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.

A machine includes an inflation arrangement, a sealing arrangement, and a tensioning device. The inflation arrangement provides air at a first pressure to inflate a first web of a first type of inflatable material, provides air at a second pressure to inflate a second web of a second type of inflatable material, receives the first and second webs, and aligns the first and second webs on the machine. The first pressure is different from the second pressure. The sealing arrangement seals the first and second types of inflatable material. The tensioning device provides a first tensioning force to the first web as the first web moves between the inflation and sealing arrangements and provides a second tensioning force to the second web as the second web moves between the inflation and sealing arrangements. The first tensioning force is different from the second tensioning force.

An apparatus for manufacturing a packaging product from a packaging-material web may include a production device for making the packaging-material web; a drawing device for drawing the packaging-material web off from a packaging-material source; a deforming device for deforming the packaging-material web; a removal conveying device for removing the packaging-material product from the apparatus; and/or a dispensing device for dispensing the packaging-material product in an aligned manner; and using a module interface, via which at least one of the functional units, forming a structural unit, can be connected in a releasable manner to an adjacent functional unit upwards and/or downwards in the conveying direction and/or changed over therewith.

The disclosure relates to padding articles comprising a cancellous body formed from an agglomeration of grains made from a polymer material and are bonded together in a cancellous structure. The padding articles provide thermal insulation, sound insulation, cushioning, or a combination thereof. The disclosure also relates to container systems that include the padding articles, apparatuses/methods for manufacturing the padding articles, and methods of use thereof.

A dunnage conversion machine (36) converts a sheet stock material into a dunnage product that is relatively thicker and less dense than the stock material, but is relatively thin and sufficiently flexible to function as a protective wrap. The conversion machine includes a feed mechanism (40) that advances a sheet stock material therethrough and a connecting mechanism (42) downstream of the feed mechanism. The connecting mechanism retards the passage of the sheet stock material therethrough by feeding the stock material therethrough at a slower rate than the feed mechanism feeds the stock material to the connecting mechanism. This causes the stock material to randomly crumple in a longitudinal space between the feed mechanism and the connecting mechanism. The connecting mechanism connects multiple overlapping layers of sheet stock material together as they pass therethrough, including connecting at least one crumpled sheet to one side of one other sheet.

The invention relates to a device for providing cushioning material for packaging purposes, comprising a converting unit for turning over at least one lateral edge of a web-type starting material in the direction of a center of the starting material, creating an intermediate product, and a crumpling mechanism for crumpling the intermediate product into the cushioning material. According to the invention, the housing has a first coupling portion, which is complementary to a corresponding second coupling portion of the converting unit, and the converting unit is one of a set of at least two converting units, wherein the converting units of a set all have the same second coupling portion, and wherein the converting units of a set are designed to convert different starting materials.

The invention relates to a device which is used to provide cushioning material for packaging purposes. The device comprises a container for storing the cushioning material and a dispensing device for dispensing the cushioning material out of the container. The dispensing device comprises a driven conveyor for conveying the cushioning material along a conveyor path, the conveyor being supported on a movable base which can be moved out of an operating position into a release position and back, said conveyor being moved out of the conveyor path in the release position.

A conversion assembly for a dunnage conversion machine includes both a downstream pair of rotatable members and an upstream pair of rotatable members upstream of the downstream rotatable members. The downstream rotatable members include a pair of gears, and each gear has a plurality of teeth and is rotatable about a respective axis. The gears are positioned so that the teeth of one gear are sequentially interlaced with the teeth of the other gear as the gears rotate. The upstream rotatable members include a pair of feed wheels, and the gears and the feed wheels define a path for a sheet stock material from between the upstream pair of feed wheels to between the downstream pair of gears. The rate at which the sheet stock material is advanced by the feed wheels is the same as the rate at which the sheet stock material is advanced by the gears.

A dunnage conversion machine that converts a stock material into a less dense dunnage product includes an outlet chute having a housing with a passage therethrough from an inlet at an inlet end downstream to an outlet at an outlet end spaced from the inlet end. The output chute includes a lower guide surface that defines a bottom side of the passage. The lower guide surface has an upstream end toward the inlet and a downstream end toward the outlet. The upstream end of the lower guide surface is spaced from a centerline of the passage a distance that is greater than a distance that the downstream end is spaced from the centerline of the passage to provide an inclined surface, such that a cross-section of the passage decreases from the inlet to the outlet.

A packing material including a plurality of discrete cushioning elements and methods for making the same. The discrete cushioning elements may be cellulosic cushioning elements. A flexible linkage may connect the plurality of discrete cushioning elements in the packing material. The packing material may also include a bottom cellulosic sheet connected to a top cellulosic sheet with the plurality of cellulosic cushioning elements positioned between the top cellulosic sheet and the bottom cellulosic sheet. The packing material may also be a molded packing material that includes bonds comprising adhesive and cellulosic fibers. The adhesive and cellulosic fibers of the bonds may be dispersed between the folds of each of the cellulosic cushioning elements.