Rebox Box Cutter

Mechanical engineering final project (Capstone project). Our team was tasked with designing a machine to automate an industrial process that recycles boxes by resizing them instead of pulping them. The machine is designed to replace the manual labour of approximately 8 people (per plant) who do the work by hand all day. With Rebox having 30 plants in North America, the machine has the potential to save the company millions every year. Project was done in groups of 4.

Designed Full Machine

The machine that was designed intakes boxes in a stack at the left hand side. Adjustable posts hold the boxes in place, and can accommodate a very large size variation. A linear motion device runs underneath the table and has a connected array of vacuum cups. The vacuum cup array grabs onto the box at the bottom of the stack, and pulls it out. The box is then positioned automatically under the left guillotine punch (and is cut), then moves automatically to the right side guillotine punch (and is cut again).

After the first two cuts are made, the box is flipped using an arm with a vacuum cup at the end that extends from the table. After being flipped, cuts are made again using the left and right guillotine punches. At this point, all four cuts have been made and the processed box is ejected from the right hand side.

The machine is 6m (20ft) long, and 1.36m (4.5ft) wide.