Tetra Laval Holdings & Finance S.a.

Dave McDonough

Yoshiki Katsumata

Masayuki Taniguchi

Ronnie Jakobsson

Masaaki Kawase

A bottom folding assembly for a packaging machine is configured to infold the bottom side panels, leading panel and trailing panel of a carton for forming a sealed carton bottom in such a manner as to reduce the contact of rotating elements with the carton material to reduce the generation of dust. The bottom folding assembly is positioned about a rotating turret that defines a turret plane. The mandrels are configured to receive a carton in the tubular form and to carry the carton with the carton positioned such that a bottom of the carton is positioned at a free end of the mandrel. The bottom folding apparatus, located between a carton bottom heater and a carton bottom sealer includes a rotating drive shaft mounted transverse to the turret plane and a pair of opposing rotating members are operably mounted to the drive shaft and are disposed on either side of the turret rotational path. The rotating member rotate in a plane transverse to the turret plane. A tucking assembly is disposed between the opposing rotating members and is mounted to the drive shaft for rotating in a plane transverse to the rotating members and parallel to the turret plane. When a carton is positioned on the mandrel and passes the folding assembly, the opposing rotating members contact the bottom side wall flaps, urging the bottom side wall flaps inwardly, and the tucking assembly contacts the bottom trailing flap, urging the bottom trailing flap inwardly, over the bottom side wall flaps. A form, fill and seal machine having the bottom folding assembly is also disclosed.

Carton bottom folding assembly

A carton pulling assembly pulls a partially formed carton from a mandrel on a form, fill and seal packaging machine. The machine has a vacuum source for providing a vacuum and includes a machine controller. The partially formed carton has a sealed bottom wall. The carton pulling assembly includes a carton puller element movable in a reciprocating manner toward and away from the mandrel. A vacuum head assembly is mounted to the carton puller element for reciprocating movement therewith. The vacuum head assembly includes a cylinder and a finger configured for reciprocating movement within the cylinder having a suction element mounted thereto. The finger has a vacuum channel for communicating vacuum from the cylinder to the suction element. The finger is movable between an extended position in which the suction element contacts and engages the partially formed carton sealed bottom wall and a retracted position in which the reciprocating finger pulls the carton from the mandrel. The reciprocating finger moves toward the extended position by application of the vacuum to the vacuum head assembly while communicating vacuum to the suction element. A method for pulling a partially formed carton from a mandrel is also disclosed.

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Dundee, IL, United States of America

Dave McDonough