11. Forming trays and boxes for fruit and vegetables

Simple, robust machines are used to form and glue trays or boxes from corrugated board blanks, such as those shown in figure 37 .

Clever cut-outs and glued folds create extremely sturdy trays that can hold up to 10 or even 15 kg of fruit. These trays are very inexpensive.

The main movements of the machines are synchronized by cranks and cams around a motor and gearboxes. Two mechanically-driven tools and a cam-driven table are used to bend the side and longitudinal reinforcements. Gluing the areas to be assembled is achieved using a hot-melt glue injector dispensed by a gear pump from a large reservoir of molten glue. The glue has to set very quickly, in...