sleeve fabricating apparatus for fabricating cylindrical sleeves from rectangular blanks of a heat - shrinkable thermoplastic material and for transferring the sleeves , in succession , to frustoconical mandrels of a cup - forming machine . the sleeve - fabricating apparatus has a plurality of cylindrical mandrels that are rotatably affixed to a rotary turret . the sleeves are fabricated from rectangular blanks that are cut , in succession , from a web of indefinite length as the web is being unwound from a coil at an unwind stand . each blank is longer than the circumference of the cylindrical mandrel to which it is applied , leaving ends of the blank which overlap , and the overlapped ends are joined to one another by heat - sealing . cups are formed by the cup - forming machine , each cup being formed from one of such sleeves and a disc . the sleeve fabricating apparatus also includes a disc forming mechanism for forming discs and applying the discs , in succession , to the cylindrical mandrels . the rotary turret rotates the cylindrical mandrels , in succession , past a transfer station , where a cylindrical mandrel is approximately aligned with a frustoconical mandrel of the cup - forming machine over a finite , approximately straight lineal path , and a sleeve and a disc are transferred in unison by a transfer mechanism from a cylindrical mandrel of the sleeve fabricating apparatus to a frustoconical mandrel of the cup - forming machine , the sleeve transferred over the small end of the frustoconical mandrel to permit the transfer to take place over a finite period of time .