Apparatus and method for forming a carton

A method of forming a carton containing a group of articles, the method comprising:

• positioning a plurality of articles into a plurality of groups of articles and moving the groups of articles along a processing path;
• moving a plurality of carton blanks towards the plurality of groups of articles and pressing a respective carton blank of the plurality of carton blanks onto the tops of articles in a respective group of articles of the plurality of groups of articles and engaging the respective carton blank with the tops of the articles;
• folding a respective carton blank around the respective group of articles via a folding mechanism comprising at least one leading lug and at least one trailing lug operatively connected to a cam track, the folding comprising folding a leading end portion of the carton blank downwardly against the respective group of articles and folding a trailing end portion of the carton blank downwardly against the respective group of articles, the folding the leading end portion of the carton blank comprising downwardly moving the leading lug to contact the leading end portion and pressing the leading end portion against the croup of articles, and the folding the trailing end portion of the carton blank comprising downwardly moving the trailing lug to contact the trailing end portion of the carton blank and pressing the trailing end portion against the group of articles, wherein the moving the leading lug and the trailing lug comprises moving the leading lug and trailing lug along the cam track to pivot the leading lug and trailing lug in a downward direction, wherein the folding the leading end portion and the folding the trailing end portion comprises moving the leading lug and trailing lug sequentially with a respective group of articles, and wherein the folding mechanism comprises a lug drive mechanism having at least one chain operatively connected to at least one sprocket, the at least one leading lug is pivotally connected to the at least one chain, the folding the leading end portion of the blank comprises moving the leading lug in the downward direction that is tangential to the direction of circular movement of the chain rotating around the sprocket and the leading lug contacts the leading end portion of the blank during movement in the downward direction as the leading lug rotates around the sprocket.