US2919488A

US2919488A - Carton slitting device

Info

Publication number: US2919488A
Application number: US720193A
Authority: US
Inventors: Kenneth H Brownlee
Original assignee: Meyercord Co
Current assignee: Meyercord Co
Priority date: 1958-03-10
Filing date: 1958-03-10
Publication date: 1960-01-05
Anticipated expiration: 1977-01-05

Description

K. H. BROWN LEE CARTON SLITTING DEVICE Jan. 5, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 10, 1958 INVENTOR. flennei/z/ff. Brazz/nlee,

Jan. 5, 1960 K. H. BROWNLEE 2,919,438

I CARTON SLITTING DEVICE Filed March 10, 1958 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Q9. .u w dm y m I Ill 1 n j N w Gwx 1 m mw H Tam E u Aw a" :15? m 2: z: mm WK] l VH1 T v I L o :1: 5 E Ea A 0 {8 H Q NW N% hm Q Q\\ k mw m, W n 5 F F L 6 w 5 Q I v? fsw wwwwwmnwwH N F mm m \Q T r 1 NH w l" w m 7 Q mm mm WWHMMMWWHMHHMMWMWMMMMW@WWWWM%W NE; Wv: w It g Jan. 5, 1960 K. H BROWNLEE CARTON SLITTING DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed March 10, 1958 INVENTOR.

BY 5:464, flan ercigrd Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Eli-- a {Application March 10, 1958, Serial No. 720,193

11 Claims. (Cl. 30-2) This invention relates to a carton slitting device, and more particularlyrelates to a device for slitting the end corner edges of a cigarette carton to facilitate exposing the packaged contents therein, without damage, for affixing tax stamps or the like thereto.

As an incident to the distribution of cartons of cigarettes to retail dealers, many states require that each package of cigarettes receive a prepared tax stamp before the cigarettes are sold at retail. Consequently, the wholesale distributor of the cigarettes is required to open the sealed cartons and afiix a state tax stamp to the individual packages before distribution to the retail dealers. To expedite this procedure, various machines have been developed to perform this operation, which usually involves alripping or tearing of the corner edges of the carton adjacent the panel underlaid by the carton tuckflap and a folding back of the freed panel and tuck-flap by appropriate flap folding mechanism to expose the ends of the cigarette packages in the carton. Tax stamps are then aflixed to the exposed ends of the cigarette packages and the loosened flaps are folded back into their original position and thereafter glued closed.' The present invention is directed particularly to the carton slitting phase of the aforementioned sequence of operations and is embodied in a novel manually operable device for slitting the corner edges of a cigarette carton, said device being particularly adapted for use in conjunction with an automatic tax stamp applying machine.

Accordingly, it is a general object of my invention to provide an improved device for slitting the corner edges of cigarette cartons and the like to facilitate exposing the ends of the packages therein. I

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved carton slitting device having novel means for supporting and slitting a carton during operation of the device that will insure a slitting rather than a tearing of the corner edges of the carton.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a simply constructed and easily operated carton slitting device that facilitates the rapid and safe manual slitting of cigarette cartons and the like,- preparatory to the affixing of tax stamps or the like thereto.

Many other objects and advantages of theinvention will become apparent upon making reference to the following detailed description and accompanying sheets of drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front perspective view of one specific embodiment of my invention, illustrated in conjunction with a typical carton flap folding deviceand a tax stamp applying machine and also showing the sequence of folded positions of the carton flaps of a series of longitudinally arranged cartons at various stages of. progression through the apparatus;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary top plan view of the apparatus illustrated in Fig. 1, showing the general arrangement of .a'series of,cartons to be slit when positioned on the:

lgadjngphute otmrdeviee; i

States Patent ice Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view similar to Fig. 2 but showing difierent operating positions of the carton slitting device;

Fig. 4 is a rear perspective view of the carton slitting device;

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line 55 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional View taken along the line 6-6 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 7 is a somewhat diagrammatic perspective view showing the various positions of the main operating part of the device, the remainder of the device being removed for clarity.

Briefly described, the present invention contemplates a novel carton slitting device that is particularly adapted for manually slitting the upper end corner edges of cigarette cartons to facilitate exposing the contents thereof for affixing tax stamps to the ends of the packages therein without removing the packages from the carton. To this end, the present invention includes a base, a support carried by the base which may be an elongated housing that carries the carton slitting blade and encloses the carton advancing mechanism of the invention, and a guideway for directing a series of cartons to be slit into engagement with the device. Means are also provided for adjusting the vertical height of the slitting blade in relation to the base to insure accurate insertion thereof between superposed wall and flap portions of a carton. The operating mechanism of the invention includes manually actuated pusher means for reciprocably shifting a carton with respect to the blade to slit the corner edges of the'carton.

In a preferred form of construction, the support housing is cut out to define guide surfaces which permit selective longitudinal and rotational movements of the pusher edges of the carton and to partially advance the carton into a cooperating flap folding chute. The control handle is thereafter movable to retract the pusher mechanisminto the housing for return to its initial position for repetition of a carton slitting cycle.

Referring first to Fig. 1, the carton slitting device ofthe present invention is designated generally by the reference numeral 10 and is shown mounted on a table or base T on which is also mounted an associated carton flap folding device K. A cigarette tax stamp applying ma-- chine M is also illustrated in adjoining position to the table.

T for receiving opened cigarette cartons from the folding chute K and is examplary of one type of device with which the present invention is particularly useful- Three longitudinally arranged cartons are designated at Cin detached relation above the corresponding parts of the apparatus in order to show the sequence of folded positions of the slit top wall and underlying tuck-fiap as the cartons progress through the flap folding device K and into the stamp applying machine M after a slit-;

ting operation. Inasmuch as the stamp applying machine M and the flap folding device K per se form no part of the present invention, only a brief description thereof has been included.

The stamp applying machine M includes an enclosing housing 11 and an inlet guidechute 12 for receiving a series of longitudinally aligned cigarette cartons thatare-disposed on'edge and have their top walls folded Patented Jan. 5, 1960.

back upon their side walls to expose the ends of the contained cigarette packages. In the machine M, tax stamps in the form of heat activatable and heat releaseable transfers are applied from a roll to thee):- posed ends of the packages by heated elements which fuses the stamps to the packages. After passing through the machine M, the carton top is resealed, as by gluing, to the underlying flap and the stamped cartons are then repackaged for shipment.

The elongated flap folding device K is preferably mounted on the table T contiguous to one end of the carton slitting device and generally includes a pair of spaced

vertical walls

14 and 16 and a pair of folding plows 17 and 18 disposed generally adjacent the upper longitudinal edges of the

walls

14 and 16; The

walls

14 and 16 are spaced from each other by a distance substantially equal to the width of a cigarette carton when supported on edge as it would be oriented for exposing the ends of the cigarette packages, and the walls thus define a chute for receiving a previously slit carton from the slitting device 10. The flap folding plows 17 and 18 are arranged in tandem along the

walls

14 and 16, respectively, and are effective to engage the previously slit, top wall and underlying tuck-flap of a carton to fold these members against their respective carton side walls in a manner well known in the art.

Referring again to the three longitudinally aligned cartons C illustrated somewhat diagrammatically in Fig. 1, it will be observed that when a carton is arranged on edge before being slit, its narrower sides become top and

bottom walls

19 and 23, respectively, and its wider sides becomes front and rear

vertical side walls

21 and 22, respectively. The end walls, of course, retain their original relationship and are designated by the reference numeral 23. The rear side wall 22 includes a tuckfiap 24, that normally underlies the top wall 19 and defines a longitudinal slot 25 (Fig. 1) therebetween. The particular orientation of the cartons C- asabove described is necessary for the efficient operation of the carton slitting device 10, as will hereinafter be described. The

walls

14 and 16 of the carton flap folding device K form in effect a continuation of the housing of the carton slitting device 10 to guide a previously slit carton through the chute. The plow 17 includes an outwardly curved portion 17a and a rod portion'17b, each of which is successively operable to swing the free top wall 19 of a carton upwardly and into juxtaposed relationship with the side wall 21 thereof after the upper corner edges have been slit. As a carton progresses past the plow 17, the underlying tuck-flap 24 will engage the flap folding plow 18, which similarly includes a curved portion 18a and a bar portion 18b to swing the tuck-flap 24 upwardly and into juxtaposed relationship with the side wall 22 of the carton.- 17 and 18 are effective to swing the previously slit carton top wall 19 and underlying tuck-flap 24 against the'

adjacent sides

21 and 22 of the carton as the carton enters inlet 12 ofthe stamp applying machine M' in readiness for the tax stamp affixing operation.

Referring now to Figs. 2 to 7 in conjunction with Fig. l, the carton slitting device 10 generally includes a' support in the form of an elongated rectangularshaped sheet metal housing 26 disposedin parallel, cooperating side-by-side relationship toan adjacent endof the folding chute, pusher means in the form ofa pair of longitudinally spaced arms 27 that a'remouhted for axial and rotational movement about'a horizontal axis passing throughthe housing, blade means such as an elongated horizontally disposed slitting blade 28' mounted lengthwise along the top of the support housing" 26, a carton loading guideway 29 and a control handle 31 for manipulating the arms 27 to effect a cartomslitting operation and the transportation thereof into the flap folding device K.

Thehousing .26 in theillustratedembodiment aataa' Thus, the plows a front wall 32, integral top and

rear walls

33 and 34, respectively, and a pair of end blocks 35. Inturned

horizontal flanges

36 and 36 may be provided on the front and

rear walls

32 and 34, respectively, for strengthening purposes and to facilitate attachment of the housing 26 to the table T. The front wall 32 is divided into three sections or

panels

32a, 32b, and 320 (Fig. 1) by three vertically extending openings or slots 37 (Figs. 1 and 2) disposed substantially at the center and at eachend of the housing 26. The vertical height of the front wall panel sections 32a32c is somewhat less than that of the rear wall 34 to define a longitudinally extending slot 38 (Fig. 1) between the top wall 33 and the upper longitudinal edge of the front wall panel sections 32a32c.-

As best shown in Fig. 4, the top wall 33 is cut out, as at 39, and the rear wall 34 is vertically slit, as at 40, to form guide surfaces or shoulders which provide limit positions to movements of the handle 31 as hereinafter described. Part of the slit portion of the rear wall 34 is folded inwardly to form a horizontal bearing shelf 41 for supporting the handle 31.

The pusher means for engaging a carton and effecting movement of the carton relative to the blade 28 may comprise a horizontally extending shaft 42 rigidly supported in recesses in the end blocks 35 below the top wall 33 and having slidably and rotatably mounted thereon a tubular sleeve 43 carrying the arms 27 in radially extending and longitudinally spaced relation thereon. The arms 27 are preferably fan or paddleshaped (Figs. 5 and 6) and are axially spaced from each other by a distance somewhat greater than the longitudinal length of a carton to be slit. A radially extending rod 44 rigidly connects the control handle 31 to the tubular sleeve 43 and rides on the guide surfaces defined by the cut out and slit

portions

39 and 40 and the shelf 41 to permit a predetermined sequence of rotational and axial movements thereof and the spaced arms 27.

As best shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the support housing 26 has a length substantially equal to twice the length of a carton to be slit, such that horizontal movement of the control handle 31 between a limit position adjacent the right end of the housing 26, as viewed in Fig. l, to a limit position substantially in the middle of the housing 26 iseifective to transport a carton out of engagement with the blade 28 and into partial engagement with the flap folding device K.

The elongated slitting blade 28 is preferably rigidly secured to the top wall 33 of the housing 26 in a horizontal position by an overlying flanged support member 45 and an underlying reinforcing strap member 46 (Fig. 6), which are maintained in clamped engagement with thetop wall of the housing 33 by screws 47. The support member 45 has an upstanding vertical flanged portion 45, which forms another guide surface for controlling the movements of the handle 31 in addition to the guide surfaces 39 and 40. I

The blade 28 is laterally centered in relation to the loading guideway 29. and is vertically spaced above'the top of the table T by a distance substantially equal to the height of the rear side wall 22 of a carton C such as to bring the blade in alignment with the slot 25. it will be apparent that inasmuch as the carton slitting device 10 will be required to slit both the so-called regular and king-size cigarette cartons, means must be provided. for adjusting the vertical height of the blade 28 relative to-the top of the table T. In addition, provision must be made for accommodating variations in the longitudinal length of'the cartons inorder that the slitting device 10 may function properly. To this end, the guideway 29 (Figs. 1 and 2) is formed by a pair of longitudinally spaced flanged members 48, having horizontal base portions 49 and upstanding wall portions 50 for engaging the end walls 23 of-the cartons C, the spacing of the vertical walls 50 being adjustable by-nieans of screws 5!.'

' glued together.

which pass through slots 52 in the horizontal base portions 49 and which are threaded into the table T.

In order to provide a fine adjustment for the alignment of the slot 25 with the blade 28, the table T is slotted, as at' 53 (Figs. 1 and 6), to define a hinged rectangularshaped plateportion 54 which serves as the floor or base of the loading guideway 29. The free front edge of the plate 54 is disposed under the slitting blade 28 and is engaged by a pair of adjusting screws 56 (Figs. 4 and 6), which are threaded through the table T from the lower surface thereof and engage the lower surface of the plate 54. Thus, adjustment of the screws 56 will raise or lower a carton C to insure accurate alignment between the. blade 28 and the cartonslot 25.

In order to slit regular size cartons, a rectangularshaped spacer insert 57 (Fig. 1) having a thickness substantially equal to the difference in height between a regular and king-size cigarette carton, is provided for disposition overlying the rectangular-shaped plate 54 and between the upstanding vertical walls 50 of the flanged members-48. Adjustment of the screws 56 is effective to conjointly raise or lower both the spacer 57' and underlying plate member 54 to obtain the proper height adjustment. A similar elongated spacer 58 (Fig. l) is provided between the

walls

14 and 16 of the flap folding device K when regular size cigarette cartons are being slit.

' The blade 28 is desirably formed of hardened sheet metal and has an elongated trapezoidal shape including a forwardly extending edge portion 59 and rearwardly diverging sharpened end edges 61. The longitudinal length of the blade is substantialy equal to the length of a carton C, as best seen in Fig. 2.

1 Referring to Fig. 7 in conjunction with Figs. 2-6, the sequence of movements of the control handle 31 as are necessary to perform a carton slitting operation will now be described. Prior to an actual slitting operation, a series of cartons are initially placed on edge on the loading guideway 29 with their rear vertical side walls facing toward the front wall panel 32 of the housing 26, such that their longitudinal slots 25 face the forward edge 59 of the slitting blade 28 (Fig. 2). The nearest carton is then moved into engagement with the forward edge 59 of the slitting blade 28, which is effective to separate the top wall 19 and tuck flap 24 if they have previously been If a series of regular size cartons are to be slit, it will be necessary to install the

inserts

57 and 58 as previously described. For the purposes of the present description, however, it will be assumed that a series of king size cartons are to be slit, and consequently the

inserts

57 and 58 are not needed. After a series of cartons have been placed on the guideway 29 in the arrangement aforementioned, the control handle 31 will be in a vertical upwardly extended engaged position with the rear guide surface portion 45 of the support member 45, as indicated in dotted lines at the left of Fig. 7 and Fig. 6. In this position, the pusher arms 27 will be in substantial vertical alignment with the shaft portion 44 and are shrouded in the interior of the housing 26.

The control handle 31 is rotated rearwardly and down wardly along the guide surface 40 into contact with the bearing shelf 41 to the horizontal position shown in Fig. 6, this movement being indicated by the arrow a in Fig. 7. In'this position, the spaced arms 27 are projected forwardly through the slots 37 (Fig. 1) to embrace the end walls 23 ofa carton in readiness for shifting the carton to effect a slitting operation.

It will be apparent from Fig. 2 that the next adjacent carton to be slit provides side face bearing support for the front wall 21 of the carton engaged upon the blade 28, which relationship may be maintained by manual effort on thepart of an operator or by any other suitable biasing mechanism urging the group of side-by-side cartons toward the blade 28.

One upper c'orne'i edge of an engaged carton is s'lit by axial shifting movement of the control handle 31 to the position indicated by the arrow 12 in Fig. 7. In order to accommodate this initial movement, the rear wall panel 34 of the housing 36 is notched as at 62 (Fig. 4). As viewed in Fig. 2, the left arm 27 of the pusher means will engage the left end of the carton C engaged on the blade 28 and will shift the carton longitudinally toward the right to a limit position illustrated in Fig. 3. This limit position is determined by the length of the notch 62 which length is sufficient to effect slitting of the left corner edge of the carton by engagement with the corre-- sponding edge 61 of the blade 28. In order to effect slitting of the opposite right corner edge of the carton, the control knob 31 is shifted horizontally along the shelf 41 toward the opposite end of the housing 26 as indicated by the arrow 0 to a limit position formed by the vertical cut out edge 40 in the rear wall panel 34 (Fig. 4). This position of the control handle 31 is indicated in solid line in Figs. 4 and 7 and in dotted lines in Fig. 3. As will be seen from Fig. 3, this last described movement of the control handle 31 consecutively effects a slitting of the right corner edge of the carton by engagement with the corresponding blade edge 61 and also advances the carton into the carton flap folding device K where the plow 17 engages the now free top wall 19 of the carton to initiate a folding thereof. As will be apparent fromv Fig. 6, the close underlying proximity of the upper horizontal edges of the pusher arms 27 to the undersurface of the blade 28 provides back-up or support for the end walls 23 of the carton and insures a clean shearing action of the blade as it passes through the corner edges of the carton, thereby preventing the corner edges from being torn open.

After the carton has been advanced into the chute of the flap folding device K by movement of the control handle to the position indicated by the arrow 0 of Fig. 7, the next succeeding carton will have been advanced by the operator through the loading guideway 29 and into engagement with the front wall panel 32b and onto the blade 28. The control handle 31 is then rotated forwardly and upwardly along the guide surface 40 and 39 (Fig. 4) and into engagement with the guide surface flange to the vertical position illustrated in dotted line in Fig. 6 and by the arrow d in Fig. 7. The pusher arms 27 are thus retracted through the slots at the discharge end of housing 26 into the interior thereof in order to clear the next carton which has already been pushed into position against theblade 28 and may then be translated toward the other end of the housing, this movement being indicated by the arrow e of Fig. 7. The knob 31 is then rotated downwardly along the opposite guide surfaces 39 and 40, as indicated by the arrow a, to rotate the pusher arms 27 horizontally upwardly through the slots 37 at the loading end of the housing 26 in readines for a second slitting cycle.

It will be understood that while the carton slitting device herein disclosed has been described for manual operation, the sequence of steps performed thereby could readily be performed automatically, as by a motor-drive, without departing from the principles of the present invention.

While only one embodiment of the invention has been herein illustrated and described, it should be understood that variations thereof may be effected without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A carton slitting device for slitting the corner edges of a carton comprising a support, stationary blade means mounted on said support and providing a pair of oppositely disposed cutting edges, said blade means being adapted to extend between superposed wall and flap portions of a carton for positioning said cutting edges in slitting relation with respect to corner edges at opposite ends of the carton, and pusher means mounted onsaid support for shifting a carton with respect to said blade means, said pusher means including a pair of spaced radially extending pusher arms mounted for axial movement and also for rotational movement about a'horizontal axis between an extended carton engaging position and a retracted disengaged position, said arms being operable when in said extended position to engage the opposite ends of a carton for reciprocably shifting the carton to move the end corner edges thereof into slitting engagement with the respective cutting edges of said blade means and being axially shiftable when in said disengaged position for movement independently of the carton.

2. A carton slitting device according to claim 1, further characterized in that said pusher arms are spaced from each other by a distance slightly greater than the length of a carton to be slit.

3. A carton slitting device according to claim 1, further characterized in that said blade means comprises an elongated horizontally disposed blade having a length substantially equal to the longitudinal dimension of a carton to be slit. 7

r. A carton siitting device for slitting the corner edges of a carton comprising a support, elongated stationary blade means horizontally mounted on said supportand providing a pair of oppositely disposed cutting edges, said blade means being adapted to extend between superposed wall and flap portions of a carton for positioning said cutting edges in slitting relation with respect to corner edges at opposite ends of the carton, and pusher means mounted on said support for shifting saidcarton with res met to said blade means, said pusher means including a pair or spaced radially extending pusher arms mounted for axial movement and also for rotational movement about a horizontal axis between an extended carton engaging position and a retracted disengaged position, said arms being operable when in said extended position to engage the opposite ends of a carton for reciprocably shifting a carton to move the end corner edges thereof into slitting engagement with the respective cutting edges of said blade means and being axially shiftable when in said disengaged position for movement independently of the carton, and said arms when in said extended position being adapted to engage the outside of the carton end walls in close underlying relation to the plane of said blade means whereby to provide exterior support for the end walls during slitting engagement of said cutting edges at the inside of the carton,

5. A carton slitting device for slitting the corner edges of a carton comprising a support, stationary blade means mounted on said support and providing a pair of oppositely disposed cutting edges, said blade means being adapted to extend between superposed wall and flap portions of a carton for positioning said cutting edges in slitting relation with respect to corner edges at opposite ends of said carton, a horizontally disposed shaft carried by said support, and a slidable and rotatably mounted sleeve carried by said shaft and having pusher means extending therefrom for engaging and shifting a carton with respect to said blade means, said pusher means including a pair of spaced radially extending pusher arms movable between an extended carton engaging position and a re tracted disengaged position, said arms being operable when in an extended position to engage the opposite ends of a carton for reciprocably shifting the carton to move the end corner edges thereof into slitting engagement with the respective cutting edges of said blade means and being shiftable when in a retracted disengaged position for movement independently of said carton.

A carton slitting device according to claim 5, further characterized in that said sleeve has a handle for effecting manual movement of said sleeve and said pusher means. y

7. A carton slitting device for slitting the corner edges of a carton comprising an elongated support, stationary blade means mounted on said support and providing a pair of oppositely disposed cutting edges, said blade means being adapted to extend between superposed wall and flap portions of a carton for positioning said cutting edges in slitting relation with respect to corner edges at opposite ends of the carton, a horizontally disposed shaft carried by said support, a slidable and rotatably mounted sleeve carried by said shaft and having pusher means extending therefrom for shifting a carton with respect to said blade means, an operating member connected to said sleeve for effecting movement of said sleeve and pusher means, said support having means providing a guide surface cooperable with said operating member for limiting and controlling axial and rotational movements of said sleeve and pusher means, said pusher means including a pair of spaced radially extending pusher arms movable between an extended carton engaging position and a retracted disengaged position, said arms being operable when in an extended position to engage the opposite ends of a carton for reciprocably shifting the carton to move the end corner edges thereof into slitting engagement with the respective cutting edges of said blade means and being shiftable when in a retracted disengaged position for movement independently of said carton.

8. A carton slitting device for slitting the corner edges of a carton comprising an elongated housing having a top wall, stationary blade means mounted on the top wall of, said housing and providing a pair of oppositely disposed cutting edges, said blade means being adapted to extend between superposed wall and flap portions of a carton for positioning said cutting edges in slitting relation with respect to corner edges at opposite ends of the carton, a horizontally disposed stationary shaft mounted length wise in said housing, a slidably and rotatably mounted sleeve carried by said shaft, pusher means extending from said sleeve for shifting a carton with respect to said blade means, said housing having an opening defining guide surfaces therearound, and a handle connected to said sleeve and extending through said opening for effecting limited and controlled movements of said sleeve and pusher means along said guide surfaces, said pusher means including a pair of spaced radially extending pusher arms movable between an extended carton engaging position and a retracted disengaged position, said arms being operable when in an extended position to engage the opposite ends of a carton for reciprocably shifting the carton to move the end corner edges thereof into slitting engagement with the respective cutting edges of said blade means and being shiftable when in a retracted disengaged position for movement independently of said carton.

9. A carton slitting device for slitting the corner edges of an elongated carton comprising a base, an elongated support mounted on said base, stationary blade means mounted on said support and providing a pair of oppositely disposed cutting edges, said blade means being adapted to extend'between superposed wall and flap portions of a carton for positioning said cutting edges in slitting relation with respect to corner edges at opposite ends of the carton, a guideway carried by said base and perpendicularly disposed to said support for directing a carton transversely into engagement with said blade means, and pusher means mounted on said support for shifting a carton lengthwise with respect to said blade means, said pusher means including a pair'of'spaced radially extending pusher arms mounted for axial movement and also for rotational movement about a horizontal axis between an extended carton engaging position and a retracted disengaged position, said arms being operable when in an extended position to engage the opposite ends of a carton for reciprocably shifting the carton to move the end corner edges thereofinto slitting engagement with the respective cutting edges of said blade means and being shiftable when in a retracted disengaged position for movement independently of said carton. 10. A carton slitting device according to claim 9, further characterized in that said guideway includes a horizontally disposed plate portion having one end thereof vertically adjustable in relation to said blade means for varying the position of a carton carried thereon when said carton is moved into juxtaposition with said elongated support.

11. A carton slitting device comprising a support, stationary blade means mounted on said support and providing a pair of oppositely disposed cutting edges, said blade means being adapted to extend between superposed wall and fiap portions of a carton for positioning said cutting edges in slitting relation with respect to corner edges at opposite ends of the carton, and manually operable pusher means for effecting bodily movement of the carton relative to said blade means, said pusher means including a pair of pusher arms and means on said support mounting said arms in parallel spaced relation for unitary rotary movement thereof and also for unitary movement longitudinally of their axes of rotation, said arms in one rotary position thereof being engageable with the opposite ends of the carton for reciprocably shifting the carton to move the end corner edges thereof into slitting engagement with the respective cutting edges of said blade means, and said arms being disengageable from the carton by movement of the arms to another rotary position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,574,087 Burhans Nov. 6, 1951 2,595,122 Burhans Apr. 29, 1952 2,595,815 Salzano May 6, 1952