text: fig1 shows a rectangular shipping carton 10 to which has been applied perimeter tape seals at both sides thereof and it also has an infolded flap tape seals extending along the seams defined by confronting inwardly located edges of infolded flaps which define the carton top and bottom walls . it will be understood that while in most instances , two perimeter seals will be applied to a carton , there can be instances where only one need by applied . for example , the shipping carton may be a preformed type having only one open side which is closed off by infolded flaps and thus will require application of a perimeter seal around only one wall location . referring to fig1 carton 10 has a forward end wall 12 , a rear or trailing end wall 14 , a side wall 16 , an opposite side wall 18 , a top wall 20 and a bottom wall 22 . the top and bottom wall structure is defined by foldable flaps infolded and sealed along a seam defined by the confronting edges of the infolded flaps , this being illustrated in fig2 wherein the confronting edges 24a and 24b of carton top wall flaps are shown and the sealing tape which seals this seam being illustrated at 26 , the sealing tape running onto the carton side walls for anchoring purposes and as shown at 28 in that figure , these flap seam seals being applied to the carton preliminarily in known manner . with the flap seams sealed on carton 10 , the transverse end edges of the top and bottom wall flaps will extend along the top and bottom of the carton side walls but the disposition is such that access to the carton interior of ambient environment substance presence is possible . the ambient environment can and in most instances will be the normal atmosphere . but that environment may be dust - laden or highly humid or it may include certain matter inimical to the carton contents . it is to seal off these access courses that perimeter seals are applied . such seal as applied around carton side wall 16 is comprised of an upper encircling tape run 30 and a lower tape run 32 . these tape runs are applied in a manner that a first lateral or width portion 40 of each becomes adhered to marginal areas of the forward end wall 12 , the top and bottom walls 20 , 22 and the trailing end wall 14 , as at 34 , &# 34 ; marginal area &# 34 ; meaning an area of each of such walls which is immediately adjacent the orthogonally disposed side wall 16 . this first tape width can , e . g ., be approximately one inch . the remaining width portion of the tape runs ( which also could by way of example , be one inch ) is folded around the corners defined by such walls and the carton side wall 16 onto perimeter areas of the side wall 16 to adhere it to such areas as at 36 . the tape runs 30 , 32 can be applied to the carton so that they overlap one with the other on the end walls as shown generally at 38 to provide a fully encircling course around the side wall . this is not essential though since in a given instance the tape courses could be terminated on the carton end walls and side wall with a spacing between the terminal ends of each run . the adherence of the first width portions of the tape runs 30 , 32 to the marginal areas of walls 12 , 20 , 22 and 14 produces a tension in that first width portion so that the second width portion which extends sideways of the carton side wall as will be described shortly , bows or sags and lies somewhat limply inwardly of the periphery of the carton sidewall . when the tape runs 30 , 32 are to be applied to the carton , it can be done with tape applying members that are longitudinally aligned and operate in taping paths that are laterally coincident . further they can be arranged such that those associated with applying one tape run will have longer taping arms than the members used for applying the other tape run so as to provide the terminal end overlap as at 38 ( fig2 ). overlap also can be achieved with cartridges having arms of the same lengths , but such length that it will tape on a carton end wall for a distance more than half the carton height . also , this overlap need not be present since the ends of the two runs can be spaced apart on the carton end walls . when adhered to the carton top , bottom and end walls in an encircling or partly encircling course thereabout , there will before wiping of tape onto the side walls , be lateral sideways extension of the tape second width portion 42 beyond the carton side walls as illustrated in fig2 and which extending tape will sag or bow as shown . this tape application will be effected while the carton is being forwardly advanced along a straight line travel path and the subsequent wiping operations to adhere the tape onto the carton side walls will also occur while the carton is being advanced forwardly . the sequence of these wiping operations will be described next and with reference to fig3 a through 6b . as seen from fig3 a and 3b , the application of tape runs 30 , 32 result in adhesion of the pressure sensitive tape to the carton in the tape first width portion 40 thereof , and the second width portion 42 extends beyond the carton side wall 15 . the first wiping of tape to side wall 16 will be of a part of each of the tape run lengths which extend laterally of the carton top and bottom walls 20 , 22 . this wiping will be effected with wiping members that move forwardly , and respectively , downwardly and upwardly from the carton top and bottom alongside the carton side wall , engage the laterally extending tape , and press it against fore lengths of the upper and lower perimeter areas of the carton side wall to adhere it to such areas . this result is illustrated in fig4 a and 4b . in performing this tape wiping action , the tape extending laterally from the carton forward end wall will be folded forwardly parallel to the side wall and an oblique fold as at 44 will be made in that tape adjacent the carton top and bottom walls . this fold 44 will be of adhesive face - to - adhesive face triangular areas of the tape which are defined consequent the wiping action involved . next , the remaining lengths of the tape extending laterally from the carton top and bottom walls will be wiped against after lengths of the upper and lower perimeter areas of the carton side wall . for such purpose the tape wiping members will be made to move rearwardly and downwardly and upwardly , respectively , from alongside the carton side wall to engage this tape and press it against the carton side wall . fig5 a and 5b show the result of this wiping action . as with the first wiping , the wiping of the tape against the other lengths of the carton side wall upper and lower perimeter areas will produce a fold of the tape extending laterally from the carton trailing end wall to orient it rearwardly parallel to the carton side wall 16 and it will produce oblique folds 44 thereon adjacent to carton top and bottom walls . an important result of first folding the tape extending from the top and bottom walls against the carton side wall is achievement of full adhesion thereof to and along the full lengths of the upper and lower marginal areas of the carton side wall as well as the formation of clearly defined and neat oblique folds 44 . as a final folding , it will be required that the respective forwardly and rearwardly facing tape lengths at the corners defined by the intersection of the carton side wall with the respective forward and trailing end walls be wiped around 180 degrees to adhere them to respective forward and trailing perimeter areas of the carton side wall 16 to produce the completion of the perimeter seal as depicted in fig6 a and 6b . important considerations for this final folding and the particular tape folding sequence followed is that no interference with the tape that extended at the top and bottom walls is possible since that tape already has been adhered to the side wall and it results in positioning the oblique folds 44 and more particularly the oblique edge of each fold , to face inwardly on the carton side wall relatively of the carton forward and trailing end walls . this edge positioning reduces the likelihood that accidental tape peel - off initiation could occur if , e . g ., a sealed carton is jostled or otherwise moved against another carton during post - taping handling or transportation . if this oblique folding was reversed , i . e ., faced outwardly as would result if the tape extending from the forward and trailing end walls was first wiped onto the side wall followed by that extending from the top and bottom walls , such outwardly facing edge of the fold more readily could be disturbed by the sliding of one carton against another and possibly effect undesirable peel - off of the tape . a machine 50 with which perimeter seals can be applied to a rectangular shipping carton will be discussed now and with particular reference being made to fig7 and 8 . the machine 50 is relatively elongated and has right and left sides r and l thereof as viewed in the machine direction . an upper conveyor belt 52 driving around spaced drums 54 , 56 is aligned with a lower belt 58 that is driven around drums 60 , 62 , the lower straight run length 64 of belt 52 , and the upper straight run length 66 of belt 58 , respectively , engaging the carton top and bottom walls frictionally sufficiently to positively hold and advance forwardly the carton 10 to be taped , the advance course being along the straight line axis x -- x so that during the ensuing taping operation , the carton side walls will move along the advance lines 68r and 68l . because there are devices which will operate at and contact sides of the carton 10 , at locations where taping must occur , normal carton guidance means such as side rails cannot be used in the machine onwards from the point where tape is laterally projecting from the carton and along the machine section where the laterally extending tape is wiped against the side walls . for such reason it is convenient that straight line travel guidance of the carton be achieved by the tight forces applied in opposite directions by the two belts to the carton top and bottom walls , with the belt straight line travel being assured by a v - rib carried on the belt engaging in v - grooves ( not shown ) formed in drums 54 , 56 , 60 and 62 with the v - rib also being guided in a v - shaped channel in the machine bed and / or overhead structure . also and because taping occurs at the carton sides , the belts will drivingly engage the carton top and bottom walls along a central region only of the carton so the side regions thereof are clear for the tape wiping operations . arranged at the two sides of the machines are tape applying means provided as tape applying cartridges , the cartridges being paired at each side as an upper cartridge 70 ur or 70 ul with a lower cartridge 72 lr or 72 ll . the cartridges can be arranged so that the upper one will apply tape followed by the lower cartridge applying a tape run to the advancing carton . this arrangement can of course be reversed so that a lower cartridge is first involved in taping and then the upper cartridge . the result of either arrangement is the same . also the arms of one of the upper or the lower cartridges can be made longer than the other so that the terminal ends of one applied run of tape on the carton perimeter being taped overlap those of the other tape run . in the instance where the machine is used for taping only tall height cartons and no overlap of the two applied runs is to be used so that ample taping arm movement clearance space is available , the upper and lower cartridges can be disposed the one directly above the other . each cartridge includes a housing or enclosure 74 in which is carried a pair of tape applying arms 75 , 76 normally biased by springs 78 into the projecting positions of each shown in fig7 . each arm 75 presents the adhesive face of a pressure sensitive type tape 80 from a stock 82 positioned in front of a wiping roller 88 on the tip end of arm 75 so the advancing carton will engage that tape for initiating application of a tape run to the carton , the tape run being drawn from the associated stock 82 . a tape cutter 84 is provided in each cartridge as is a connecting rod 86 extending between the two arms 75 , 76 so that these arms operate in tandem to retract and extend during the tape application operation . the manner by which the tape cartridges operate is disclosed in commonly assigned u . s . pat . nos . 4 , 039 , 367 and 4 , 640 , 731 and the disclosure of said patents is hereby incorporated herein . each paired upper cartridge 70 and lower cartridge 72 , in the depicted embodiment where tape run overlap is involved , is longitudinally aligned with the other in the pair and such that the taping arms 75 76 operate in taping paths that are laterally coincident , this being evident with reference to fig7 wherein it will be noted that the rollers 88 are aligned . further , the cartridges are aligned such that the carton side wall advance lines 68r and 68l longitudinally bisect the rollers 88 so that the tape applied to the carton around the side walls will have the first lateral width portion applied to the carton but the other or second lateral width portion will extend beyond the carton side walls and outwardly laterally beyond advance lines 68r and 68l . following application of the tape runs 30 , 32 around each carton side wall , the carton will pass to and through a tape wiping station shown generally at 90 where the folding of the tape projecting laterally from the carton top and bottom walls will be wiped against the carton side walls to adhere it to said side walls before the tape projecting from the forward and trailing end walls will be wiped against the side wall . at tape wiping station 90 there are supported on each side of the machine , an upper wiping plate 92 paired with a lower wiping plate 94 , the paired plates being movably mounted on machine structure 96 , 98 ( fig1 ) in manner as will allow the plates to move in wiping travel between forward and rearward nesting positions fig7 shows the right side plates 92r and 94r in rearward nesting position of each . each wiping plate 92 is rotatably connected as at 99 to corresponding ends of a pair of levers 100 , 102 , the levers at an opposite end part of each being mounted on pivots 104 , one lever 100 having an extension as at 106 which is rotatably connected to the rod 108 of a cylinder unit 110 , the cylinder unit being rotatably mounted to a fixed location as at 112 . the cylinder units 110 are fluid operated devices , e . g ., double acting air cylinders although other motive means such as electrical solenoids also could be used . in fig8 the cylinders are depicted in the position wherein they hold the wiping plates 92 in rearward nesting position . when the carton 10 passes through the wiping station 90 , the air cylinder units 110 will be stroked cyclically , i . e ., once forwardly and then rearwardly between the two nesting positions . movement of the tape wiping plates is more graphically reflected by reference to fig9 . in its rearward nesting position ( solid lines ), the wiping plate 92 is at rest . but when the cylinder unit 110 is operated to stroke the rod 108 thereof rightwardly , lever 100 connected thereto is rotated counterclockwise , and in turn lever 102 , to throw the wiping plate forwardly and upwardly ( lower plate ) and downwardly ( upper plate ) through an arcuate travel path until the plate reaches its forward nesting position ( long and short dashed lines ). since the wiping plate 92 is disposed adjacent the corresponding carton side wall advance line 68r or 68l and in fact when in nesting position slightly inwardly laterally of such advance line , the wiping plate in its movement forwardly will engage the tape extending laterally of the respective carton top or bottom wall and will wipe it against a fore length of the carton side wall upper or lower perimeter area . maximum carton wiping engagement of the wiping plate 92 with the carton side wall will be when the wiping plate is in the intermediate travel position show in fig9 in dashed lines . with cyclic return movement of the wiping plate from forward to rearward nesting positions , the tape still laterally extending from the carton top and bottom walls at the carton rear half will be wiped against the after length portions of the carton side wall upper and lower perimeter areas . this cyclic movement of the tape wiping plates 92 also will result in the formation of the oblique folds 44 in the tape which was extending laterally from the carton forward and trailing and walls and the orientation of that tape so that it will extend forwardly and rearwardly parallel to the carton side walls as seen in fig5 b . the cyclic operation of the tape wiping plates 92 , 94 as the carton passes through the wiping station 90 is provided by upper and lower carton engaged control elements 114 which are present at both sides of the machine . when the carton front wall strikes the control elements , these elements are moved to a retracted position and in so retracting communicate air to the appropriate faces of the pistons in the cylinder units to cause stroking of the wiping plates forwardly . after the carton passes beyond the control elements 114 they are released and extend back to the fig8 position wherein they allow communication of pressurized air to the other faces of the pistons to thereby stroke the wiping plates rearwardly . with reference to fig9 and 10 , it will be understood that when the tape wiping plates 92 , 94 are in a nesting position , the carton or tape wiping surfaces 118 thereof are disposed slightly inwardly of the carton side wall advance lines 68r and 68l . the plate 94l shown in fig9 and 10 is the machine left side lower wiping plate . the plate tape wiping surface 118 of such plate is a flat planar surface and it merges with an outwardly flared portion 120 that extends angularly outwardly across the associated carton side wall advance line . so positioning surface 118 when the plate is in nesting position and using the flared portion 120 to first engage the carton as the plate moves between nesting positions , insures that good wiping contact of the tape against the carton side wall will be achieved since the plate surface 118 will move in contact therewith under an inwardly urged force acting thereon . this is achieved by mounting the wiping plates to be laterally movable against a spring bias force . with reference to the fig9 and 10 construction , the pivots 99 connecting the plates 94l with levers 100 , 102 are surrounded by tube pieces 122 fixed to the plate . it will be noted from fig1 that two laterally spaced apart levers 100 and two spaced - apart levers 102 comprise the plate mounting assembly . encircling the respective pivots 99 are compression springs 124 engaged with an end face of a tube piece 122 and a side surface of a lever 100 , 102 . thus when the wiping plate 94l moves forwardly and upwardly or rearwardly and upwardly between its two nesting positions , the flared portion 120 thereof will engage the lower side corner region of carton 10 and function as a wedge to displace the plate outwardly of the carton side wall advance line 68l so that its flat portion 118 locates exteriorly adjacent the carton side wall and moves smoothly thereagainst but under the inward bias of the springs 124 which become compressed upon the plate moving laterally outwardly . it will be understood that while the wiping members preferably are plates other wiping means such as brushes or rollers also could be used . following passage of the carton 10 forwardly of the tape wiping station , it remains to wipe the tape extending from the carton forward and trailing end walls around the corners defined by these walls and the carton side walls and onto the carton side walls . this is done with the tape presser assemblies shown generally at 130r and 130l at the downstream end of the machine . these assemblies 130 will be described next and with continuing reference to fig7 and 11a - 11c . each assembly 130r , 130l is comprised of two tape presser members , i . e ., a tape presser member 132 associated with tape pressing at the forward end of the carton and a tape presser member 134 associated with tape pressing at the trailing end of the carton , these members being shown in their respective non - taping or idle positions in fig7 and 11a and further description is given only in respect of assembly 130r , it being understood that assembly 130l operates the same way . tape presser member 132 is comprised of a pair of spaced arms 140 which are mounted for pivoting movement at one end as on pivot 142 , the pivot being held in machine supporting structure shown generally at 144 in fig1 a - 11c . the other end of the arms 140 carry rotatably thereon , a vertically disposed tape wiping roller member 146 and the arms 140 are connected with a tension spring 148 fixed to the arms as at 150 and to a machine structure location as at 152 . fig1 a shows the forward end wall 12 of the approaching carton 10 which has had tape wiped on the side walls at wiping station 90 about to engage with the presser member 132 in its idle position and wherein the roller member 146 will engage the carton forward end wall inwardly of the carton side wall advance line 68r proximal the taped marginal area thereon . following this engagement , the advancing carton will pivot arms 140 clockwise so that roller 146 will move along the carton forward wall outwardly to the edge of the carton and will pass around the corner defined by that wall and the carton side wall 18 to wipe the forwardly extending , parallel - to - the side wall , vertically disposed tape segment 154 onto a forward perimeter area of the carton side wall , the roller 146 now having been moved to a carton advance cleared position ( but wherein it remains biased against the side wall ) in which it will remain ( fig1 b and 11c ) until the carton clears the machine and spring 148 will return the arms to idle position . for wiping tape in a corner wipe - around operation at the trailing end of the carton , tape presser member 134 will be used . tape presser member 134 is comprised of a rigid frame section 156 articulated as by pivot 158 with a foldable section 160 . the rigid and foldable sections it will be understood include spaced upper and lower support arms , the arms of the rigid frame section conveniently being mounted on the pivot 142 and the arms of the foldable section 160 carrying rotatably a vertically disposed tape wiping roller member 162 . the arms of the foldable section 160 gird those of the rigid section 165 as at 164 and a flange stop piece 166 extends between the foldable section plates . a tension spring 170 connects the rigid frame section with the foldable section as at 172 , 174 and tends to maintain these sections longitudinally aligned in the fig1 a position ; i . e ., it tends to rotate the foldable section clockwise and with its stop piece 168 snubbed against the rigid frame . the rod 176 of a double - acting air cylinder unit 178 is connected to the rigid section 156 as at 180 and the cylinder is pivoted as at 182 on fixed machine structure . stroking of the cylinder rod will pivot the rigid frame section 156 in the manner as will be described shortly . to effect tape wiping at the carton trailing end wall , it will be necessary to move the tape presser member 134 from the fig1 a idle position to one wherein the roller member 162 thereof engages the carton trailing end wall 14 inwardly of the carton side wall advance line 68r proximal the taped marginal area thereon . this engagement is shown about to take place in fig1 b . the movement of the arm is effected by stroking the cylinder unit rod 176 rightwardly and this in turn is brought about by the carton advance having depressed control elements 186 at the machine discharge end . during the pivoting of the tape presser member and until roller member 162 strikes the carton trailing end wall , the rigid and foldable frame sections remain aligned . however , and since the air cylinder unit 178 operates to pivot the rigid frame section at a speed greater than the carton is advancing , the foldable section as soon as member 162 strikes the end wall 14 , will start to fold , i . e ., pivot relative to the rigid frame section and against the bias of spring 170 . the continued stroking of the rigid frame will result in the moving of the roller member 162 outwardly along the carton trailing end wall as the foldable section is folding . the folding action of the foldable section is apparent from fig1 c and it is such that roller member 162 will pass around the corner defined by carton walls 14 and 18 and wipe the rearwardly extending segment 190 of the tape onto a trailing perimeter area of the carton side wall 14 . it will be readily seen that a further wiping of this segment 190 against the trailing perimeter area will be effected by roller member 146 as the carton passes by that member since tape presser member 132 will not return to idle position until after the carton has moved beyond roller member 146 . when the carton 10 has moved forwardly of the roller member 162 engagement therewith , spring 170 will return the foldable section 160 into alignment with the rigid section 156 and the pass by of the carton beyond control element 186 will release that element so that pressurized air will be admitted to an appropriate face side of the piston in the air cylinder unit to stroke rod 176 leftwardly , pivoting the rigid frame section counterclockwise and returning the tape presser member 134 to the idle position of fig1 a . fig1 shows one manner in which the control of the various power operated cylinder units can be effected . air under pressure from a suitable source line 200 passes through a filter f1 , a regulator r1 , another regulator r3 and then flows into two branches 202 , 204 leading to the respective lower and upper cylinder units 110 used to control tape wiping plate operation , these branches and cylinders being intervened by the slide valve units 210 , 212 . it will be seen that the earlier described control elements 114 are part of the slide valve core sliding mechanism and carton depression and release of the elements 114 results in core shifting to communicate pressurized air flow to the piston face sides in the cylinders as required to obtain appropriate forward and rearward stroking of the tape wiping plates . in similar fashion , a third air branch 220 leads through a regulator r2 and is connected with slide valve 222 which communicates with the cylinder units 178l , 178r which operate the tape pressure members 134 , the control element 186 shifting the core of the slide valve 222 to obtain forward and return stroking of the cylinder units 178l , 178r . fig1 and 13 depict a particularly advantageous construction of roller assembly which can be employed as the roller members 146 , 162 in the tape presser assemblies 130 . the roller assembly is comprised of plural , e . g ., a pair , of endwise aligned rollers 252 , 254 mounted on a common shaft 256 and spaced apart as shown . the rollers which can , e . g ., be rubber , each include bore 258 and a bushing 260 is fixed as by adhesive to the bore of the associated roller in the mid - length part of the bore so that a clearance is present between the end sections thereof and the shaft 256 . bushing 260 has an internal diameter somewhat greater than the shaft diameter so that a loose or gapped fit exists therebetween , being , for example , about 20 - 35 thousands of an inch . a pair of spacers 262 extend between the bushing 260 and a locking ring 264 at one end of each roller , and a spacer extends between the bushing and a universal movement member 266 at the other ends of each roller , the member 266 being located between the two rollers . these spacers hold the respective components axially fixed . the universal movement member 266 includes an inner part 268 encircling the shaft and having a spheroid shape and it is captured in outer or race part 270 which is configured companion to the spheroid part 268 , the race part in turn being fixed on a rod 272 to a web 274 extending between , e . g ., the arms 140 of the first tape presser member . the extreme ends of the shaft 256 locate in enlarged openings 278 formed in the arms 140 . this arrangement allows that the shaft 256 , and hence the rollers , have limited universal pivoting movement about race part 270 and relative to the support arms 140 to enable the rollers 252 , 254 to move in a manner that insures good tape wiping contact of the rollers with irregular or out - of - line carton wall surfaces as will be explained next and with reference to fig1 . while cartons are intended to have orthogonal relationship between the various walls thereof , in practice one wall may dispose at less or more than an orthogonal position with regard to another . if this non - orthogonal relationship is present on walls against which tape is to be wiped , and if wiping is done with a roller member fixed to rotate only about one ( vertical ) axis , it could result in non - uniform roller contact with the wall and consequently non - uniform tape pressing and adhesion . the fig1 and 13 roller assembly compensates for irregular carton surface conditions . if as shown in fig1 , carton wall 16 is skewed or angled more than 90 ° relative to the top and bottom walls 20 , 22 , the roller assembly when engaged therewith will pivot about the universal movement member race part 270 so that the upper roller 252 will engage the more projecting part of the carton wall while the lower roller will move against the lower part of the carton wall , both rollers being urged by the bias force acting on arms 140 into good firm wiping contact with the carton . as was noted earlier , the feature of a gap between bushing 260 in each roller and the shaft 256 allows some independent skewing of one roller on the shaft relative to the other roller so that the skewing roller can accommodate wiping engagement of other carton wall surface irregularities as , e . g ., shown at 290 in fig1 . if a true orthogonal relationship between carton walls exists , the rollers 252 , 254 will of course wipe tape in the true vertical disposition of each shown in fig1 . another advantage of the roller assembly is seen in the fact that axial end segments of the rollers 252 , 254 are free , i . e ., they are not held by any arm or like support at the roller ends and a space exists between the inner surface of these roller end segment bores and the spacer sleeves . thus the roller can compress to a greater degree along these end sections than along the central section and this is highly advantageous when the end section of a roller wipes around a carton corner where the corner surfaces tend to be irregular and rounded . a better and more effecting wiping pressure can be applied since the roller can compress in the manner described . fig1 shows an advantage of the present invention as compared to h - seal taping with prior methods and machines . in that figure , the right upper corner of the carton side wall 16 has been taped per the invention and reflects the neat , clear folding of the top , horizontal and rear trailing vertical tape lengths which have been adhered to the associated perimeter areas of the side wall . the left side on the other hand , shows the messy , not fully adhered result of taping by prior methods which results in severe wrinkling and incomplete adhesion particularly where the oblique fold between the top horizontal and forwardly vertical tape lengths should meet at a smooth oblique angulation . while there is above disclosed only certain embodiments of the present invention , it will be apparent to these skilled in the art that certain modifications and variations can be made thereto and still remain within the scope of the inventive concept disclosed .