Patent ID: 6863644

Claim:
A method of manufacturing beverage container holders comprising the steps of: providing a stack of elongated blanks, each blank having a central section and two end flaps, said blanks being of a uniform thickness and having an outer and an inner surface; providing a conveyor mechanism that engages the central section of said blanks and conveys the blanks at a constant rate from the beginning of the process through we a last folding step of the process; releasing blanks from the stack, sequentially in an orientation with the outer surface down and the inner surface up, into said conveyor mechanism; skiving the outer surface of an end flap of each released blank; folding each of the end flaps up about a fold line and releasing them to return toward their unfolded positions; folding up the end flap that has been skived such that it lies flat over the central section of the blank; applying adhesive to the skived area of the flap that is laying flat over the central section of the blank; folding up the other end flap of the blank such that it overlies the skived area to which adhesive has been applied; providing a pressure applicator mechanism that conveys the folded blank at a rate that is slower than said constant rate and applies a downward pressure to the folded blank; and feeding the folded blanks to said pressure applicator mechanism that applies pressure to the free end flap that overlies the skived area to which adhesive has been applied and discharges the finished products.