A carton assembly machine for cartons (17) for packing articles (15, 15′), comprising means for feeding an unassembled carton in a feed direction, the said carton having a plurality of side flaps or panels (18, 19) whose folds are essentially parallel to the said feed direction folded onto a central portion (25) of the carton, the said machine further comprising a movable element (26) designed to move between a first position away from the route of the carton and a second position in which the said element is designed to be Inserted underneath, at an edge (27) of at least one of said side flaps or panels (19), so that the latter is raised with respect to the said central portion, in particular, in cooperation with the carton feeding.

A packaging box is disclosed, able to have smoothly curved wall portions. The box includes a perimeter wall defining a void thereby. The perimeter wall includes a first fold line and a second fold line. The first fold line and the second fold line may be parallel. A distance around the perimeter wall from the first fold line to the second fold line measured in a first plane perpendicular to the first and second fold lines in a first rotational sense is the same as a distance around the perimeter wall from the first fold line to the second fold line in the first plane in a second rotational sense opposite to the first rotational sense. When the first fold line is fully unfolded, the perimeter has a continuous surface including the first fold line. A tube, blank, method and machine for forming the box are also disclosed.

Embodiments include a carton feeding device for feeding cartons to a conveyor track, comprising a pick-up head with a plurality of vacuum cups, an erecting finger pivotally suspended at the pick-up head, where the pick-up head has a pick-up position (P1) and an insertion position (P2), where the carton is held with an angle ? between the holding plane of the pick-up head and the bearing surface of the erecting finger, wherein the angle ? differs from 90 degrees with at least 10 degrees in the insertion position (P2), where the carton is inserted between two parallel teeth of the conveyor track, and where the distance between the teeth is substantially equal to the width of the upper wall of the carton.

Embodiments include a carton feeding system for feeding a plurality of cartons to a conveyor track, comprising a plurality of feeding devices, where each feeding device comprises a pick-up head with a plurality of vacuum cups, and an erecting finger pivotally suspended at the pick-up head, where the pick-up head has a pick-up position (P1) in which the holding plane of the pick-up head is positioned parallel to the folded carton blank that is to be picked up, and an insertion position (P2) in which the erecting finger is pivoted with respect to the holding plane of the pick-up head in such a way that the carton is opened, and where at least two cartons are inserted simultaneously into the conveyor track.