Case opening apparatus

A case opening apparatus comprising:

• a. a movable overhead suction cup connected to a means for imparting vacuum suction thereto positioned for attachment to the upper surface of a single flattened container blank;
• b. a plurality of suction cups adjustably attached to a first pair of pivotally mounted swingable arms and connected to a means for imparting vacuum suction thereto whereby said suction cups may attach to the lower surface of a flattened container blank when said first arms are in their uppermost swingable position;
• c. an upper pivot around which said first arms may rotate from an upper horizontal position downward between approximately 30 and 60 degrees to a lower angled position;
• d. a second pair of arms attached at one end to said upper pivot and to one end of said first pair of arms, the opposite ends of said second pair of arms defining a second pivot around which said second arms may rotate from an upper nearly-vertical position downward between approximately 30 and 60 degrees to a lower angled position, whereby said first arms are correspondingly brought downward to a vertical position;
• e. a means for imparting motion in a continuous cycle that first lowers said first arms from a horizontal position to a downward angle, then lowers said second arms from a nearly vertical position to a different downward angle which has the effect of also lowering said first arms to a vertical position, then reverses direction to raise said second arms which has the effect of also raising said first arms, and then finally raises said first arms back to their original horizontal position at which point the cycle repeats;
• whereby a flattened container blank may be fully opened and erected as a result of the suction of said cups and the motion of said arms.