Patent ID: 7266935

Claim:
Apparatus for sealing cases, comprising: a framework defining a sealing station therewithin, within which a case is adapted to be sealed; sealing means disposed at said sealing station for sealing a case at said sealing station as a case is conveyed through said sealing station; a pair of laterally separated, oppositely disposed, longitudinally extending conveyor belt drive means, comprising a pair of laterally separated, oppositely disposed, longitudinally extending conveyor belts, for engaging a case to be sealed and for conveying a case through said sealing station along a longitudinally extending path such that the case can be sealed by said sealing means disposed at said sealing station; first means for mounting said pair of laterally separated, oppositely disposed conveyor belt drive means upon said framework such that said pair of laterally separated, oppositely disposed conveyor belt drive means can be adjusted in incremental amounts, toward and away from each other, so as to effectively define a plurality of width dimensions within said sealing station, as defined between said pair of laterally separated, oppositely disposed conveyor belt drive means, whereby different cases having different width dimensions can be accommodated within said sealing station; and second means for pivotally mounting said pair of laterally separated, oppositely disposed conveyor belt drive means upon said framework such that for each incremental adjustment of said pair of laterally separated, oppositely disposed conveyor belt drive means by said first means, said second means for pivotally mounting said pair of laterally separated, oppositely disposed conveyor belt drive means upon said framework permits said pair of laterally separated, oppositely disposed conveyor belt drive means to undergo a pre-determined amount of expansion whereby different cases, having different width dimensions which are within a predetermined range of width dimensions beyond said width dimension as defined by said pair of laterally separated, oppositely disposed conveyor belt drive means having been adjusted to a particular incremental amount by said first means, can be accommodated within said sealing station.