The present disclosure relates to systems and methods related to the suppression of invasive plant species by laying down a fabric over beds of such invasive plants. A watercraft with a fabric laying mechanism is provided with the mechanism automatically guiding the fabric from a fabric stockpile to a frame that spreads the fabric prior to the fabric being laid over the underwater plant bed. The watercraft may be provided with a device for dispensing material over the fabric that has been laid down to weigh down or hold down the fabric. Preferably, the fabric is biodegradable and the material is natural to the area. In one implementation, the fabric (e.g jute burlap) is coarsely woven from natural plant fibers.

A sheet interleaver is provided for a slicing machine that includes a slicing plane for slicing an elongated food product and a sheet of web material beneath the elongated product. The interleaver includes a supply of web material, a drawing station, and a feed station. A tensioning station is disposed between the supply of web material and the drawing station to maintain the tension of the web material at a pre-determined tension. A web accumulation station is between the drawing station and the feed station to provide a slackened length of web material within an acceptable range of slack between the drawing station and the feed station. The supply of web material is disposed on a spool which rotates about a cylindrical shaft. The cylindrical shaft has a braking mechanism which protrudes from the shaft to generate a frictional force against the spool.

Provided is an unwinding device for unwinding a sheet from a sheet roll, the sheet roll being inserted onto the device. The unwinding device includes a shaft, a first rotating member and a second rotating member which are inserted onto the shaft, configured to be rotatable with rotation of the sheet roll, the sheet roll being inserted onto the first rotating member and the second rotating member, a first elastic member disposed between the first rotating member and the shaft, the first elastic member being configured to provide first back tension to the sheet when the first rotating member rotates, a second elastic member disposed between the second rotating member and the shaft, the second elastic member being configured to provide second back tension to the sheet when the second rotating member rotates, and a back tension controlling member disposed between the second elastic member and the shaft.

A sheet interleaver is provided for a slicing machine that includes a slicing plane for slicing an elongated food product and a sheet of web material beneath the elongated product. The interleaver includes a supply of web material, a drawing station, and a feed station. A tensioning station is disposed between the supply of web material and the drawing station to maintain the tension of the web material at a pre-determined tension. A web accumulation station is between the drawing station and the feed station to provide a slackened length of web material within an acceptable range of slack between the drawing station and the feed station. The supply of web material is disposed on a spool which rotates about a cylindrical shaft. The cylindrical shaft has a braking mechanism which protrudes from the shaft to generate a frictional force against the spool.

Method and apparatus for producing and drawing-off a web-shaped product (2) with a production machine (1) and two clamp carriers (7.1, 7.2) with clamps (10.1, 10.2). The clamp carriers (7.1, 7.2) are driven moving back and forth parallel to a drawing-off direction of the web-shaped product (2). The clamp carriers (7.1, 7.2) are respectively drivable with a pair of drive spindles (14.1, 14.2), which are arranged in such a manner so that the web center of the web-shaped product (2) within the apparatus (6) extends in an area between the two drive spindles (14.1, 14.2) of the respective clamp carrier (7.1, 7.2). The method is characterized in that the web-shaped product (2) is produced with successive main sections (4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4) and auxiliary sections (3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5), and that the clamps (10) are actuated in such a manner so that the opening and closing of the clamps (10) takes place only in the time segments of the production in which an auxiliary section (3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5) of the web-shaped product (2) is being produced.

A medium feeding apparatus includes a detection tension acquiring unit that acquires a detection tension which is a tension applied during an (n1)-th feeding operation in a plurality of feeding operations in which the medium is fed, a corrected tension calculating unit that calculates a corrected tension obtained by correcting a target tension which is a target value of a tension to be applied during a n-th feeding operation based on the detection tension, and a driving controlling unit that controls a roll motor during the n-th feeding operation based on the corrected tension.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet supplying apparatus which is capable of winding the sheet tightly. A sheet supplying apparatus according to the present invention includes a driving unit configured to cause a roll including a wound consecutive sheet to rotate in a first direction for feeding the sheet or a second direction opposite to the first direction, a sensor that detects a leading end portion of the sheet separated from an outer circumferential surface of the roll, and a contact body that presses the outer circumferential surface, in which, before the sheet is fed, in a state in which the contact body presses the outer circumferential surface, the driving unit causes the roll to continuously rotate in the second direction until a detection cycle of the leading end portion by the sensor is smaller than a predetermined value.

A medium supply apparatus supplying a rolled medium includes a tension member contacts to the medium to apply a tension to the medium, a state switching part that switches states of the tension member between first and second states, and a control unit. The tension member is swingable between a first position at which a first corner angle (1) and a second position at which a second corner angle (2) is formed, the second corner angle (2) being greater than the first corner angle (1). The control unit causes the state switching part to switch the state of the tension member to the fixed state in the first position when the medium is supplied, the control unit causes the state switching part to switch the state of the tension member to the releasing state in the first position when the control unit does not receive an image forming start signal for a predetermined period, and the control unit causes the state switching part to switch the state of the tension member to the fixed state when the tension member reaches the second position.

An expansion device includes an unexpended slit sheet roll that is wound on a paper core that is wider than the slit sheet paper. The paper core is placed into a yoke that holds the paper in position on each side of the unexpended slit sheet material. An adjustable downward pressure is exerted on the paper core and the paper core exerts pressure on the yoke. As the paper is pulled, this downward pressure creates the friction required to enable the unexpended slit sheet to be unwind and fed while simultaneously expanding. A blank sheet is formed into a box that stabilizes slit paper sheet wound around a core member.

A machine (1) for producing packages of napkins, tissues, towels, or similar products, comprises a support frame (100) to support a feeding group (10) which feeds a first and a second web of paper (5a, 5b). The support frame (100) supports, furthermore, a cutting group (20) which cuts the first and second webs of paper (5a, 5b) respectively in a first and a second plurality of sheets (6) of predetermined length, and a folding or interfolding group (30) which folds or interfolds the sheets of paper (6) at a folding or interfolding zone, (35) in such a way to obtain a stack (150) of folded or interfolded sheets, according to a predetermined folding or interfolding configuration. The cutting group (20) and the folding or interfolding group (30) are mounted on the same support body (110) to move between an assembled position in which is supported by the support frame (100), and a disassembled position, in which is not supported by the support frame (100). A displacement group (50) is, furthermore, provided to displace the support body (110) between the assembled position and the disassembled position. The displacement group (50) and the support body (110) are provided with respective engagement portions (58,118) to engage with each other in such a way to allow the displacement group (50) to displace the support body (110) between the assembled position and the disassembled position