A thickness of material may be detached from a substrate along a cleave plane, utilizing a cleaving process controlled by a releasable constraint plate. In some embodiments this constraint plate may comprise a plate that can couple side forces (the P-plate) and a thin, softer compliant layer (the S-layer) situated between the P-plate and the substrate. In certain embodiments a porous surface within the releasable constraint plate and in contact to the substrate, allows the constraint plate to be secured to the substrate via a first pressure differential. Application of a combination of a second pressure differential within a pre-existing cleaved portion, and a linear force to a side of the releasable constraint plate bound to the substrate, generates loading that results in controlled cleaving along the cleave plane.

A system for packaging containers within a flexible container carrier includes a generally continuous string of container carriers arranged with divisible weakened connections between adjacent individual container carriers that is fed through an applicating machine for applying the container carriers to individual containers. A cut-off device is arranged downstream of the applicating machine to selectively accelerate or decelerate the containers to separate the generally continuous string into individual container carriers.

A core pin bag dispenser includes a planar base sized and shaped to fit beneath a roll of film bags. First and second upwardly extending rods are mounted to the base. A retaining pin is sized and shaped to fit slidably within a hollow core of the bag roll. The pin has first and second orthogonal apertures located adjacent the first and second ends that are spaced apart by at least a width of the roll of film bags and are sized and shaped to fit slidably over the first and second upwardly extending rods. An upward pointing snagging hook is mounted adjacent a front edge of the base and is sized and shaped to engage either a chisel cut or a perforation in the bags. Two of the dispensers are mounted to an adapter designed to fit into the side channels of a bin mounted to a vertical surface.

Sheet product dispensers and methods are provided. A sheet product dispenser includes a loading station for sheet material, a sheet feeding mechanism configured to feed the sheet material, a presentation station for presenting one or more discrete sheet products to an end user, a sensor downstream of the feeding mechanism and upstream of the presentation station configured to detect a presence of the discrete sheet products, and a controller configured to facilitate dispensing of the one or more discrete sheet products in response to a signal, and to determine and store data associated with the dispensing of the sheet products.