A welding station for an installation for manufacturing packages with pads, the welding station including a plurality of longitudinal welding heads. Each welding head is configured to weld to one another two superposed sheets as said sheets advance in a first direction and may include a welder to apply heat on an action area. Each welding head has a main body, a first traction belt wound in the main body and a second traction belt wound to said main body, parallel to the first traction belt and separated from the first traction belt by a separation gap in a second direction which is transverse to the first direction. The action area is arranged in said separation gap, between both traction belts. Each of the longitudinal welding heads is configured to be able to be moved along the second direction.

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.

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.

An additive application system utilized to form a padded mailer is provided, along with corresponding methods and systems. The system applies an additive liquid to a portion of a first web that, along with a second web, forms a panel of the padded mailer. After contact occurs, an internal pouch for the panel is formed. When the additive liquid and expandable adhesive positioned within the internal pouch are energized via an oven, the expandable adhesive expands in thickness within the internal pouch to form padding for the panel. Utilizing additive liquid enables use of less expandable adhesive while maintaining a desired speed of operation of the oven to still produce a desired thickness for the padding. Cooling may be applied after expansion in the oven to retain thickness expansion in the padding.

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 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.

An inflatable web includes an inflation zone, a first inflatable panel in fluid communication with the inflation zone, and a second inflatable panel in fluid communication with the inflation zone. The first inflatable panel includes a first sheet juxtaposed on a second sheet. The first and second sheets are sealed together to form inflatable chambers. The second inflatable panel include a third sheet juxtaposed on a fourth sheet. The third and fourth sheets are sealed together to form inflatable chambers. The inflatable film is configured to be inflated by an inflation and sealing machine configured to direct gas into the inflatable chambers of the first and second inflatable panels via the inflation zone and to individually seal the inflatable chambers of the first and second inflatable panels.

The present invention discloses a method of producing at least a pair of interlocking adjacent layers of a paper packaging product, the pair of interlocking adjacent layers being formed of a sheet of slit paper having a slit pattern, the slit pattern upon expansion, forming cells that include land regions that are inclined with respect to a plane of an unexpanded sheet. The method comprises slitting the sheet of slit paper with beveled blades that have a first wedge angle on one side of the blades and a second wedge angle on the other side of the blades, wherein the first wedge angle is wider than the second wedge angle to produce slits that upon expansion, produce the lands regions that have angles of inclination in a range for 50 to 85 degrees.

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.

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.