The present disclosure is directed to a web control guide for an inflation and sealing assembly of a protective packaging formation device for inflating a web material into a chain of inflated cushions. The web control guide is positioned along a material path at a transverse spacing from a first compression element and constrains a first thickness of the material path measured normal to the longitudinal and transverse directions of the material path. The transverse spacing and constrained thickness dimension are sufficiently small to prevent transverse movement of the flexible material towards the first compression element to avoid excessive heating of the web material outside a sealing zone.

A dunnage conversion system includes a machine for converting a stock material into a strip of relatively lower-density dunnage, a coiling mechanism for winding the strip into a coil, a taping mechanism for automatically securing a trailing end of the strip to the coil, and a coil ejecting mechanism for automatically removing the coil from the coiling mechanism. The taping mechanism includes a guide surface between an outlet of the machine and the coiling mechanism to guide the strip to the coiling mechanism and to guide tape for engagement with a trailing end of the strip and to secure the trailing end of the strip to the coil. The coil ejecting mechanism includes a lever arm that pivots to push the completed coil off the coiling mechanism.

An elongate flattened thermoplastic tube has an inflation edge and an opposite edge. The tube includes spaced transverse seals that define sides of pouches. The tube includes lines of weakness that allow adjacent dunnage units to be separated. A frangible line of connection is disposed in one two superposed layers of the tube proximate to the inflation edge. This frangible connection may be broken to permit inflation of the inflatable pouches.

In accordance with a broad embodiment of the invention, a novel paper product is comprised of two or more slit sheet packing material layers, each layer having its own slit pattern design to create interlocking layers of expansion sheet packaging materials. Each layer expands to create a three dimensional open netting of cells of hexagons, and the like, and is designed to have limited nesting with its opposing layer, thereby maximizing the thickness of the combined layers as compared to nested layers. Adjacent layers have differing slit patterns and can be expanded through expander type machinery such that the expansion rates of the differing slit pattern layers can be varied to deliver the same width of exiting expanded material from each layer. Preferably the differing slit pattern produce when expanded, inclined land areas that have the same number of rows per inch, but different angles of inclination of the land areas, such that adjacent layers can interlock, that is, have a restricted amount of nesting.

An exemplary air cushion inflation machine includes: a first terminal connected to a direct current input; a second terminal; a reference resistor powered by the direct current input; an op-amp; and a transistor. The first terminal of the op-amp is connected to a variable voltage source and the second terminal of the op-amp is connected to the reference resistor. The transistor has a base connected to an output of the op-amp, an emitter connected to the reference resistor, and a collector connected to a first terminal of a sealing band apparatus having first and second terminals. A meltable material placed between the first and second terminals is melted by resistance of current flowing between the first and second terminals. The variable voltage source changes voltage based on a voltage drop measured across the first and second terminals by a voltage measurement device and the constant current.

A coiler for producing tighter or smaller coils of dunnage uses a cam to move fork pins from a dunnage-receiving position inwardly to a more closely-spaced coiling position. The fork pins are coupled to pin mounts that cooperate with the cam and slots in a guide plate to move the parallel fork pins between the dunnage-receiving and coiling positions. The fork pins are mounted to extend perpendicular to and through the guide plate on opposing sides of a path of the dunnage to capture and wind a dunnage strip into a coil.

The present disclosure relates generally to tension-activated, expanding articles that include single slit patterns. In some embodiments, these articles are used as cushioning films and/or packaging materials. The present disclosure also relates to methods of making and using these tension-activated, expanding articles.

A gas cushion bag includes two layers, and the two layers are overlapped with each other and partially connected with each other to form a plurality of connecting portions and at least one gas storage unit. Each of the at least one gas storage unit is sealed circumferentially and includes at least one first segment and a plurality of second segments communicated with the at least one first segment. The at least one first segment and the plurality of second segments are alternatively arranged in a first direction. Wherein as viewed along the first direction, a cross-sectional profile of each of the at least one first segment is smaller than a cross-sectional profile of one of the plurality of second segments when the at least one gas storage unit is inflated.

A bag for producing a foam-in-bag dunnage material comprises a closed edge portion and, in a non-sealed state of the bag, an open edge portion, the closed and open edge portions delimiting an inner bag volume. The invention proposes that a bag structure of the bag comprises a mixing chamber which is adapted to receive foam precursor substances, which is arranged within the inner bag volume, which is at least partially and initially delimited against the remainder of the inner bag volume, and which in the non-sealed state of the bag is connected to the open edge portion.

Apparatus (10) for bending tubular products (100) wherein each tubular product (100) is provided with a flexible portion (111) configured to allow a bending of the tubular product (100). The tubular products (100) are disposed, at least temporarily, on positioning means (19), while bending means (18) each allow the bending of a respective tubular product (100) in correspondence with the flexible portion (111).