conveyor upon completion of turning said box through said angle.
Thus the present invention provides an improved carton shell forming apparatus comprising: means for supplying a plur-ality of carton blanks; carton blank feed means for receiving -blanks from said means for supplying and moving same in sequential steps along a predetermined path defined at least in part by flexedly mounted elongate mandrel means; means disposed along said path for forming a carton shell about said mandrel means; means : 30 for applying glue to a glue flap provided on said blank; means for folding said glue flap onto a confronting portion of said carton . ~ ~ shell blank on said mandrel means to complete said shell; and -2 ~
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means for removing said shell from said mandrel means.
The present invention wili be further il]ustrated by way of the accompanying drawing, in which:

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Figure 1 is a top plan view of carton shell forming apparatus embodying the invention, and prior to initiating its operation;
Figure 2 is a fragmentary perspective showing a right hand portion of the apparatus seen in Figure l;
Figure 3 is a perspective view of one form of carton shell made by apparatus embodying the invention;
Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken gener-ally along line 4-4 applied to Figure 1, looking in the direction of arrows applied thereto, and illustrating an operational feature of the shell forming apparatus;
Figure 5 is a partial view of apparatus seen in Figure 4, illustrating a further operational feature;
Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken gener-ally along line 6-6 applied to Figure 1, looking in the direction of arrows applied thereto, and illustrating a further operational feature of the apparatus;
Figure 7 is a partial view of apparatus seen in Figure 6, and illustrating a further operational feature thereof;
Figures 8 and 9 are fragmentary sectional views taken - -generally along line 8-8 applied to Figure 1, and illustrating : a still further operational feature of the apparatus;
; Figure 10 is a fragmentary sectional view taken gener-ally along lines 10-10 applied to Figure 1, and illustrating another operational feature of the apparatus;
-~; Figures 11 and 12 are partial views of apparatus seen in Figure 10, and illustrating further operational features of the apparatus;

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~$i.~2~3 Figure 13 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the right-hand portion of the apparatus shown in Figure l; and Figure 14 is an elevational view of apparatus shown in Figure 13, as seen looking in the direction of arrows 14-14 applied thereto.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
With more detailed reference to the drawing, and first to Figure 1, carton shell forming apparatus 10 comprises frame structure 11 including a horizontally extending platform section 12. A carton shell forming mandrel 14 extends horizontally along platform section 12 and is fixedly supported on the latter by bracket means 15. As will be appreciated more fully from what~
follows, bra~ket means 15 is so constructed and arranged as to afford sufficient vertical clearance for a carton blank 16 as it is foided upwardly onto mandrel 14, as it is moved therealong, for subsequent sequential folding and gluing into a carton shell 16a as seen in Figure 3, including side glue flaps 16b, 16c, and end closure flaps designated generally by the numeral 16_.
The glue flaps are affixed to the carton panel portions, and panel portions to one another by longitudinally extending scored fold lines 16e. The closure flaps are attached to the panel portions by transversely extending scored fold lines 16f.
A carton blank feed or conveyor apparatus for moving the blank along the mandrel inciudes an intermittently driven chain 17 extending lengthwise of platform section 12 beneath mandrel 14. Chain 17 is a standard roller chain supported ; on sprockets 21 and 22, and, as is seen to advantage in Figures

4 and 5, is provided with carton blank pusher lugs 18 so spaced along the chain as to be disposed at either end of a blank 16 as it is driven along the mandrel. Conveniently, lugs 18 are detachable and positionable at different locations along chain ~`

17 to accomodate handling carton blanks of different lengths.

Lugs 18 also are so dimensioned as to extend vertically into a groove 14a (see also Figs. 2, 4 and 5) provided on the underside of mandrel 14 and extending the length thereof. Also, mandrel 14 is interchangeable with other sized mandrels for different sized blanks.
As is seen also in Figures 1 and 4, the conveyor apparatus further includes a shorter chain 23 disposed about sprockets 24 and 25 on platform 12, so that it is parallel with chain 17, and is provided with lugs 26 that cooperate with lugs 18 to maintain blank 16 square to the mandrel 14 as it is moved therealong in earlier stages of its folding sequence.
In the operation of chains 17 and 23, and as will be more fully - described in what follows, sprockets 21 and 24 serve as the respective drive sprockets and sprockets 22 and 25 serve as the respective idler sprockets. It will be also noted that sprocket 22 is located at the "downstream" end of mandrel 14, and sprocket 25 is located in the region of the "upstream" end of the mandrel. Thus, the conveyor chains 17 and 23 are coextensive, in mutually spaced relation for feeding the flattened ~20 ~ blank 16 to the mandrel, and chain 17 and 7ugs 18 thereafter conveys the blank along the mandrel. Thus, the coextensive sections of chains 17 and 23 form a first conveyor section, whereas the extended portion of chain 17 forms a second conveyor section.
-Still with reference to Fig. 1, a drive assembly ` designated generally by the numeral 27 comprises a frame portion 28 disposed laterally of, and at a lower level than, platform section 12 of frame structure 11. A camshaft 31 is rotationally supported in pillow blocks 32 provided on frame ~30 portion 28 and prime mover means (not shown) is drivingly coupled with camshaft 31 through a roller chain 34 disposed about a sprocket 35a on a shaft S of the prime mover means _5_ . ' . . . .
:. - :- - . . , and a sprocket 35 on a clutch 36 coupled to the camshaft.
Clutch 36 is of the air-operated, single position type affording on-off drive of camshaft 31 according to operation of the prime mover which conveniently may be the drive means for a carton filling machine (not shown) with which the carton shell forming apparatus 10 is associated. An indexing drive assembly 39 is operative to convert the continuous rotary motion of camshaft 31 to an intermittent rotary drive for conveyor chains 17 and 23.
Indexing drive assembly 39 includes an indexing box 40 of commercially available type, being a four stop, 90 output rotation box with a 120 index time and a 240 dwell time on the timing of its output shaft 40a. Indexing box 40 is driven by a roller chain 40b that extends over camshaft sprocket 31a and box input snaft sprocket 40c. Sprockets 31a and 40c are of identical diameters, affording a one-to-one drive ratio.
Conveyor chain drive sprockets 21 and 24 are keyed to ; and driven by a common shaft S' through an overload clutch 59 coupled with this ~haftand directly driven by a sprocket 59a.
- Overload clutch 59 is so constructed and arranged as both to disconnect shaft S' from sprocket 59a and to operate suitable switch means (not shown) for shuting down the apparatus in the event of its malfunction. Sprocket 59a is driven through a pair of motion increaser drives in order to achieve a large ~; increment of travel of chain lugs 18 and 26 for each 90 incre-,~ :-. .:
ment of movement of indexing-box output shaft 40a. The pair of motlon increaser drives is used in lieu of a single larger motion increaser drive advantageously to afford lower inertia 1 - ~
~; and lesser chain wrap-up. For example, sprocket 40d affords a ~; 30 six-inch travel of chain 40e for each 90 indexing rotation of shaft 40a. Chain 40e extends over both sprocket 40d and a . :
sprocket 40f on countershaft 59b. Sprocket 40f is one-half the ~ -6-.

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diameter ofsprocket40d,so that it rotates 180 foreach 90 of index-ing driveby shaft40a. Also mounted on countershaft 59bis a sprocket 59cwhich also rotates 180 per90 rotation of indexingshaft 40a.
Sprocket59con countershaft 59b is twice the diameter ofsprocket 59a so thatit affords a twelve-inch travel of chain 59d extending thereover, per indexing by box 40 of overload clutch 59.
By way of example, a carton filling machine usually is set to operate at a slightly faster rate than the product conveyor (not shown) witX which it is associated. This relation-ship ensures that there is no product accumulation on the productconveyor. Occasionally, however, the carton filling machine will "starve" the product conveyor and, under such a condition, the carton shell forming apparatus 10 will have to "wait" for the product conveyor todload up. In order to "wait", clutch 36 will be operated to disengage, thereafter to engage when the product conveyor loads up to a predetermined amount. In the operation of clutch 36, clutch-in (engage) and clutch-out (disengage) signals are generated by limit switches (no~ shown) on the product conveyor. Single position clutch 36 is operated by an air circuit (not shown) under the control of an electric solenoid valve 38, and ensures proper synchronization between the carton filling apparatus and carton shell forming apparatus 10. A brake 41 includes a disc 42 on camshaft 31 engageable by friction pads 42a to halt rotation of camshaft 31 immediately upon disengagement of clutch 36.
Further to the invention, camshaft 31 carries a plural-ity of cams to be more fully described in what follows, and serving to operate corresponding linkages for mechanisms disposed along frame platform 12 and arranged to perform sequential folding steps on the carton shell blanks as they pause in their sequential movement along mandrel 14. Cams also to be described are provided for the operation of limit switches for various control functions. The several carton shell forming and folding - , stations and their related mechanisms, including operating cams, levers and limit switches are identified as follows:
Station 1 - Carton Blank Drawdown Mechanism 43 - Cam 44; Carton Blank Drawdown Vacuum Solenoid Valve Switch 52 -Cam 53; and Carton Blank Prebreak Air Cyl. Sol. Valve 54 -Cam 55.
Station 2 - Carton Initial Folding Mechanism - Cam 47 Station 3 - Carton Secondary Folding Mechanism - Cam 47 Station 4 - Carton Final Folding Mechanism - Cams 49 and 51 Other switches and their corresponding operating cams are identified as follows:
Clutch and Brake Air Solenoid Valve Switch 38 - Cam 56;
and Glue Gun Air Solenoid Valve Switch 57 - Cam 58.
Each of cams 44, 47, 49, and 51 is disposed and adapted to operate lever arms 61, 62, 63 and 64 pivotal on respective bearing means 65, 66, 67 and 68 mounted on frame portion 28.
Arms 61 to 64 are suitably spring-loaded to maintain engagement of their followers with their respective cams.
Still with reference to Figs. 1 and 4, a carton maga-zine assembly 71 is disposed above drawdown mechanism 43 of Station 1, and includes four vertically extending carton blank guides 72 within the confines of which horizontally extending, suitably scored and flattened carton blanks 16 are stacked in yertical array. Guides 72 are supported on an upper portion of frame 11, together with interposed carton blank support fingers - 73 set at such a height as to present the lowermost blank 16 -for engagement by vacuum cups 74 provided on drawdown mechanism 43.
Starting with feed of a carton blank 16, the blank drawdown mechanism 43 is caused to move upwardly by suitable lZ~

linkage 61a coupled with lever arm 61 operated by cam 44 as its shaft 31 is driven. Drawdown mechanism 43 includes a pair of vertically extending guide rods 79 (Fi~. 1) on which a bushing block assembly 81 is slidable. Block 81 supports three horizontally extending vacuum bar units 82 provided with upwardly presented vacuum cups 74 spaced therealong. Drawdown mechanism 43 at its upper limit of travel causes vacuum cups 74 to engage the lower most one of the carton blanks 16 in magazine assembly 71. Cam 53 then operates drawdown vacuum switch 52 to introduce a vacuum in cups 74, following which cam ~4 operates to lower the mechanism 43, and draw a blank 16 downwardly into position in which it lies between a pair of suitably presented lugs 26 on conveyor chain 23 and a pair of similarly presented lugs 18 and chain 17 (Figs. 4 and 5). Upon engagement of blank 16 by the chain lugs 18, 26, cam 53 operates switch 52 to break the vacuum in cups 74. This location to which blank 16 is initially fed subjects it to a prebreak mechanism comprising a breaker bar 84, a pivotal flap plow 85 operative by an air cylinder 86, and a slidable flap plow 87 operative by an air cylinder 88. Air cylinder 86 is supplied pressurized air by suitable air-valve tripping means (not shown) on the carton blank drawdown mechanism 43, and air cylinder 88 is supplied pressurized air by a solenoid valve 54 operative by cam 55.
Thus as carton blank 16 is fed to and seated in the described, conveyor-held position at Station 1, and as is illustrated in Fig. 4, breaker bar 84 will fold carton flap 16c upwardly about another scored fold line 16e through an angle of 90 following which flap plow 87 operates according to the solid directional arrow to fold flap 16c through an additional 90 (Fig. 5), about its scored fold line onto the surface of the blank. Also at Station 1, flap plow 85 is -operated according to the curved directional arrow (Fig. 5), _g_ ,.
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to fold carton flap 16b downwardly about its scored fold line 16e, through an angle of 90. Flap plow 87 is then retracted (broken line arrow) and the vacuum on cups 74 is broken, releasing blank 16 for indexing movement to Station 2 (Fig. 6) by lugs 18 and 26 on chains 17 and 23, in the course of which movement the blank is moved beneath the supported "upstream" end portion of mandrel 14 where the flap 16_ is engaged by fixed flap plow 93 to hold it in its folded position and the first, or lowermost panel poxtion held against the mandrel by suitable plow means (not shown). Suitably presented 1-folding mechanism includes a folding arm 94 pivotable upwardly on bearing 91 (Fig. 7) to fold a second panel portion carton blank 16 about another of scored fold lines 16e against the side of mandrel 14. Arm 94 is movable by cam 47 through suitable cam follower 62 and linkage means 62a, 62_, on bearing 91.
While the folding arm 94 is held in its upper position, the folded carton blank 16 is indexed by movement of chain 17 and its lug 18 to Station 3 (Fig. 8) for presentation to folding arm 95 pivotable on bearing 98. In moving to Station 3, the folded second panel portion moves under flap plow 93a where it is held for subsequent folding operations on other panel portions. The arm 94 is then dropped to its lowered, or retracted position. Folding arm 95 is operative by cam 47 through cam follower 62 and linkage means 62a to pivot upwardly and fold the third panel portion of the carton blank onto the :
top of mandrel 14 about another of scored fold lines 16e (Fig. 9). Also as a carton blank is moved into position at Station 3, the carton blank sensing arm 106 of a switch 107 is actuated by engagement with the blank. Switch 107 is wired in series electrical circuit with glue gun solenoid valve 75, so that glue gun 76 will ~e actuated only if there is a carton blank 16 fed from Station 2 to Station 3.

The carton blank 16 is then indexed by chain 17 and lug 18 to Station 4 (Figs. 10 to 12) for presentation to the final folding mechanism, in the course of which indexing a suitably positioned ~lue applictor mechanism 75 (Figs. 1 and 9) operates to apply a line of glue to carton flap 16_. It will of course be understood that the term "glue" is intended to denote adhesives, generally, of known types suitable for use in the assembly of folded cartons. Glue applicator 75 is of conventional design, and is disposed along the line of carton blank travel, between the secondary folding mechanism of Station 3 and final folding mechanism of Station 4. Assembly 75 includes an air operated glue gun 76 including a solenoid actuatable air valve controlled by switch 57 through switch actuating cam 58. Also in moving to Station 4, the third panel portion of the carton blank 16 folded onto the top of mandrel 14 (Fig. 10) slides under a suitably presented flap plow 97 which holds the carton blank down against the top of the mandrel, following which the folding ~`
arm 95 of the preceding mechanism (Fig. 7) is moved to its retracted position.
The final folding mechanism includes a pair of flap_ folders 101 and 102 that are sequentially operative by cams 49 and 51 through suitably connected cam followers 63 and 64 and their linkage means 105 and 126 respectively. Flap folder 101 is operative initially to fold the upper illustrated fourth panel portion down onto the mandrel (Fig. 11) about its ~;~ corresponding scored fold line 16e. Flap folder 102 is operative to fold and press the outer carton glue flap portion 16c against the glue line on the carton flap on the first panel portion 16b, and then finally to fold both flap 16b and flap portion 16c, against the larger region of the first panel portion.
The result of this final fold is a glued carton shell disposed about the mandrel.
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There is provided at Station 4 tFigure 10) an air override system for the flap folders 101 and 102, and operative in the event of a malfunction such as, for example, jamming of the overall machine or of a machine associated therewith.
An override system is important because prolonged machine stoppage results in solidification of the glue on the carton flap, and subsequent start-up of the machine produces an unglued carton due to the premature solidification of the glue. As is seen in Fig. 10, the override system includes air cylinders 103, 104, operative mechanically to override cam actuation of linkages 105, 126, respectively, coupled with flap folders 101 and 102, in response to operation of suitable sensing means, such as, -for example, an air solenoid that is triggered by stopping the machine. Override is achieved through abutting engagement ~ -of pistons 103a, 104a, of air cylinders 103, 104 with pins 105_ and 126a on bell cranks 105b and 126b of the respective_ cam-actuated linkages. Upon restarting the machine, the override pistons 103a, 104a are retracted. From Station 4, the carton shell 16 is indexed by chain 17 and lug 18, to the "downstream"
~20 end portion of mandrel 14, which portion is reduced in size (not shown) to facilitate sliding removal of the carton shells from the machine.
Wlth reference again to Figure 1, and also to Figures 13 and 14, transfer means for receiving and transporting open : : :
ended shells 16a as they are discharged from the downstream end portion of mandrel 14, to suitable conveyor means, is designated generally by the numeral 108. Conveyor means for - ~ transporting carton shells 16a to a suitable filling machine (not shown) is designated generally by the numeral 110 (Fig. 14).
30~ By~way of example, conveyor means 110 may take the form of a double chain provided with lugs 110a, disposed below, and . , ~ _ extending generally parallel to mandrel 14.

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The means 108 for transferring carton shells 16a from mandrel 14 to conveyor 110 comprises wheel means 111 provided with four arms or spokes 112 of equal length, spaced 90 apart, and rotatable on a hub 113 affixed to the shaft 114 of a conventional indexing apparatus 11~ mounted on suitable frame structure. Shaft 114 is so positioned that its axis is below and extends with angularity, for example at an angle of 45, as respects.the line of extension of mandrel 14.
The end of each arm 112 supports a carton shell receiving pocket or carrier 117 disposed in alignment with the line of extent of mandrel 14, so that each pocket extends at an angle of 45 as respects the rotational plane of wheel means 111 about its axis as defined by shaft 114. Thus the sum of the aforesaid shaft and pocket angles is 90, or the angle through which the carton shell is turned about its transverse axis upon rotation of wheel means 111 through an angle of 180 to transfer a carton shell 16a from mandrel 14 to conveyor 110. Inde~ing apparatus 115 is operable to rotate wheel means 111 through an angle of 90 per indexing increment, affording a suitable dwell period for ~--: ~20 positioning a pocket 116 in alignment with mandrel 14 in order to receive a carton shell 16a.
-,;~ Each pocket 116 is of generally U-shaped cross-section and its interior surface is slightly larger than the outer surface of a carton shell 16a to accommodate ease of sliding of the carton shell into and out of the pocket. Each sidewall pocket 116 also !
is angled along its extremity toward the one opposite, in order to aid in retention of a shell.

` ~ The end of mandrel 14 is formed at a 45 angle as seen ~ at 118 in Figures~l, 2 and 13, and is disposed for matching -~ 30 alignment with the end pocket 116 formed also at a 45 angle, as , ~ :
seen at 117 in Figures 1 and 13. The opposite end of pocket 116 is provided with an abutment 122 disposed and adapted to . .

, . , ...... . .: .: - ... -to engage and establish the position of a shell 16a in the pocket. A V-shaped groove 125 extends the length of the bottom of pocket 116 and receives the slightly projecting flaps 16b, 16c, of the formed shell. A curved surface 14b is provided on the underside of the end portion of mandrel 14 to ensure clearance of the end flaps 16d therewith as a carton shell is rotationally withdrawn from the mandrel by transfer wheel 10~.
In operation of the transfer means 108, and with reference to Figures 1, 2 and 13 in which wheel means 111 is in an indexed position, a carton shell is moved from mandrel -14 into pocket 116. The wheel means is then moved incrementally to its next indexed position to present a pocket 116 and carton shell 16a for alignment with lugs llOa on conveyor 110.
In moving from mandrel 14 to wheel means 111, a carton is turned, simultaneously, through an angle of 90 about its transverse axis and through an angle of 180 about its longitudinal axis.
A pair of suction cups 124 are disposed and adapted for extension to a carton shell engaging position in the lower, oriented position thereof, and retraction to a carton shell remOving position, whereupon a removed carton shell 16a is drawn down onto conveyor means 110 associated with the carton filling apparatus (not shown) and operative to move the transferred carton shells in the direction of the applied arrow.
While the disclosed carton shell 16a formed by appara-tus embodying the invention is for a carton of the so-called ~ .
flip-top type, it will be appreciated that other carton shells can be fabricated for other cartons such as, for example, cartons of the end-opening type. The presently disclosed carton shell is, of course, typlcal of a kind not readily adapted for flattening after or during the gluing process. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the capability of producing set-up :

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carton shells is an important advantage of the invention.
While the invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

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Claims (3)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. Transfer means for transferring flat-sides boxes between a pair of first and second conveyors disposed in different horizontal planes, the first of the conveyors moving a box in the process of being folded along a folding mandrel toward a discharge end of the mandrel and the second conveyor receiving the folded box discharged from the mandrel for transporting the received box to a filling machine, and comprising: a plurality of mutually spaced box carriers supported on a shaft for rotational movement about an axis disposed between said planes at the end of the conveyor associated with the mandrel and extending at a first 45° angle as respects the direction of travel of that conveyor, said carriers being disposed at a second 45° angle as respects the rotational plane of movement thereof about said axis; and an indexing means for effecting incremental movement of said first conveyor and like incremental movement of said box carriers about said axis in unison to accommodate feed of said boxes from the discharge end of said mandrel individually to related areas of said container carriers for transfer individually to the second of said conveyors, thereby to turn and invert said boxes 180° about their longitudinal and 90° about their transverse axes with respect to said first conveyor.

2. Transfer means according to claim 1, and characterized in that each said carrier comprises a base portion and opposite side wall portions extending generally radially outwardly as respects said rotational axis and presentable to the discharge end of said mandrel laterally to receive and to hold a box in provision of its transfer between said conveyors, each said carrier being presentable in juxtaposed relation to and at said other conveyor to discharge a box radially from said carrier to said other conveyor, and means effective by vacuum at the time of juxtaposition to transfer a box from each said carrier to said other conveyor upon completion of turning said box through said angle.

3. Means according to claim 1 or 2, in which the discharge end of said mandrel is defined by a 45° angle and in which the adjacent end of each said carrier is defined by a similar 45° angle.