Carton blank folding, glueing and stapling apparatus

Claim 1

In an installation for the continuous production of folded, preassembled packing cartons from flexible sheets comprising, end to end along a flow path, means for forming carton blanks from the sheets, a glueing unit, a folding unit, a positioning station and a stapler; and means for moving the blanks from the blank forming means to the stapler along the flow path; the glueing unit and the stapler being means operable separately or simultaneously for preassembling the blanks in cooperation with the folding unit; the positioning station located therein being equipped with a first transfer device comprising means for driving the blanks without slippage at a specified speed before introduction of the blanks into the stapler, the improvement comprising: a second transfer device, located in said positioning station, comprising means for driving the blanks before introduction of the blanks into the stapler at a speed that is higher than said specified speed and that is equal to the speed of passage of the blanks through the glueing unit; means, coupled to said positioning station and said second transfer device, for selectively rendering said second transfer device operative or inoperative, and means, coupled to said positioning station and said first transfer device, for selectively rendering said first transfer device operative or inoperative.