A feeding device to feed a sheet in a feeding direction includes a mount on which a substantially rectangular parallelepiped sheet pack is mountable; a first cutter to cut, in the feeding direction, a first side surface on one end side in a width direction orthogonal to the feeding direction out of four side surfaces of the sheet pack; a second cutter to cut, in the width direction, a second side surface on a downstream side in the feeding direction out of the four side surfaces; and a third cutter to cut, in the feeding direction, a third side surface on another end side in the width direction out of the four side surfaces. Height positions cut by the first cutter, the second cutter, and the third cutter coincide with each other. Cut portions by the first cutter, the second cutter, and the third cutter are coupled to each other.

Provided are an accommodating device that performs appropriate processing in order to discard an empty paper pack remaining in the accommodating device and an image forming apparatus including the accommodating device. The accommodating device includes an accommodating unit, a processing unit, and a discarding unit. The accommodating unit accommodates a paper pack including a bundle of stacked sheets of printer paper wrapped with wrapping paper in such a manner that the printer paper is freely taken out. The processing unit flatly crushes and conveys an empty paper pack from which all of the sheets of the printer paper have been taken out and in which only the wrapping paper has remained. The discarding unit stores a flatly crashed empty paper pack conveyed from the processing unit in order to discard them.

A carton handling system for a carton blank magazine. The carton handling system includes a carriage assembly with a carton handling tool. The carriage assembly moves the carton handling tool in two axes of motion to receive a slug of carton blanks and to position the slug of carton blanks in the carton blank magazine. The carton handling system further includes a finger carried on the carton handling tool. The carton handling tool is movable to engage the finger with an underside of a fallen carton blank lying at an end of an advancing stack of blanks in the carton blank magazine so as to lift the fallen carton blank against a preceding blank at the end of the advancing stack of blanks. The carton handling tool is also movable to position the slug of carton blanks at an endmost blank in the advancing stack of blanks.

A sheet feeding apparatus includes: a stacking part capable of stacking a plurality of sheet packs including a bundle of stacked printing sheets being wrapped with a wrapping sheet; a side surface remover that removes the wrapping sheet on a side surface being a wall surface along a stacking direction of the printing sheets among the wall surfaces of the sheet pack for each of the plurality of sheet packs stacked on the stacking part, a sensor that detects whether an uppermost sheet stacked on the stacking part in a detection range is the wrapping sheet; and a conveyer that conveys the detected wrapping sheet to a path different from a path through which the printing sheet is conveyed in a case where the wrapping sheet has been detected by the sensor.

Provided are an accommodating device that performs appropriate processing in order to discard an empty paper pack remaining in the accommodating device and an image forming apparatus including the accommodating device. The accommodating device includes an accommodating unit, a processing unit, and a discarding unit. The accommodating unit accommodates a paper pack including a bundle of stacked sheets of printer paper wrapped with wrapping paper in such a manner that the printer paper is freely taken out. The processing unit flatly crushes and conveys an empty paper pack from which all of the sheets of the printer paper have been taken out and in which only the wrapping paper has remained. The discarding unit stores a flatly crashed empty paper pack conveyed from the processing unit in order to discard them.

A carton decasing system for removing stacks of cartons or carton blanks from cases or containers includes a case infeed conveyor on which the cases with the cartons or carton blanks stacked therein are moved to an inverting assembly. The inverting assembly reorients the cases and places the cases with the cartons stacked therein on a decasing assembly which removes the cases from the stacks of cartons. The stacks of cartons are thereafter conveyed along a magazine conveyor with the stacks of cartons supported by a stack pusher assembly as the cartons are moved to a discharge point at the distal end of the magazine conveyor.

A loading device to supply successively with cardboard sheets a station for handling the sheets by folding to form from them boxes for packaging, the handling station having a storage area to receive the successive sheets, optionally grouped in bundles, the device itself having a manipulator that includes: a gripping tool to pick up the sheets; an actuator to move the tool between an inventory of sheets and the receiving storage area of the station; a detection unit for detecting the status of filling of the storage area; and a control unit that directs the action of the device and that receives detection information from the detection unit to do this, the control unit being independent of the control of the handling station and programmable to adapt the operation of the loading device to the type of sheets handled. A corresponding process is also described.

A loading device to supply successively with cardboard sheets a station for handling the sheets by folding to form from them boxes for packaging, the handling station having a storage area to receive the successive sheets, optionally grouped in bundles, the device itself having a manipulator that includes: a gripping tool to pick up the sheets; an actuator to move the tool between an inventory of sheets and the receiving storage area of the station; a detection unit for detecting the status of filling of the storage area; and a control unit that directs the action of the device and that receives detection information from the detection unit to do this, the control unit being independent of the control of the handling station and programmable to adapt the operation of the loading device to the type of sheets handled. A corresponding process is also described.

A carton handling system for a carton blank magazine. The carton handling system includes a carriage assembly with a carton handling tool. The carriage assembly moves the carton handling tool in two axes of motion to receive a slug of carton blanks and to position the slug of carton blanks in the carton blank magazine. The carton handling system further includes a finger carried on the carton handling tool. The carton handling tool is movable to engage the finger with an underside of a fallen carton blank lying at an end of an advancing stack of blanks in the carton blank magazine so as to lift the fallen carton blank against a preceding blank at the end of the advancing stack of blanks. The carton handling tool is also movable to position the slug of carton blanks at an endmost blank in the advancing stack of blanks.