Patent ID: 7559186

Claim:
In an apparatus for continuously folding, forming, and sealing carton blanks around a product, including a mandrel conveyor means comprised of a plurality of mandrels moveable in a path of travel, and carton blank dispensing means for dispensing carton blanks with respect to the path of travel, each blank including side panels, end panels, end panel flaps, side panel upper and lower flaps, and a manufacturer's flap secured to an adjacent side panel, each panel having inner and outer surfaces, said apparatus comprising a panel folding and crimping mechanism positioned relative to said path of travel of said mandrel conveyor means and said carton blank dispensing means such that during continuous movement of a blank from the carton blank dispensing mechanism to the path of travel, said folding and crimping mechanism engages and folds the manufacturer's flap toward the adjacent side panel prior to contact of the blank with any of said mandrels.