An apparatus for the manual/automatic production of a tube-like packaging material can include a guiding chute with an opening for ejecting the packaging material from a roll arranged in the ejection position, wherein the guiding chute has an inner contour narrowing towards an opening in an ejection direction, a primary seating for at least partly circumferentially gripping the first roll and for holding the first roll in the ejection position, and at least one secondary seating for receiving of at least a second roll for reloading the apparatus, wherein the secondary seating is movable with a second roll between a passive position in which the second roll is outside an ejection position and an active position in which the second roll is arranged in the ejection position or is displaceable from the secondary seating into the primary seating under (e.g. exclusively under) the impact of gravity.

A dunnage conversion machine converts a sheet stock material into a dunnage product that is relatively thicker and less dense than the stock material. The conversion machine includes a conversion assembly that draws the sheet stock material therethrough and randomly crumples at least a portion of the sheet stock material. Before severing a discrete dunnage product of a desired length from the substantially continuous length of sheet stock material, the random crumpling is minimized or eliminated in an area to be cut to reduce or eliminate the production of scrap shards of sheet stock material during the cutting operation.

Methods and structures are provided for a dunnage system to facilitate efficient coupling together of supply units of pre-configured sheet stock material, such as, for example, separate units of fanfold stacks of pre-configured sheet stock material, in a manner of continuous supply with a continuous pocket extending longitudinally between the separate supply units, so that they can interact with an expander of the dunnage system without disruption as one supply unit is depleted and a next supply unit is fed through the dunnage system. Also, various methods, apparatus, and systems are provided to facilitate smooth operation of a dunnage machine of the dunnage system to reduce a tendency of the pre-configured sheet stock material to jam and to increase the tendency of dunnage product generated to reflect a desired shape and stability.

A material dispenser having a dispensing member configured to dispense a line of the material along a path in a downstream direction, and a cutting member having a cutting edge extending generally downstream with respect to the path. The cutting member having a convex shape across the path, such that the cutting edge engages and sequentially initiates cuts through the line of material when the line of material is pulled against the cutting member, thereby minimize cutting forces.

An apparatus for the production of a three-dimensional packaging product, such as a cushion product, from a single- or multi-layer paper strip may include a preforming station deforming the paper strip to a three-dimensional packaging product with at least one crumple hollow space extending in the strip direction, and a rotation cutter following the preforming station in the feed direction of the paper strip, which is cutting a preformed paper strip to the desired length of the packaging product from a preformed paper strip. A cutting shaft on which a blade of the rotation cutter is mounted and a counter shaft on which the cutting pad is mounted may be included. A set-on element is mounted to the cutting shaft and/or the counter shaft for enlarging the flushing radial extension of the shaft and forming a flush profile channel wall section, the flushing profile course of the set-on element extending in the axial direction of the shaft to at least half of the width of the preformed paper strip section.

Disclosed herein are protective packaging stock material units that are used in a dunnage system. A dunnage system includes a dunnage conversion machine and a supply station. The supply station is configured to receive fanfold stock material and manipulate the fanfold stock material into being withdrawn from the supply station in a non-planar configuration. The supply station is associated with the dunnage conversion machine such that the dunnage conversion machine operably draws fanfold stock material from the top of a stack of fanfold stock material.

A roll dispenser is arranged to support a roll of packaging material, and includes a chuck assembly with a first chuck unit that includes a first plug received in a first axial end of a core of the roll, a first shaft fixed to the first plug, a first mount brought into engagement with the first shaft, and a first brake connected to the first plug and the first mount to establish friction between the first plug and the first mount. A first handle assembly may adjust a first compressive force applied axially between the first mount and the first shaft to regulate the friction between the first plug and the first mount. The chuck assembly also may include a second chuck unit received in a second axial end of the core for additionally supporting the roll of packaging material.

A conversion apparatus is provided herein. The conversion apparatus includes a cutting member having an edge configured for cutting the dunnage material. The conversion apparatus also includes a biasing member that is located adjacent to the cutting member such that the dunnage material passes between the biasing member and the cutting member. The biasing member operably contacts the dunnage material thereby biasing the dunnage material against the cutting member. The position of the biasing member relative to the cutting member is such that in response to the dunnage material being retracted back into the conversion apparatus the cutting member begins to sever the dunnage material, but in response to the dunnage material traveling in the dispensing direction the cutting member does not begin to sever the dunnage material due to the relative position.

A dispensing system includes a container, a roll of slit paper, and a passive tension mechanism. The container includes panels and one of the panels includes a dispensing aperture. The slit paper on the roll is in an unexpanded state. The slit paper can be transformed from the unexpanded state to an expanded state by exerting a longitudinal pulling force on the slit paper. The passive tension mechanism is in the container and arranged such that a path of the slit paper from the roll to the dispensing aperture passes through the passive tension mechanism. The passive tension mechanism is configured to induce tension in the slit paper along the path between the roll of the slit paper and the dispensing aperture such that the slit paper transforms from the unexpanded state to the expanded state along the path between the roll of the slit paper and the dispensing aperture.

Stock material units that may be used in a dunnage conversion machine. For example, stock material units include sheet material that may be fed into the dunnage conversion machine and may be converted thereby into dunnage.