Apparatus for forming containers

Claim 1

Apparatus for forming a container from a blank by initially moving the empty blank downward, which blank has a bottom panel, front and rear panels, end flaps, and cover means including flap extensions, which apparatus comprises a supporting structure having a forming station, front camming means at said forming station for bending the front panel upwardly from said blank as the bottom panel of said blank is moved downward into said station, a pair of plow means located at the rear of said forming station and spaced apart a distance greater than the length of the bottom panel to provide a discharge opening therebetween, the upper portions of each of said pair of plow means being disposed to bend the rear panel upwardly from said blank as the bottom panel of said blank is moved downward into said station, end camming means disposed at both sides of said forming station for bending the end flaps of said container upwardly from said blank as a part of the same downward movement that bends the front and rear panels upward, track means on said supporting structure extending rearward from said forming station, a compression station longitudinally spaced along said track means from said forming station, adhesive dispensing means located between said forming and compression stations for applying adhesive to the exterior surfaces of the end flaps, switch means actuated by the movement of the packed container from said forming station including first and second switches spaced longitudinally along said track means which actuate said adhesIve dispensing means to cause adhesive to be dispensed only when both of said switches are activated so that a line of adhesive applied to the end flaps is terminated short of the front and the rear edges of the container, said compression station including means for applying compressive force against the cover extension flaps and end flaps while the adhesive sets, said compression station being sufficiently long to accommodate a plurality of packed containers, power-operated means being provided in said track means for automatically moving a plurality of packed containers one in contact with another in said compression station a predetermined distance to discharge the rearmost container from the end thereof as the operator is packing another container, said power-operated means including a fluid-operated cylinder and means connected thereto for engaging the front panel of a packed container that has been moved through said discharge opening, and control means for said fluid cylinder connected to said switch means and including time-delay means which activates said fluid cylinder a predetermined time after movement of the packed container occurs to drive said engaging means toward the discharge end of said compression station.