A carton packing apparatus occupying a small footprint for efficient packing of articles includes a longitudinal frame housing and an article transfer means. The longitudinal frame housing has an article accumulation platform mounted within and in line with the longitudinal direction of the frame housing, wherein articles and cartons are fed transversely relative to the longitudinal direction of the frame housing to an article loading station and a carton receiving station respectively located adjacent opposite ends of the accumulation platform. The article transfer means is movably mounted within the frame housing, the transfer means being movable over an internal pathway substantially in line with the accumulation platform between an article pick up position and article dispensing condition. In an operating condition a predetermined number of articles at the article loading station are transferred to the accumulation platform, and wherein the transfer means transfers a predetermined number of articles on the accumulation platform to the carton receiving station over the internal pathway for filling the carton with the articles.

A carton packing apparatus occupying a small footprint for efficient packing of articles includes a longitudinal frame housing and an article transfer means. The longitudinal frame housing has an article accumulation platform mounted within and in line with the longitudinal direction of the frame housing, wherein articles and cartons are fed transversely relative to the longitudinal direction of the frame housing to an article loading station and a carton receiving station respectively located adjacent opposite ends of the accumulation platform. The article transfer means is movably mounted within the frame housing, the transfer means being movable over an internal pathway substantially in line with the accumulation platform between an article pick up position and article dispensing condition. In an operating condition a predetermined number of articles at the article loading station are transferred to the accumulation platform, and wherein the transfer means transfers a predetermined number of articles on the accumulation platform to the carton receiving station over the internal pathway for filling the carton with the articles.

An apparatus for producing a multipack includes forming groups on opposite sides of a transport section. The first forming group comprises a sliding carriage that moves along and transverse to a transport direction, a format part that forms a contact surface for engaging a container, and a guiding-and-holding element that detachably secures the format part to the sliding carriage. The first and second forming groups are movable along the transport direction and transverse to the transport direction such that contact surfaces of the first and second forming groups that are opposite each other are brought into contact with containers to move the containers along the transport direction and to press the containers against each other by moving transverse to the transport direction.

An apparatus for producing a multipack includes forming groups on opposite sides of a transport section. The first forming group comprises a sliding carriage that moves along and transverse to a transport direction, a format part that forms a contact surface for engaging a container, and a guiding-and-holding element that detachably secures the format part to the sliding carriage. The first and second forming groups are movable along the transport direction and transverse to the transport direction such that contact surfaces of the first and second forming groups that are opposite each other are brought into contact with containers to move the containers along the transport direction and to press the containers against each other by moving transverse to the transport direction.

A carrier package is constructed to tightly secure articles within the package. During loading, pushing the containers into the package causes the side panels of the package to deform so that the height of the package decreases and the width of the package increases.

A carrier package is constructed to tightly secure articles within the package. During loading, pushing the containers into the package causes the side panels of the package to deform so that the height of the package decreases and the width of the package increases.

A packaging system and method forms a bundled group of articles in an oriented arrangement, by applying a wrapping material to the articles via the bottoms of the articles while the oriented arrangement of articles is inverted and retained by a pallet. The wrapping material may be a sleeve of shrinkable material applied to the inverted end of the articles and shrunk to conform to the articles and form a base enclosing the bottoms of the articles. The articles are retained by the pallet in the oriented arrangement during the inverting, sleeving and bundling of the group of articles, to provide a bundled group including the articles securely contained by the shrunk wrapping in the oriented arrangement. The bundled group may include more than one type of article. The pallet may be operable to retain a top portion of the article, which may have an irregular or asymmetrical shape.

A packaging system and method forms a bundled group of articles in an oriented arrangement, by applying a wrapping material to the articles via the bottoms of the articles while the oriented arrangement of articles is inverted and retained by a pallet. The wrapping material may be a sleeve of shrinkable material applied to the inverted end of the articles and shrunk to conform to the articles and form a base enclosing the bottoms of the articles. The articles are retained by the pallet in the oriented arrangement during the inverting, sleeving and bundling of the group of articles, to provide a bundled group including the articles securely contained by the shrunk wrapping in the oriented arrangement. The bundled group may include more than one type of article. The pallet may be operable to retain a top portion of the article, which may have an irregular or asymmetrical shape.

An apparatus for shaping a narrow container stream, into a wide container stream includes container guides and a shaping region that extends between an inlet and an outlet. Transport bands connecting laterally to each other and define a transport plane along which the containers are transported. The container guides are constrained to be between defined limit curves defined by second and third order polynomials. As a result, the container guides are cambered in a way that promotes interruption-free widening of the container stream.

A plant for packing bottles or similar containers includes an operating unit carrying out a rapid assembly that includes a portable pack made by three straps: a first one applied on the lower half of the body of the bottles, a second one applied at the neck of the bottles, both arranged on planes perpendicular to the vertical axes of the bottles, and a third one applied loosely and perpendicularly to the other two straps and laying on a vertical plane passing through the center of gravity of the pack.