Importance

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Abstract

Disclosed is a supply hopper apparatus for 3-part (Bliss) box forming machines having a vertical or substantially vertical orientation that is capable of holding a large supply of end panels. The trays of the hopper are open at the top and bottom, and may be adjusted to accommodate a wide range of differently sized end panels. A shuttle mechanism is provided at the bottom of each tray for removing the lowermost end panel from the tray, and an adjustable gate is provided to prevent more than one panel from being removed from the tray at a time. An elevating mechanism is provided adjacent to each tray to bring the lowermost panel from a generally horizontal position to a vertical position alongside the mandrel of the container forming machine. The mandrel then picks up the elevated end panels from each side, and takes them into the machine where they are used to form the three-part Bliss container. The vertically oriented trays of the present invention which use the shuttle, gate and elevating devices described herein allow for end panels to be stacked into the trays without the need for any special orientation, shuffling, stacking or monitoring of the end panels. Additional end panels may be stacked into the trays during operation of the machine without slowing or interrupting the progress of the machine.

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First Claim