Apparatus and method for expanding and erecting collapsed or folded cardboard packagings to standing arranged compartments and/or outer packagings

An apparatus (01) for expanding and erecting collapsed or folded cardboard packagings (02) to standing compartments and/or outer packagings (03), comprising:

• a cardboard packaging supply (04) comprising at least one stack (41) of flatly collapsed cardboard packagings (02) arranged lying on top of each other,
• an erecting device (05) arranged next to the cardboard packaging supply (04) as seen in the direction of a horizontal axis (11), and
• a gripping device (06) for the simultaneous seizing one topmost cardboard packaging (02) from each stack (41) of the cardboard packaging supply (04), wherein:
• the cardboard packagings (02) comprise a plurality of cardboard packaging walls (22) interconnected with each other, one forming a top flat side (23) and one forming a bottom flat side (24) of a flatly collapsed cardboard packaging (02),
• the gripping device (06) has at least one tool (61) for holding the top flat side (23) of the cardboard packaging wall (22),
• the gripping device (06) has at least one manipulator (62) with a manipulator head (63) that is at least movable along a horizontal axis (11), wherein the at least one tool (61) is arranged at the manipulator head (63) so that the at least one tool (61) is movable at least horizontally between the cardboard packaging supply (04) and the erecting device (05),
• the erecting device (05) has at least one carrier (51) that is rotatable about a horizontal pivoting axis (13) from a horizontal position to a vertical position and vice versa,
• the erecting device (05) has at least one tool (52), arranged at its at least one carrier (51), for each cardboard packaging (02) that is simultaneously seizable by the gripping device (06),
• the at least one tool (52), in its horizontal position, seizes each cardboard packaging (02), at its bottom flat side (24),
• each cardboard packaging (02) is expanded to a set of compartments and/or to an outer packaging (03) by an increase of the distance between the at least one tool (61) of the gripping device (06) and the at least one tool (52) of the erecting device (05) along a vertical axis (12), and
• the at least one tool (52) holds each cardboard packaging (02) at least until the at least one carrier (51) has rotated about the horizontal pivoting axis (13) from its horizontal position into its vertical position so that access openings through which articles can be introduced into the expanded compartments and/or outer packaging (03) are in a vertical plane.