Apparatus for continuous production of tailored, pre-folded blanks of corrugated cardboard

An apparatus for continuous production of pre-folded blanks of corrugated cardboard, wherein each blank is tailorable for a respective item to be packed, comprising:

• a feeding unit, configured to receive, at a loading section, a corrugated cardboard sheet from a cardboard reservoir and configured to move the cardboard sheet forward in a longitudinal direction;
• a frame, configured for supporting the cardboard sheet in a working plane parallel to the ground;
• a control unit, adapted to receive input data representative of a size of the item to be packed and programmed to derive an apparatus setting for the apparatus, responsive to the input data;
• a plurality of cutters, movably coupled to the frame and configured to cut the cardboard sheet into a desired blank, the blank having a front end and a rear end spaced along a longitudinal axis of the blank;
• a plurality of creasers, movably coupled to the frame and configured to generate crease lines in the cardboard sheet, to generate a plurality of folding lines in the blank, the plurality of folding lines including a first and a second folding line, oriented transversally to the longitudinal axis of the blank;
• a plurality of actuators, connected to the cutters and to the creasers and connected to the control unit, for positioning the cutters and the creasers with respect to the frame, responsive to the apparatus setting;
• a glue applicator configured to apply a strip of glue on a portion of the blank;
• a folding unit, including a first folding hand and a second folding hand, the first folding hand being located upstream of the second folding hand with respect to an advancing direction of the blank, wherein the first and the second folding hands are configured for folding a rear flap and a front flap of the blank, respectively, onto a central portion of the blank, so that the tab of the front flap is attached to the rear flap by the glue strip.