A system for creating and dispensing cushioning dunnage is small and permits flexible installation configuration options for a single or for multiple packing stations. A compact apparatus of the system is capable of being pivotally mounted as a unit on a stand and includes a motor and a material feeding arrangement driven by the motor for pulling material from a supply roll of the material supported on a stand of the system, and feeding it through the apparatus. A plurality of material shaping members upstream of the feeding arrangement shape the material in the apparatus to convert it into a continuous strip of cushioning product. A perforator driven by the motor perforates the material at spaced locations along the length of the material to allow an operator to manually rip a desired length of cushioning product from the material being dispensed from the apparatus.
RELATED APPLICATION
Commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/819,640, filed concurrently herewith, for Automatic Roll Tensioner and Material Dispensing System Using the Same, is hereby incorporated by reference.
Dunnage making machine and method in which a web of paper is drawn across a forming bar with curved end sections to roll the edge portions of the paper, then drawn through a first throat section to urge the rolled edge portions toward each other and cause them to gather, and thereafter through a second throat section of lesser dimension than the first to gather the central portion of the paper and further gather the edge portions. The gathered paper is then pressed with a roller to crumple it, following which the crumpled paper is perforated along a serrated tear line.
A dunnage conversion machine is characterized by a forming assembly which causes lateral edge portions of a substantially continuous sheet stock material to crumple and to fold upon themselves, leaving an unfolded central portion between the laterally spaced apart folded portions. The layers of sheet stock material in the folded portions are fixed by a feeding/fixing assembly having two pairs of laterally spaced feed assemblies to form a dunnage product which does not come apart as it is manipulated. A severing assembly severs discrete dunnage products from the continuous strip of dunnage.
A dunnage conversion machine is characterized by a forming assembly which causes lateral edge portions of a substantially continuous sheet stock material to crumple and to fold upon themselves, leaving an unfolded central portion between the laterally spaced apart folded portions. The layers of sheet stock material in the folded portions are fixed by a feeding/fixing assembly having two pairs of laterally spaced feed assemblies to form a dunnage product which does not come apart as it is manipulated. A severing assembly severs discrete dunnage products from the continuous strip of dunnage.
A cushioning conversion machine (20) including a conversion assembly (30) which converts a continuous sheet of multi-ply stock material (22) into a three dimensional cushioning product (32) and a stock supply assembly (550) which supplies the multi-ply stock material (22) to the conversion assembly (30). The conversion assembly (30) includes a forming assembly (52) which inwardly turns lateral portions of the stock material (22) as the stock material (22) travels therethrough in a downstream direction. The stock supply assembly (550) includes a separating device (574) and/or constant-entry device (580) designed to minimize tearing due to excessive tension in the lateral regions of the stock material (22). Additionally or alternatively, the forming assembly (52) includes a shaping member (590) having protrusions in its turning perimeter and/or holding surface to modify the shape of the cushioning product. Another embodiment of stock supply assembly (350) includes a stock-dispensing device (370) which dispenses the multi-ply stock material (22) from a continuous sheet thereof and a transversely extending member which is positioned to engage at least one of the plies of the dispensed multi-ply stock material (22). The transversely extending member has end portions which are inwardly tapered relative to the central portions of the member and towards the adjacent ends of the member. The inwardly tapered lateral end portions being positioned to engage the ends of the lateral portions of the at least one ply of the stock material (22).
A system for creating and dispensing cushioning dunnage includes a plurality of material shaping members to convert a sheet stock material into a continuous strip of cushioning product. The shaping members include a constant-entry roller assembly having at least two tapered rollers supported end to end for rotation about respective ones of first and second axes arranged at an obtuse angle whose aspect faces a circumferential side of the rollers that first engages sheet stock material traveling over the rollers from a supply roll of the material. The tapered rollers present material engaging surfaces on an imaginary material conversion line transverse to the travel direction of the material where the material first engages the rollers for more precise and consistent control of alignment of the stock material. The roller assembly has free ends over which the sheet stock material can be folded to reduce the width of the material traveling over the rollers.
