Case sealers come in two types. Tape case sealers and glue case sealers. The tape case sealer has taken over the majority of the case sealing market. For certain applications case sealers using glue are still perfered. With semi-automatic case sealers, an operator loads each case. On some models he has to fold down the flaps and slide the case into the machine.

In automatic case sealers, the flaps of the case are open as it enters the sealer (top or bottom or both top and bottom). The minor tabs are pushed down first.

For glue systems, the glue is applied to the minor tabs. The large tabs are then folded down and held down for glue systems. For tape systems, the tape is applied once the large tabs are folded down.

The in-feeding of unsealed cases can be continuous. Both the semi-automatic and the automatic case sealers come in designs that will accept uniform only or random case sizes.