A box forming apparatus includes first holders configured to hold a first side surface of a cardboard sheet, second holders configured to hold a second side surface of the cardboard sheet, an arm, a first mover, and a second mover. The arm has a support that supports the first and the second holders. The first mover changes a position of the first holders relative to the second holders while the arm is being rotated to open the cardboard sheet. The second mover moves the arm in association with opening of the cardboard sheet so that, when the cardboard sheet has been opened, the second mover will have moved the support a predetermined distance in a second direction opposite a first direction, which is a direction heading from a rotational center of the arm to a distal end of the arm.

A cardboard box production device includes: a stocker that holds a plurality of vertically stacked folded original boxes in a cardboard box having the top and bottom thereof open; a expansion provided upstream in a conveyance direction that is substantially orthogonal to the stacking direction of the original boxes, moving one side surface of an original box away from a first side on the stocker side towards a second side, and expanding the one side surface such that openings are formed at the top and bottom; a folding-in device that folds in the bottom of an open box opened upstream in the conveyance direction; a feeding device that feeds boxes from the upstream side in the conveyance direction to the downstream side; a conveyance belt; and an adhesion device that applies an adhesive tape to the bottom of the box in the conveyance area of the conveyance belt.

The present invention relates to a box forming machine for forming boxes of different shapes and sizes, comprising a forming station including an operating space, demarcated by upper and lower devices and receiving a box during the forming thereof, without horizontal movement of said box; flexible, pressurizable, and heatable glue conduits connected to a plurality of glue application nozzles, configured for being positioned in different positions consistent with the size of the box to be formed, and at least one electrically-operated valve configured for applying said hot glue in respective relative positions of said glue application nozzles with respect to the box, according to operative parameters associated with the dimensions of the box to be formed, including dimensions of upper and lower flaps of said box and at least one working temperature of a hot glue to be applied previously input in a user interface connected to a control device.

An apparatus and method for expanding a box blank into a box, the apparatus comprising an arm assembly, a controller, a camera and a box blank conveyor. The arm assembly includes a folding arm having a position in a first direction and a rotational angle controlled by the controller based on a position of a feature of the box blank in the field of view of the camera. The camera captures images of the box blank which are used to position the arm assembly and to evaluate the need to reject a box blank.

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.

An apparatus and method for expanding a box blank into a box, the apparatus comprising an arm assembly, a controller, a camera and a box blank conveyor. The arm assembly includes a folding arm having a position in a first direction and a rotational angle controlled by the controller based on a position of a feature of the box blank in the field of view of the camera. The camera captures images of the box blank which are used to position the arm assembly and to evaluate the need to reject a box blank.

An apparatus and method for expanding a box blank into a box, the apparatus comprising an arm assembly, a controller, a camera and a box blank conveyor. The arm assembly includes a folding arm having a position in a first direction and a rotational angle controlled by the controller based on a position of a feature of the box blank in the field of view of the camera. The camera captures images of the box blank which are used to position the arm assembly and to evaluate the need to reject a box blank.

The present invention relates to a box forming machine for forming boxes of different shapes and sizes, comprising a forming station including an operating space, demarcated by upper and lower devices and receiving a box during the forming thereof, without horizontal movement of said box; flexible, pressurizable, and heatable glue conduits connected to a plurality of glue application nozzles, configured for being positioned in different positions consistent with the size of the box to be formed, and at least one electrically-operated valve configured for applying said hot glue in respective relative positions of said glue application nozzles with respect to the box, according to operative parameters associated with the dimensions of the box to be formed, including dimensions of upper and lower flaps of said box and at least one working temperature of a hot glue to be applied previously input in a user interface connected to a control device.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a case former configured to receive a case in a blank configuration, open the case into a tubular configuration, fold the lower minor flaps to manipulate the case into a partially closed-bottom configuration, square the case while in the partially closed-bottom configuration, and fold and tape the lower major flaps shut to manipulate the case into a closed-bottom configuration. The squaring step ensures that the case has a rectangular cross-section after taping rather than a rhomboid cross-section.

A method of at least partially erecting a carton with a carton forming system includes loading a blank in a blank infeed assembly, the blank having a plurality of panels and a plurality of end flaps foldably connected to a respective panel of the plurality of panels. The method further includes positioning the blank on at least one conveyor assembly, operating the at least one conveyor assembly to move the blank in a downstream direction of the system toward a carton erection assembly, the carton erection assembly including an end flap engagement assembly positioned adjacent the at least one conveyor assembly, and rotating the end flap engagement assembly such that a portion of the end flap engagement assembly contacts and moves at least one end flap of the plurality of end flaps of the blank as the blank moves in the downstream direction.