Package having a flexible inner sheet having a first surface and a second surface. The package has an article reservoir for accepting an article to be shipped. The expansion chambers can be inflated or otherwise expanded to provide structure to the package and to protect the article in the article reservoir. The inner sheet of the package includes a shrinkable material that can be activated to immobilize articles disposed in the article reservoir.

Package having a flexible inner sheet having a first surface and a second surface. The package has an article reservoir for accepting an article to be shipped. The expansion chambers can be inflated or otherwise expanded to provide structure to the package and to protect the article in the article reservoir. The inner sheet of the package includes a shrinkable material that can be activated to immobilize articles disposed in the article reservoir.

A device for dispensing a roll of sheet stock material includes a first pair of rollers. The first pair of rollers is driven by an electric motor. The first pair of rollers is configured to receive expandable slit paper between the first pair of rollers. The first pair of rollers is configured to modify a force of friction applied to an outer surface of the expandable slit paper.

A void fill system may be used to scan a carton before, during, or after pre-fill material is dispensed into the carton, one or more products are packaged into the carton, and/or when void fill material is dispensed to the carton having the one or more products. The void fill system may include one or more sensors, which may be used identify the carton and/or identify the carton volume. The one or more sensors may also be used to identify the current carton volume (e.g., of the products, fill material, etc.). The information captured by the void fill system may be used to determine a proposed packaging recipe (e.g., suggest a carton, void fill, product configuration, etc.) based on supplier or customer preferences, product information, shipping information, or the like, to provide a notification with recommendations regarding the packaging process, and/or to automatically dispense void fill material.

A protective product, such as, e.g., an envelope or pouch, is provided that includes at least one expanded slit paper sheet in an expanded state, and an embossed paper sheet facing the expanded slit paper sheet and fixed to the expanded slit paper sheet along at least a portion of a length in an expansion direction of the expanded slit sheet paper. In the preferred embodiments, the embossed paper sheet has a plurality of embossings that increase the rigidity of the embossed paper sheet, thereby inhibiting deformation of the embossed paper sheet that is fixed to the expanded slit sheet paper.

A packaging system for transferring a dunnage product to a packaging container includes a dunnage sensor configured to detect the dunnage product registered at an alignment reference plane in a staging location. The packaging system also includes a package sensor configured to detect the packaging container registered at the alignment reference plane in a loading location. A dunnage placement apparatus is configured to transfer the dunnage product from the staging location to the packaging container in the loading location after both the dunnage sensor detects the dunnage product registered at the alignment reference plane in the staging location and the package sensor detects the packaging container registered at the alignment reference plane in the loading location.

A package insert for cushioning an object during transport includes a plurality of support pins disposed in parallel with respect to each other, and a perforated sheet having a plurality of perforation holes disposed therein. Each of the plurality of supporting pins is disposed within a corresponding perforation hole of the plurality of perforation holes. Each of the plurality of perforation holes has a diameter or width that is equal to or smaller than a diameter or width of its corresponding supporting pin such that the corresponding supporting pin is kept in place by friction when inserted into the corresponding perforation hole.

In response to a request to package item(s), embodiments determine characteristic data for the item(s), which include an indication of a volume of each item. Container(s) for packaging the item(s) is determined based at least on the volume of each item. An arrangement of the item(s) in the container(s) is determined. One or more protective structures including one or more features are configured to position the item(s) in the container(s) according to the arrangement. Relative positions are determined for a plurality of modular elements to form the one or more protective structures. Subsets of the plurality of modular elements are deposited to corresponding relative positions to form at least one of the protective structures. The item(s) are packaged in the container(s) with the one or more protective structures to position the item(s) in the container(s) in the arrangement.

In response to a request to package item(s), embodiments determine characteristic data for the item(s), which include an indication of a volume of each item. Container(s) for packaging the item(s) is determined based at least on the volume of each item. An arrangement of the item(s) in the container(s) is determined. One or more protective structures including one or more features are configured to position the item(s) in the container(s) according to the arrangement. Relative positions are determined for a plurality of modular elements to form the one or more protective structures. Subsets of the plurality of modular elements are deposited to corresponding relative positions to form at least one of the protective structures. The item(s) are packaged in the container(s) with the one or more protective structures to position the item(s) in the container(s) in the arrangement.

A packing material including a strip of corrugated cellulosic material and a method of packing an object in a shipping box using the packing material. The strip of corrugated cellulosic material includes a plurality of macro flutes and is moveable between an expanded state and a compressed state. The strip of corrugated cellulosic material is in the compressed state when a compression force is applied to the strip of corrugated cellulosic material in the longitudinal direction and in the expanded state when the compression force is removed. The length of the strip of corrugated cellulosic material is longer in the expanded state than the compressed state.