Method and apparatus for erecting cartons

1. A method of erecting a carton, comprising:

(a) placing a knock-down carton blank on a base of a bed of a shuttle such that a bottom side panel of said knock-down carton blank abuts said base;

(b) gripping said bottom side panel of said blank with base grippers of said base;

(c) raising a top side panel of said knock-down carton blank while advancing said shuttle in a horizontal direction so as to open said knock-down carton blank into a carton sleeve;

wherein a further side panel is hingedly connected to said top side panel and to said bottom side panel of said carton blank and wherein said raising comprises raising said top side panel in a vertical direction while advancing said shuttle in said horizontal direction;

wherein said bed is L-shaped with said base horizontally extending and a vertically extending back wall, and wherein said raising opens said knock-down blank so that said further side panel is brought into abutment with said vertically extending back wall;

and wherein said method further comprises:

(d) after said raising, gripping said further side panel of said knock-down carton blank with a gripper of said back wall;

(e) after gripping said further side panel of said knock-down carton blank with said gripper of said back wall, causing said end effector to release said top side panel of said knock-down carton blank.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said placing places a hinge line between said bottom side panel and said further side panel of said carton blank against said vertically extending back wall of said shuttle bed.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein said placing comprises:

gripping said top side panel of said knock-down carton blank at a pick-up location with an end effector of a movement apparatus;

translating said knock-down carton blank with said movement apparatus from said pickup location to a position over said shuttle; and

vertically lowering said knock-down carton blank with said movement apparatus onto said base of said shuttle bed.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising, after said releasing said top side panel of said knock-down carton blank, advancing a pair of horizontally reciprocating ploughs disposed beside said bed toward one another to fold minor end flaps of said carton sleeve inwardly toward one another.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising:

while said pair of horizontally reciprocating ploughs remain advanced toward one another, advancing a pair of vertically reciprocating ploughs disposed beside said bed toward one another to begin to fold major end flaps of said carton sleeve inwardly toward one another to a partially folded position.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising, while said pair of horizontally reciprocating ploughs remain advanced toward one another and said pair of vertically reciprocating ploughs remain advanced toward one another, advancing said carton sleeve horizontally to extract said carton sleeve from said ploughs.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein said advancing comprises pushing said carton sleeve with said shuttle.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein said advancing further comprises pulling said carton sleeve.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising completing folding of said major end flaps and taping said major end flaps of said carton sleeve together.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein said horizontal direction of advancement of said shuttle is a first horizontal direction and wherein said movement apparatus has two degrees of freedom, a first degree of freedom providing movement of said end effector in said vertical direction and a second degree of freedom providing movement of said end effector in a second horizontal direction transverse to said first horizontal direction.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising conveying said knock-down carton blank to said pick-up location in a third horizontal direction opposite to said first horizontal direction.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein said conveying said knock-down carton blank further comprises conveying said knock-down carton blank into abutment with a side wall extending along said third horizontal direction and a front stop at said pick-up location extending transversely of said third horizontal direction in order to precisely, locate said knock-down carton blank at said pick-up location.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein said gripper of said base is a vacuum cup and wherein said gripping said bottom side panel of said blank comprises activating said vacuum cup.

14. The method of claim 1 further comprising selecting said knock-down carton blank from amongst a plurality of blanks having differing dimensions based on dimensions of said knock-down carton blank, conveying said knock-down carton blank to a pick-up location, and picking up and transferring said knock-down carton blank toward said base.

15. A method of erecting a carton comprising:

(a) placing a knock-down carton blank on a base of a bed of a shuttle such that a bottom side panel of said knock-down carton blank abuts said base;

(b) gripping said bottom side panel of said blank with base grippers of said base;

(c) raising a top side panel of said knock-down carton blank while advancing said shuttle in a horizontal direction so as to open said knock-down carton blank into a carton sleeve;

wherein said bed has an upstanding back wall having back wall grippers, said controller is operatively associated with said back wall grippers, and said controller is configured to operate said back wall grippers to grip a further side panel of said carton sleeve;

wherein said controller is further configured to, after operating said back wall grippers to grip said further side panel, operate said end effector to release said top side panel.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the apparatus further comprises a pair of horizontally reciprocating ploughs disposed beside said bed and wherein said controller is further configured to, after releasing said top side panel of said knock-down carton blank, advancing said pair of horizontally reciprocating ploughs toward one another to fold minor end flaps of said carton sleeve inwardly toward one another.

17. The method of claim 1 performed using an apparatus, the apparatus comprising:

said shuttle having said bed with a horizontally extending base having said base grippers;

a shuttle drive apparatus for driving said shuttle in a horizontal advancement direction;

an end effector having end effector grippers;

an end effector movement device for moving said end effector;

a controller operatively associated with said shuttle drive apparatus, said end effector movement device and said grippers.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein (a) comprises said controller operating said movement device and end effector to grip said top side panel of said knock-down carton blank and place said knock-down carton blank on said horizontally extending base of said shuttle such that a bottom side panel of said knock-down carton blank abuts said horizontally extending base.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein (b) comprises said controller activating said base grippers to grip said bottom side panel of said blank.

20. The method of claim 17 , wherein (c) comprises said controller operating said movement device to raise said top side panel of said knock-down carton blank with said end effector while horizontally advancing said shuttle in order to open said knock-down carton blank into a carton sleeve.