A cartoning machine including a carton supply station (e.g., a rotary carton supply station, a linear carton supply station, a non-linear carton supply station, or the like) and a handling station operatively coupled to the carton supply station. The carton supply station provides, on a selective basis, cartons, such as carton blanks, pre-formed cartons, or the like. The carton supply station of the cartoning machine provides for movement of magazines with respect to a robot in the handling station that may have a distal end secured in a stationary and fixed location. As such, different magazines with dissimilar cartons may be moved to a picking location adjacent the robot, as dissimilar cartons are required. Further, the cartons within the magazines may be moved to a pre-determined pick-up location such that the robot is repeatably picking a carton from the pre-determine pick-up location.

A self-contained no-feed-roll computer controlled corrugated board or paperboard sheet feeder apparatus 200 is configured to upgrade an installed corrugated board processing machine (e.g., 10) and includes a feed table surface 210 for boards (e.g., 2) having drive wheels (222W, 224W, 226W) in an initial variable velocity zone 220 which drives the board in a first motion profile through a first vacuum zone, and a second velocity zone 230 which then drives the board in a second motion profile through a second vacuum zone Retrofittable sheet feeder 200 also includes a controller 300 configured to receive predetermined velocity signals from the host machine 10 and generate (i) a first initial variable velocity control signal for initial variable velocity zone 220 and (ii) a second velocity control signal for second velocity zone 230 in response.

In erecting a carton from a knock-down carton blank, the blank is placed on a base of a bed of a shuttle such that a bottom side panel of the blank abuts the base. The bottom side panel of the blank is then gripped with a gripper of the base and a top side panel of the blank is raised while advancing the shuttle in a horizontal direction so as to open said knock-down carton blank into a carton sleeve.

An extraction device and method (1) for moving, from a pile (3), a batch (4) of stacked flat products (2) that are not connected to one another and that form the top of the pile (3), with the extraction device (1) including a frame (5), and, mounted in the frame (5), a gripping element (6) in the form of a controlled vise for firmly grasping section by section the batch (4) to be extracted. This device also includes, mounted in the frame (5), a separation element (8), separated from the gripping element (6), carrying a support surface (9) to come under the batch (4).

A sheet stacking device includes a hopper unit on which box making sheet material is stacked; an ejection unit that ejects the sheet material to the hopper unit; a first blowing device that is disposed above the downstream side of the hopper unit in the transfer direction of the sheet material and that presses the sheet material downward by blowing air; a pressing device that is disposed above an upstream side of the hopper unit in the transfer direction of the sheet material and that presses the sheet material downward; and a control device that controls an operation of the first blowing device pressing a front end of the sheet material downward, and controls an operation of the pressing device so as to press a rear end of the sheet material downward with a pressing force higher than that applied to the front end of the sheet material.

In some examples, a sheet processing machine includes at least one pile formation device. The at least one pile formation device is arranged in a vertical direction beneath a multiple-up separating mechanism. The at least one pile formation device is arranged so as to be displaceable at least in an inward-moving direction. The at least one pile formation device includes at least one horizontally displaceable pile formation means and a deposit element that can be displaced relative to the at least one pile formation means.

A method is provided for supplying a corrugated board article or a paperboard sheet article from a feeder apparatus for receipt by an article processing host machine. The method includes feeding the article to a feeder apparatus including a sheet supporting feed table surface having a feed end and a delivery end, feed elements, and a control surface selectively movable between a covering state and an exposing state. In the exposing state the feed elements are exposed to contact and drive the article along the sheet supporting feed table. The control surface is selectively movable to an angled state to selectively angle the control surface to consecutively conceal the respective feed elements as the article moves over the feed elements.

A device (110) for sampling sheet elements (20) in a sorting unit (100) comprises: transport means (111, 112) defining a plane (P0) and able to move (A) a sheet element (20) longitudinally upstream to downstream, an axis (R1) situated at the level of the transport means (111, 112) and extending transversely, a diversion part (113) rotatable about the axis (R1) and having at least one end (114) so that during the rotation of the diversion part (113) through a first angular sector (S1) the horizontal projection of the end (114) remains below the plane (P0) and during the rotation through a second angular sector (S2) complementary to the first angular sector the horizontal projection of the end (114) moves above the plane (P0) so as to divert a sheet element (20) in a direction different from the plane (P0) and thus to sample the sheet element (20).

A packaging machine hopper is provided for holding a stack of packaging articles with each article in a generally horizontal orientation. The hopper comprises a support for holding at least part of the stack at an angle to vertical.

An improved elastomer covered feed roll assembly (32R) for use in a feed/pull roll set combination (36) in a sheet finishing machine (12) comprises a roll core (50) having a cylindrical surface (60) with multiple longitudinally spaced and circumferentially offset elongated keyways (80, 82, 84, 86) each configured as a locking slot. Multiple replaceable flexible feed cover sections (52, 54, 56) each incorporating a flexible backing (120) and an elastomeric layer or coating (122) are removably mounted on the roll core by locking components (74, 76) on opposite ends (70, 72) of each of said replaceable flexible feed cover sections, the locking components of each replaceable flexible feed cover section engaging a locking slot (80, 82, 84, 86) corresponding to the feed cover section. The keyways draw together the opposite ends (70, 72) of corresponding cover sections to form corresponding end joints (96, 98, 100).