Patent ID: 7569009

Claim:
A station for feeding flat folded tubular blanks to a boxing machine, the station comprising: a magazine for containing at least one stack of flat folded tubular blanks; first openable support means provided in the magazine for supporting said at least one stack arranged horizontal, said first openable support means being openable for releasing said stack, such that said stack falls freely therefrom; a vertically moving platform situated below said magazine and having a raised loading position for receiving said at least one stack released by said first openable support means, said platform being subsequently lowered, together with said at least one stack, to a waiting position; withdrawing means moving horizontally between two extreme positions, a first extreme position in which said withdrawing means are situated between said first openable support means and said platform, below the first openable support means and above said released stack, resting on said platform, said withdrawing means picking up a topmost blank of said at least one stack in time relation with a calibrated raising of said platform followed by a lowering of said platform to said waiting position, and a second position, said second position set outside said platform, where said withdrawing means deliver said topmost blank to forming means of the boxing machine wherein said magazine contains a plurality of stacks of blanks, with a bottommost stack supported by said first support means and with remaining stacks situated at corresponding subsequent higher levels, supported by respective further openable support means, said further openable support means being opened in sequence, from bottom upwards, after said bottommost stack has been loaded onto said platform, so that each stack of remaining above stacks is transferred to an immediately lower level, so as to restore occupation of said first and subsequent openable support means.