Carton erection apparatus

Claim 1

A CARTON ERECTION APPARATUS COMPRISING, A BASKET ADAPTED TO HOLD A PLURALITY OF FLATTENED CARTON BLANKS IN A STAKED RELATIONSHIP, A PLURALITY OF SUCTION CUPS EACH PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON A FRAME, MEANS FOR MOVING THE FRAME IN A RECIPROCAL MOVEMENT TOWARD AND AWAY FROM THE BASKET IN A STRAIGHT LINE, GUIDE PLATE MEANS POSITIONED ON EACH SIDE OF THE STRAIGHT LINE OF RECIPROCAL MOVEMENT OF THE FRAME, SAID GUIDE PLATE MEANS EACH HAVING IDENTICAL ARCUATE SURFACES WITH AN END PORTION HAVING TWO STRAIGHT SIDES JOINED AT A RIGHT ANGLE, MEANS MOUNTING THE GUIDE PLATE MEANS SUCH THAT THE ARCUATE PORTIONS ARE SPACED APART SUBSTANTIALLY THE WIDTH OF THE BASKET ADJACENT THE BASKET AND CURVED TOWARD ONE ANOTHER INTERMEDIATE THE EXTENT OF THE GUIDE PLATE MEANS TO PROVIDE A NARROW PORTION TERMINATING IN A SQUARE CONFIGURATION PORTION DEFINED BY THE STRAIGHT SIDES, SAID SUCTION CUPS ON THE FRAME BEING ADAPTED TO REMOVE A FLATTENED CARTON BLANK FROM THE BASKET AND OPEN THE CARTON BLANK UPON MOVEMENT OF THE FRAME AS THE EDGES OF THE CARTON BLANK ENGAGE THE ARCUATE SURFACES OF THE GUIDE PLATE MEANS OVER BENDING THE CARTON BLANK BEYOND THE NORMAL SQUARE CROSS-SECTIONAL CONFIGURATION OF THE CARTON BLANK AT THE NARROW PORTION OF THE GUIDE PLATE MEANS AND MOVING THE CARTON BLANK INTO THE SQUARE CONFIGURATION PORTION AT THE END OF THE GUIDE PLATE MEANS, AND MEANS CONTROLLING THE APPLICATION OF A VACUUM PRESSURE TO THE SUCTION CUPS AND TO RELEASE THE SAME AS THE CARTON BLANK REACHES THE END OF THE GUIDE PLATE MEANS.