Patent ID: 7555874

Claim:
A case sealing apparatus, comprising: a frame structure including a case conveyance path extending from a case infeed station to a case outfeed station; first and second side conveying units extending between the infeed station and the outfeed station, the first and second side conveying units being moveable toward and away from the conveyance path for engaging opposite sides of cases to move cases of various widths from the infeed station toward the outfeed station; a lower tape head assembly positioned along the conveyance path to apply tape to case bottoms, the lower tape head assembly movable between a lowered position for taping and a raised position for changing tape; an upper tape head assembly positioned along the conveyance path to apply tape to case tops, the upper tape head assembly being vertically movable to accommodate cases of various heights; a control system for controlling movement of the first and second side conveying unit, the upper tape head assembly and the lower tape head assembly, the control system including a multi-size case mode, a case size lock mode and a tape change mode, during the multi-size case mode the control system operates such that the first and second side conveying units and the upper tape head assembly are moved each time a case is fed through the machine for taping; during the case size lock mode the control system maintains the upper tape head assembly and the first and second side conveying units in locked positions so that multiple cases of common size can be fed through the apparatus at increased throughput as compared to during the multi-size case mode; and during the tape change mode the control system raises the lower tape head assembly from the lowered position to the raised position to facilitate changing of tape; wherein the case size lock mode is triggered via user activation of a user input during the multi-size case mode.