Flap folding mechanism for carton making machines

Abstract

This invention relates to a carton making machine in which carton blanks having a leading flap attached to a body portion, the line on which the flap is to be folded being at right angles to the direction of movement of the blanks, are fed continuously along a feed path. The leading flap is folded by a hooked finger, which can swing on a fixed pivot, as the blank is fed over a section of the feed path having a convex configuration in the direction of travel. The blanks are fed between cooperating upper and lower bands, but no upper band is provided over the convex section of the feed path so that the leading flap is free to extend in a direction tangential to the curve of the convex section. With such a construction it is possible to feed the blanks in an overlapped formation and still be able to fold the leading flap as a gap will be formed between the underside of the flap and the top surface of the preceding blank, thus allowing the finger to engage the leading edge of the flap. In a preferred form the convex section of the feed path is formed by part of the peripheral surface of a suction feed wheel which removes blanks one at a time from a stack of blanks formed in a magazine.