US Patent 9561876 Apparatus for forming packaging units

A handling apparatus includes a container input, a furnishing carousel, a furnishing module, an application element, and a grouping device. The furnishing carousel rotates about a central axis and has the furnishing module and application element nearby. The furnishing module applies a furnishing feature to a surface of a container, and the application element applies adhesive to the container on a surface outside that surface of a container that is provided with a furnishing feature. The grouping device, which is either a compartmenting or compacting device, is immediately after the furnishing carousel and/or an outlet apparatus. The grouping device groups, compacts, or temporary presses together containers. The container input is either a single-track container feed, a multi-track container feed, a single-track container stream, or a multi-track container stream.