US3842571A

US3842571A - Apparatus for filling cartons and the like with objects,for example bottles

Info

Publication number: US3842571A
Application number: US00336131A
Authority: US
Inventors: H Focke; K Liedtke
Original assignee: Focke and Pfuhl
Current assignee: Focke and Pfuhl
Priority date: 1972-02-28
Filing date: 1973-02-27
Publication date: 1974-10-22
Anticipated expiration: 1991-10-22
Also published as: CA992507A; DE2209370B2; DE2209370C3; JPS4898993A; DE2209370A1; GB1428460A

Abstract

A method and apparatus for filling containers of foldable material, more particularly cartons, with groups of objects, for example bottles, the bottom of the carton comprising bottom flaps which may be folded into the bottom plane and are preferably glued to each other wherein the carton, which is open at least at the bottom, is driven from above over a group of the objects to surround same and the bottom flaps are then pivoted into the plane of the bottom.

Description

United States Patent Focke et a1.

APPARATUS FOR FILLING CARTONS AND THE LIKE WITH OBJECTS, FOR EXAMPLE BOTTLES Inventors: Heinz-Hermann Focke; Kurt Willy Liedtke, both of Verden/Aller, Germany Focke & Pfuhl, Verdcn/Aller, Germany Filed: Feb. 27, 1973 Appl. No; 336,131

Assignee:

Foreign Application Priority Data Feb. 28, 1972 Germany 2209370 U.S. Cl 53/186, 53/242, 53/374 Int. Cl..... B65b 21/06, B65b 43/30, B65b 7/20 Field of Search 53/186, 242, 374

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 6/1958 Schroeder 53/186 [451 Oct. 22, 1974 3.645,068 2/1972 Langen 53/186 3,673,764 7/1972 Bell 53/374 3,698,151 10/1972 Arneson.... 53/242 X 3,751,872 8/1973 Helms 53/242 X 3,757,486 9/1973 Feurston et a1 53/242 X 3,762,129 10/1973 Salomon 53/242 X 3,805,484 4/1974 Rossi 53/242 X Primary Examiner-Robert L. Spruill Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Sughrue, Rothwell, Mion, Zinn & Macpeak [57] ABSTRACT A method and apparatus for filling containers of foldable material, more particularly cartons, with groups of objects, for example bottles, the bottom of the carton comprising bottom flaps which may be folded into the bottom plane and are preferably glued to' each other wherein the carton, which is open at least at the bottom, is driven from above over a group of the objects to surround same and the bottom flaps are then pivoted into the plane of the bottom.

17 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures PAIEN 15mm 22514 SHEET '4 BF 5 R Ek APPARATUS FOR FILLING CARTONS AND THE LIKE WITH OBJECTS, FOR EXAMPLE BOTTLES The invention relates to a method and apparatus for filling containers of foldable material, more particularly cartons, with groups of objects, for example bottles, the bottom of the carton comprising bottom flaps which may be folded into the bottom plane and are preferably glued to each other.

In practice cartons were hitherto filled with bottles or similar objects by a group of such bottles being introduced in its entirety from above into the carton which is open at the top. This method has several disadvantages. Firstly, the basic idea of this packaging system of moving relatively heavy filling material, namely the bottles, relative to the carton which is stationary or is transported in only one plane, namely by lowering such bottles into the said carton, is unfavorable because a greater expenditure in terms of machinery is naturally required for introducing the groups of bottles. In addition it is naturally not simple to simultaneously grip a group comprising a plurality of individual objects which are not connected to each other, for example bottles, and to introduce them together into the open package. Finally, introducing the objects into the carton causes the carton while to damage or even remove the labels usually provided on the outwardly disposed objects during the lowering motion.

It is the object of the invention to simplify the filling of cartons and similar containers with groups of bottles, jars and the like by a novel method and by apparatus for performing this method. The previously mentioned disadvantages are to be particularly avoided thereby.

The method according to the invention for solving this problem is characterised in that the carton, which is open at least at the bottom, is driven from above over a group of the objects to surround same and the bottom flaps are then pivoted into the plane of the bottom.

The invention therefore departs from the conventional packaging principle namely by an open carton being driven over the objects, for example bottles disposed in the appropriate configuration, the said carton being inverted over said objects and then being closed by pivoting of the bottom flaps. Accordingly, it is therefore merely necessary to move the carton which has a relatively low dead weight while the bottlevgroup remains immovably or is conveyed on a flat conveying track during the filling operation. The empty carton or the carton blank which is unfolded into a sleeve can be more readily manipulated by mechanical means than a group of individual objects having a large dead weight. It has also been found that lowering the open carton on to the group of bottles does not cause the labels of the outwardly disposed bottles being damaged or even torn off.

The inventive filling of the cartons may be performed continuously or intermittently. In the intermittent process the bottle groups which are to be filled into the cartons are disposed on a filling platform on which the open carton is lowered. The bottom flap which trails in the conveying direction and projects downwardly is folded against the bottom of the bottles or against a movable supporting part of the filling platform in the zone thereof while the bottom flap which leads in the conveying direction and the two lateral bottom flaps are folded against the bottom side of the bottles or the like during the ensuing conveying motion or during transportation respectively.

In continuous operation the cartons or carton blanks which are unfolded into a sleeve are synchronised by suitable conveying means with the groups of bottles or the like and are lowered from above on to the said bottles while these are conveyed.

Further details of the invention will be explained hereinbelow by reference to embodiments which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which FIG. 1 is a transverse or side view respectively of one embodiment of the apparatus according to the inven tion,

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal view of the apparatus according to FIG. 1, W

FIG. 3 is a detail of the device according to FIGS. 1 and 2, namely a filling platform shown to an enlarged scale as a side view and with an opened carton,

FIG. 4 is a plan view of FIG. 3 but with some details omitted,

FIG. 5 is a cross-section through a carton conveyor which conveys the filled cartons,

FIG. 6 is a cross-section according to FIG. 5 of another position of the carton conveyor,

FIG. 7 is one device of the invention as a side view arranged for continuous operation,

FIG. 8 is the magazine of the device according to FIG. 7 as a plan view,

FIG. 9 shows details of the blank conveyor of the device according to FIG. 7 as a plan view and to an enlarged scale,

FIG. 10 is a cross-section along the line X-X of FIG. 7.

The illustrated embodiments of the invention relate to the filling of bottles 10 or a group 11 of such bottles 10 into a carton 12. To this end, the carton 12 is constructed in conventional manner and comprises

side walls

13 and 14 joined to form a sleeve of enclosed cross-section and

bottom flaps

15, 16, l7, 18 attached to the

side walls

13 and 14 and cover flaps 19.

According to the method performed with the apparatus, the cartons l2, constructed in the manner described hereinabove, are unfolded from a flat, folded state, into the three-dimensional form, the bottom flaps 15-18 as well as the cover flaps 19 extending downwardly and upwardly in the plane of the

side walls

13 and 14. The carton which is thus unfolded is lowered by lowering over the group 11 of bottles which are prepared in the required formation until the

side walls

13 and 14 surround the group 11. The bottom flaps 1518 are then folded against the underside of the bottles 10 thus producing the bottom of the carton 12. The cover flaps 19 are folded in suitable and known manner on the top of the bottles 10 for the purpose of completely closing the carton 12.

A substantial number of the cartons 12, which are folded flat, are stored in a magazine and are removed therefrom in accordance with requirements. Removal and preparation of the cartons 12 for the filling operation is performed by a pivoting arm 21 which grips a carton 12 in the zone of the side wall 13 which is outwardly disposed in the magazine. To this end, the free end of the pivoting arm 21 is provided with a suction pad 22. The said suction pad grips the carton 12 in the zone of the side wall 13 and lowers it so that the gripped carton is released from retaining means 23 of the magazine 20. To this end the pivoting arm 21 is mounted on a bearing 24 which is vertically slidable. After the carton I2 is removed from the magazine, the said carton is located by a stationary suction platen 70 which is disposed below the magazine 20 and on which the rear side wall 13 of the carton 12 bears.

After the flat carton 12 is lowered into the position indicated in FIGS. 1 and 2 the carton is unfolded into its three-dimensional shape, namely by pivoting of the pivoting arm through 90 from the position shown in dash-dot lines in FIG. 1 into the position shown in solid lines. This is accompanied by a parallel displacement of the carton walls relative to each other. In the embodiment of the apparatus according to FIGS. 1 to 6, the carton 12, unfolded into the three-dimensional shape illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 is disposed over a group 11 of bottles which are stationary for a short period of time on a filling platform 25 and are held in readiness thereon. The base area of the said filling platform 25 is dimensioned so that the carton 12 may be traversed over the group 11 by a downward motion, with the bottom flaps -18 downwardly orientated, that is to say in the plane of the

side walls

13 and 14 in such a way that the group 11 is surrounded by the

side walls

13 and 14 while the bottom flaps 15-18 initially project downwardly (see also FIG. 3). A lowering conveyor with drivers 27 which grip the upper edge of the carton 12 is provided for the downward motion of the unfolded carton 12.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 6, the filling platform is disposed in the zone of a carton conveyor 28 by means of which the filled cartons 12 are intermittently conveyed. The filled cartons 12 are conveyed by laterally disposed

feed belts

29 and 30 which have drivers 31 disposed at distances from each other. The said drivers grip each carton by its rear.

The bottles 10 or the groups 11 respectively are supplied to the filling platform 25 by a bottle conveyor 32. In the illustrated embodiment the said bottle conveyor comprises circulating

chains

33 and 34 which are coupled to each other by driver bars 35 which grip the group 10.

The filling platform is constructed in a special manner. It comprises an immovable supporting part 36 and a movable supporting part 37. Both supporting

parts

36 and 37 are formed by

support bars

38 and 39 respectively. The

support bars

38 or 39 respectively of a supporting

part

36 or 37 respectively are joined to each other at one end by means of a

common cross member

40 or 41 respectively. The

support bars

38 and 39 of the two supporting

parts

36 and 37 are also offset relative to each other. The support bars (39 of the supporting part 36 extend into the zone of the supporting part 37. The bottles 10 of the group 11 are disposed on the

support bars

38 and 39. The support bars 38 of the stationary supporting part 36 are downwardly extended and form

arms

42 and 43 which project to both sides. The ends of the said arms are provided with notches 44. The notches 44 in these zones form grooves extending transversely over the filling platform 25 for receiving the lower edges of the transversely disposed bottom flaps 15 and 16 (FIG. 3). The grooves formed by the notches 44 are provided for the temporary location of the said bottom flaps 15 and 16 after the carton 12 is lowered.

The movable supporting part 37 is pivotably supported on a rocker 45 (FIG. 3). The rocker 45, which is driven in reciprocating manner, moves the supporting part 37 from and into the position shown in solid lines in FIG. 3 into and from the position shown in dash-dot lines. During this motion, the supporting part 37 is guided by a roller 46 on a cam track 47. The sup porting part 37 is guided in such a way that the support bars 39 are orientated at a downward angle in the unsupported position (dash-dot lines). This positive motion results from the support part 37 being pivotably supported on the rocker 45.

After the carton 12 is lowered into the position according to FIG. 3 the bottom flap 15 which trails in the conveying direction on the carton conveyor 28, is folded, namely towards the underside of the bottles 10. A reciprocating folding nose 48 is provided to this end and is moved into the zone below the filling platform 25 while moving the bottom flap 15 from the notch 44 and folding it against the underside of the support part 37 (dash-dot line in FIG. 3).

Further folding of the bottom laps 16-18 takes place while the carton l2 continues to be conveyed. The bottom flap 16, which leads in the conveying direction, is folded against the underside of the bottles 10 during the continuing motion of the cartons 12 by running over a stationary folding nose 49, the said bottles successively leaving the stationary filling platform 25 during this motion. Prior to or during the aforementioned conveying motion of the carton 12 the supporting part 37 is moved from the position shown in solid lines in FIG. 3 into the position shown in dash-dot lines so that the bottom flap l5, initially folded against the supporting part 37, is released and bears upon the underside of the bottles 10. During the continued conveying motion, the leading edge of the bottom flap 15 passes over a chamfered portion 71 of the immovable supporting part 36 on to the latter until the carton l2 completely leaves the filling platform 25. During this phase of the operation, the supporting part 37 or its support bars 39 are disposed in an inclined position (dash-dot lines).

The lateral bottom flaps 17 and 18 in the zone of the filling platform 25 are also folded during the conveying motion of the carton 12, namely by stationary folding rails 50 and 51 which are disposed laterally with respect to the carton conveyor 28. The said rails are formed in such a way that they grip the outside of the initially downwardly orientated bottom flaps 17 and 18 and gradually fold them into the horizontal closed position during the continued motion.

Co-operation of a stationary support track 52 of the carton conveyor 28 is provided to this end. As the conveying path and folding of the bottom flaps l7 and 18 increases, the supporting width of the supporting track 52, supported by a middle web 53, becomes narrower until the said supporting track 52 finally completely disappears, namely when the bottom flaps 17 and 18 are folded until they bear completely upon the bottom flaps l5 and 16. Further support of the carton 12, which is now provided with a completed bottom, is then provided by the folding rails 50 and 51.

The internal surfaces of the bottom flaps l7 and 18, which the folded last, are provided with an adhesive 54. This adhesive is applied by stationary spraying nozzles 55 on to the said surfaces while the carton 12 is conveyed and the bottom flaps l7 and 18 are still downwardly orientated.

The apparatus according to FIGS. 1 to 6 described so far operates intermittently. By contrast, the apparatus illustrated in FIGS. 7 to 10 permits the cartons 12 being continuously filled. This apparatus, shown as a diagrammatic side view in FIG. 7, is provided with a magazine for the flat cartons 12, the construction and method of operation of the said magazine being very similar to that of the magazine 20 of FIGS. 1 and 2 so that identical or equivalent parts of the apparatus are provided with identical reference symbols. The threedimensional, unfolded cartons 12, delivered by the magazine 20 and moved downwardly by the lowering conveyor 26 are however not directly transferred to the bottle group 11 which is held in readiness in the stationary state, instead the said cartons are transferred to a blank conveyor 56. The purpose of the carton conveyor 56 is to convey the unfolded carton 12 in a specific relative position, namely with vertically orientated walls while simultaneously and gradually lowering it on to a group 1 1 which is also continuously conveyed. The conveying motion of the unfolded carton 12 is therefore precisely matched to the motion of the continuously conveyed group 11 in such a way that the open carton 12 is gradually lowered on to the group 11 during the conveying motion until the said group 11 is surrounded by the

side walls

13 and 14.

In the illustrated embodiment the blank conveyor 56 comprises continuously circulating

bar chains

57 and 58. The

bar chains

57 and 58, which run over a plurality of reversing pulleys, are guided in parallel and at a distance from each other at least in the zone at which the cartons 12 are taken up and conveyed. A section 56a, extending at an angle, and a substantially horizontally extending section 56b are formed in the zone of which the cartons 12 are entrained either empty or filled.

The blank conveyor 56 or its

bar chains

57 and 58 respectively are provided with means for gripping and driving a carton 12. As may be seen more particularly by reference to FIG. 9 each bar chain 57, comprising two chains disposed at a distance from each other and joined to each other by means of bars, is provided in the zone of one bar 59 with two

carton holders

60 and 61 which are supported in axially sliding manner on the bar 59 and are biased towards each by means of a tension spring 62. The free ends of the

carton holders

60 and 61 are provided with laterally extending noses 63 which facilitate introduction of the carton 12 into the zone between two

carton holder

60, 61. The minimum distance between the

carton holders

60 and 61 is selected in such a way that under the action of the noses 63 an unfolded carton may be moved into the clamped position shown in FIG. 9 between the

carton holders

60 and 61. Since both bar

chains

57 and 58, which run superjacently at least in the

zones

56a and 56b of the blank conveyor 56, are provided with

carton holders

60 and 61 whose position relative to each other is defined, the carton, which is taken up below the magazine 20 as may be seen by reference to FIG. 7, being exactly guided until transferred to the group 11.

While the carton 12 is conveyed by the blank conveyor 56 the said carton 12 is continuously lowered in the section 56a. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 7 the said lowering motion is assisted by

stationary slide runners

64 and 65 which are fixedly supported in the zone of the sections 560 and 56b above the carton conveyor 56. The

inclined slide runners

64 and 65 enter into the lateral gaps between the upwardly projecting cover flaps 19 of the carton while thrusting the latter positively downwardly so that the carton 12 is held down in addition to its downward motion imparted by the blank conveyor 56 or by the

carton holders

60 and 61. Accordingly, the carton 12 is therefore lowered particularly precisely on the group 11.

The bottle groups 11 and the filled cartons 12 are conveyed basically in the same manner as in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 6. The bottom flaps 15 and 16 which lead and trail respectively in the conveying direction when the carton 12 is lowered on to the group 11 are however not initially folded in this embodiment but they take up an approximately horizontal position as may be seen by reference to FIG. 7. When the cartons are conveyed on the carton conveyor 28, the lateral bottom flaps l7 and 18 are first folded against the underside of the bottles 10 by the stationary folding rails 50 and 51, the support track 57 of the carton conveyor 28 becoming progressively narrower or disappearing respectively with progressive folding of the bottom flaps 17 and 18 in the manner already described.

After the lateral bottom flaps 17 and 18 are folded the carton 12 is'conveyed to a packaging track 66 which extends approximately at right angles to the incoming carton conveyor 28. The bottom flaps 15 and 16 will then be disposed laterally with respect to the packaging track or laterally adjacent to a support track 67 of the aforementioned packaging track 66. As the carton l2 continues to be conveyed on the aforementioned packaging track 66 the bottom flaps 17 and 18 are also folded in the manner described hereinabove by stationary lateral folding rails 68 and 69, adhesive 54 being previously applied to the inside of the said flaps by means of spray nozzles 55.

The apparatus according to FIGS. 7 to 10 therefore operates continuously.

We claim:

1. In a device for packing groups of articles, for example, bottles in containers of foldable material, more particularly cartons open at the bottom and having closing flaps to close the same, said device including a horizontal conveyor on which the groups of articles to be packed are located during introduction into the containers; means for moving the containers and the groups of articles to be packed relative to one another during introduction of the groups bottles into the containers; a magazine for storing flat, collapsed containers located above the horizontal conveyor; means for removing containers from the magazine and unfolding same; a stationary filling platform for a group of articles in the plane of the horizontal conveyor; the improvements comprising: (a) a stationary supporting part; (b) a movable supporting part (37) of the stationary filling platform (25) corresponding at least to the size of a rearward bottom flap (15) of said carton and facing towards the same; (c) means to fold the rearward bottom flap (15) against the underside of the supporting part (37); (d) means to move said supporting part from its supporting position into a position which is remote from the rearward bottom flap (15) in such a way that the entire surface of the bottom flap (15) may be thrust against the underside of the group (11) of article to be packed; (e) means to transport packed groups of articles from said stationary filling platform to a storage station; and (f) a lowering conveyor which transports unfolded containers from the magazine to the groups of article to be packed.

2. A device according to claim 1, wherein the stationary filling platform (25) has an immovable supporting part (36) adjoining the movable supporting part (37) in the starting position thereof and a chamfered portion on the side of the immovable supporting part (36) nearest to the movable supporting part, said chamfered portion (71) serving as an inlet ramp for the leading edge of the rearward bottom flap 3. A device according to claim 1, wherein said means to fold the rearward bottom flap (15) comprises: (a) a folding nose (48) reciprocally mounted approximately at the level of the container bottom; (b) means to move said folding nose toward said supporting part (37) to bear against said rearward flap and fold same against said supporting part (37).

4. A device according to claim 1, wherein the movable supporting part (37) forms a rising surface in the conveying direction of the carton (12) when said movable part is retracted from the supporting position.

5. A device according to claim 4, wherein the movable supporting part (37 comprises a two armed lever having one end pivotably attached to one end of a rocker lever (45) and a free end which bears on a cam track (47) by means of a roller (46).

6. A device according to claim 1, wherein a stationary folding nose (49) is mounted approximately at the level of the container bottom to bear against a forward flap of said container to fold said flap as said container is moved relative thereto.

7. A device according to claim 1, wherein said means to transport packaged groups of articles comprises: a) a carton conveyor (28); and b) stationary folding rails (50, 51) disposed on either side of said conveyor to engage side flaps (17, 18) of the container to fold said side flaps against the bottom of said carton as said carton is transported by said conveyor.

8. A device according to claim 7, wherein said carton conveyor has a middle support track (52) for receiving the cartons (12), the horizontal width of the support surface of which becomes progressively narrower in the conveying direction and terminating prior to complete folding of the bottom flaps (17, 18).

9. A device according to claim 1, wherein, of the bottom flaps which project downwardly beyond the group to be packed (11) the bottom flaps which are leading and trailing in the conveying direction (15, 16) are fixed in the vertical position in transversely disposed grooves or notches (44) below the filling platform 10. In a device for packing groups of articles, for example, bottles in containers of foldable material, more particularly cartons open at the bottom and comprising closing flaps to close the same, said device including a horizontal conveyor on which the groups of articles to be packed are located during introduction into the containers; means for moving the containers and the groups of articles to be packed relative to one another during introduction of the groups bottles into the containers; a magazine for flat, collapsed containers located above the horizontal conveyor; means for unfolding said containers, the improvements comprising: a) a lowering conveyor to transport unfolded containers (12) from the magazine to a blank conveyor (56); b) a blank conveyor (56) to transport said unfolded containers (12) from said lowering conveyor to a group of articles (11) to be packed and lower said containers onto said group; 0) means to drive said blank conveyor in synchronism with said lowering conveyor; (1) means to fold the bottom flaps of said cartons against said packed group of articles; and e) means to transport packed groups of articles to a storage area.

11. A device according to claim 10, wherein said blank conveyor (56) has at least one section (560) which traverses above a horizontal conveyor (32) adapted to supply the groups (11) to be packed in the conveying direction, downwardly at an angle to the plane of the horizontal conveyor (32).

12. A device according to claim 11, wherein a second section (56b) adjoining said at least one section of said blank conveyor (56) traverses in the plane of a container conveyor (28).

13. A device according to claim 12, wherein said blank conveyor (56) comprises: (a) at least two endless conveyors on each side of the container conveyor disposed at a vertical distance from each other, in the zone of the said at least one and said second sections (56a, 56b); (b) bar members (59) connecting the corresponding endless conveyors on each side of the container conveyor; and (c) retaining means for gripping and retaining the unfolded containers (l2) supplied to the blank conveyor (56).

14. A device according to claim 13, wherein the retaining means comprises at least two container holders (60, 61) on each bar member, each of which may move laterally against surface of the container (l2).

15. A device according to claim 14, wherein said container holders (60, 61) are biased towards each other by means of a tension spring (62) which joins said holders and that the ends of the container holders (60, 61) nearest to the container (12) are constructed as outwardly bent noses (63) between which the prepared container (12) may be driven while moving the container holders apart.

16. A device according to claim 13, characterized in that the container holders (60, 61) of the two endless conveyors are disposed vertically in the region of the said at least one and said second sections (56a, 56b).

17. A device according to claim 10, wherein said means to fold the bottom flaps comprises: a) a container conveyor (28); b) a packaging track (66) adjoining said conveyor and which is oriented approximately at right angles to said carton conveyor (28); c) lateral folding rails (68, 69) disposed on both sides of said packaging track for folding the bottom flaps which were originally the leading and trailing bottom flaps (15, 16).

Claims

2. A device according to claim 1, wherein the stationary filling platform (25) has an immovable supporting part (36) adjoining the movable supporting part (37) in the starting position thereof and a chamfered portion on the side of the immovable supporting part (36) nearest to the movable supporting part, said chamfered portion (71) serving as an inlet ramp for the leading edge of the rearward bottom flap (15).

3. A device according to claim 1, wherein said means to fold the rearward bottom flap (15) comprises: (a) a folding nose (48) reciprocally mounted approximately at the level of the container bottom; (b) means to move said folding nose toward said supporting part (37) to bear against said rearward flap and fold same against said supporting part (37).

5. A device according to claim 4, wherein the movable supporting part (37) comprises a two armed lever having one end pivotably attached to one end of a rocker lever (45) and a free end which bears on a cam track (47) by means of a roller (46).

9. A device according to claim 1, wherein, of the bottom flaps which project downwardly beyond the group to be packed (11) the bottom flaps which are leading and trailing in the conveying direction (15, 16) are fixed in the vertical position in transversely disposed grooves or notches (44) below the filling platform (25).

10. In a device for packing groups of articles, for example, bottles in containers of foldable material, more particularly cartons open at the bottom and comprising closing flaps to close the same, said device including a horizontal conveyor on which the groups of articles to be packed are located during introduction into the containers; means for moving the containers and the groups of articles to be packed relative to one another during introduction of the groups bottles into the containers; a magazine for flat, collapsed containers located above the horizontal conveyor; means for unfolding said containers, the improvements comprising: a) a lowering conveyor to transport unfolded containers (12) from the magazine to a blank conveyor (56); b) a blank conveyor (56) to transport said unfolded containers (12) from said lowering conveyor to a group of articles (11) to be packed and lower said containers onto said group; c) means to drive said blank conveyor in synchronism with said lowering conveyor; d) means to fold the bottom flaps of said cartons against said packed group of articles; and e) means to transport packed groups of articles to a storage area.

11. A device according to claim 10, wherein said blank conveyor (56) has at least one section (56a) which traverses above a horizontal conveyor (32) adapted to supply the groups (11) to be packed in the conveying direction, downwardly at an angle to the plane of the horizontal conveyor (32).

13. A device according to claim 12, wherein said blank conveyor (56) comprises: (a) at least two endless conveyors on each side of the container conveyor disposed at a vertical distance from each other, in the zone of the said at least one and said second sections (56a, 56b); (b) bar members (59) connecting the corresponding endless conveyors on each side of the container conveyor; and (c) retaining means for gripping and retaining the unfolded containers (12) supplied to the blank conveyor (56).

14. A device according to claim 13, wherein the retaining means comprises at least two container holders (60, 61) on each bar member, each of which may move laterally against surface of the container (12).