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OwnerWilliam E. Plemons, Richard Bowers +2inventors
InventorsWilliam E. Plemons, Richard Bowers, Ezra E. Theys, Ronald E. Heiskell
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Disclosed is a new machine for forming containers of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,497,939 without the use of glue or nails. The machine utilizes a mandrel movably mounted on a path for oscillation between retracted and extended positions. As the mandrel cycles forward, it first receives two synthetic sidewalls and then a deformable body panel of the container to be formed. Then a set of moveable upper and lower rockers containing unique pressure mechanisms press tabs on the horizontally oriented portion of the wrap into corresponding locking slots on the ends of the sidewalls. When the mandrel is fully extended, pressure is applied to the tabs on the vertically oriented middle section of the wrap using a pair of hinge-mounted pressure plates fitted with unique biased brackets. The resulting container is removed from the machine, which is then ready to begin another cycle.
An improvement to a machine having a mandrel movably mounted on a path for forming containers of a type having two sidewalls attached to a panel wrap using peripheral locking tabs and corresponding slots in which said tabs include openings designed to be engaged over corresponding buttons in said slots, said improvement comprising a pair of end pressure plates provided at the end of said path, each such plate including a plurality of elongated mounting brackets, each such bracket including an opening at one end and having a member attached to the outside thereof for pushing a tab on said panel wrap into a corresponding slot on one of said sidewalls, and for simultaneously engaging the opening in said tab over the corresponding button in said slot.
A method for forming containers of a type having two sidewalls each sidewall having a plurality of peripheral slots with buttons that are attached to a panel wrap having corresponding locking tabs with openings therein using a machine having a mandrel movably mounted on a path comprising the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.