A device for automated packaging of articles, comprising a conveyor for feeding and transporting into the device a blank of corrugated cardboard, a pair of crease wheels for creating two longitudinal crease lines in the blank, a transversal blade or score applicator for successively creating four transversal crease lines in the blank as the blank is transported into the device, and opposite pressing members such as jaws of a press and/or pressing rollers, arranged symmetrically with respect to a center line of the device, whose lateral position is adjustable for their ends or tips to match the two longitudinal crease lines, and activated in a timely manner as the blank is transported into the device to crush the corrugated cardboard in the top, middle and bottom corners of the blank in order to make it easily foldable.

Control of a wrapping apparatus is facilitated by enabling an operator to input a load containment force requirement and/or a minimum number of layers of packaging material to be applied to a load, with a wrap control system automatically determining wrap force and other parameters required to meet user input requirements and/or parameters to minimize the expertise required of an operator and to provide more consistent and reliable wrapping of loads. In addition, a wrapping apparatus may be controlled to apply at least a minimum number of layers of packaging material to a load throughout a contiguous region thereof.

A system and process of printing a package of expanded material (e.g., expanded starch, foam or other expanded material). The expanded material can be heated and extruded, poured, sprayed, or otherwise applied in malleable form that sets up to become a porous protective covering for an item to be packaged. In an example, a layer of expanded material is laid down, and the item in a protective covering (e.g., a plastic bag, sleeve, coating, etc.) is positioned on the layer of expanded material. Additional layers or expanded material may be applied, thereby encasing the item. The top surface of the expanded material may be flattened, such as by operation of a roller, press, or cutter. The top surface may be sprayed with a shellac sealant, paint, or other coating, to allow printing of a label on the top surface.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a random case sealer. The case sealer includes a top-head-actuating assembly configured to vary the speed of the top-head assembly when ascending (to make room for the case beneath the top-head assembly) and when descending onto the case (to engage the top surface of the case during sealing). This maximizes the speed of the top-head assembly while limiting overshoot (when ascending) and preventing damage to the case (when descending). In certain embodiments the case sealer includes a tape cartridge configured to limit the forces imparted onto the leading and top surfaces of the case during sealing. These features result in increased throughput as compared to prior art random case sealers without requiring stronger cases or more protective dunnage.

A vertical sealer apparatus includes at least one conveyor for receiving objects to be wrapped in a vertical orientation with films from two film sources and for conveying the objects in a downstream direction from before and after they are wrapped along a conveying path, as well as an over for shrinking the films onto the objects. Methods of vertically sealing objects using such apparatus are also provided.

Systems and processes for packing complementary articles of footwear into a container are disclosed. The processes can include utilizing a reusable packing sheet positioned underneath complementary articles of footwear to transfer the complementary articles of footwear into a container. The processes can also include removing the reusable packing sheet from underneath the complementary articles of footwear while the complementary articles of footwear remain positioned in the container. Additional processes can include aligning and sizing complementary articles of footwear for packing in a container.

A system for automatic packaging of shoes can include a first subsystem that can determine shoe type information from a shoe or pair of shoes to be packaged, a second subsystem that can automatically package the shoe, or pair of shoes, in a packaging container, and a third subsystem that can dynamically control the automatic packaging based at least in part on the determined shoe type information.

A shape profile measurement device includes: a light projector and a light receiver arranged facing each other; a belt conveyor for conveying an object for measurement; and a calculation unit. The light projector includes a plurality of light-emitting portions arranged in an array direction, and each emits substantially parallel measurement light. The light receiver includes a plurality of light-receiving portions arranged in the array direction facing the plurality of light-emitting portions, and each receives the measurement light emitted from a corresponding light-emitting portion. The light-receiving portions output a signal indicating a light intensity of the received measurement light. The calculation unit acquires the signal of the light receiver when the object is at a plurality of different movement-direction positions between the light-emitting portions and the light-receiving portions, and obtains a shape profile on the basis of the signal acquired and information relating to the plurality of movement-direction positions.

A system, apparatus, and method for automatically packaging one or more articles is disclosed. The system, apparatus, and method processes incoming articles having different and/or similar shapes and in random orientations for packaging. The system, apparatus, and method form shipping-ready customized packages, based, at least in part, on data associated with an individual article and gathered by a detecting device as the individual article moves along a first conveyor towards a packaging station of the system. The customized packages are configured to conform to each individual article's shape and size. The packaging preferably is fully recyclable and is made from paper which is expandable to create a cushioning layer around the packaged article.

An order management system and method for automated logistics based on-demand box supplying is disclosed. The system pre-estimates a dimension required by all of the merchandise according to an order data, and selects a sheet material according to the size to form a finished container. The dimension of the unfolded sheet material before folding into the finished container is quite small. In terms of warehouse space utilization, a space required by a single finished and folded box is able to stack dozens of sheet materials, so that the warehousing efficiency is greatly improved. By integrating with a box folding module and a sealing module, fully automated logistics can be achieved with human intervention.