Abstract: A method and apparatus are disclosed for preparing box blanks of corrugated board which include feeding the blanks of corrugated board in succession along a feed path and in a direction parallel to opposite edges of the blanks. The blank is folded to form a flat tube prior to its formation into a box. The opposite edges of the folded blank overlap and are reduced in thickness in the areas in which the overlap occurs. Cutting means adjacent to the feed path removes material from opposite faces of the respective edges. The resulting flaps overlap with an unreduced portion of the board of the finished box.

Abstract: Apparatus for stacking bundles of flat-folded corrugated board comprises structure (2) to feed the bundles (B1,B2 etc) in succession to a pick-up position (4), structure (38,60) to transfer the bundles one at a time from the pick-up position to a stacking position (5) so as to create a number of layers to form a stack of bundles at the stacking position, support structure (6) at the stacking position to receive said bundles, structure (12,11) to lower the support structure as the stack is built up, and a programmable controller (94) for automatically controlling the position and orientation at which each bundle is delivered onto the stack so that the bundles form a predetermined pattern in the stack controlled by the controller.