A lottery ticket dispensing unit includes at least one ticket compartment and a separation module that has a drive roller and an opposed idler roller, with a motor geared to the drive roller. An automatic separator device is provided, wherein the drive roller conveys a leading lottery ticket to a separation position such that a line between the leading ticket and an adjacent ticket is presented to the separator device. The separator device includes a shuttle that travels in a linear path along the line, the shuttle having a head that engages and separates the leading ticket from the adjacent ticket along the line. A bi-directional drive mechanism moves the shuttle back and forth along the linear path.

An ultrasonic detection unit includes a transmission sensor chip, a reception sensor chip, a transmission substrate provided with the transmission sensor chip, and a reception substrate provided with the reception sensor chip. The reception substrate is provided with an amplifier that amplifies a reception signal of an ultrasonic wave received by the reception sensor chip, and a shielding member that covers at least a part of the amplifier. A height of the reception sensor chip with respect to the reception substrate is lower than a height of the shielding member with respect to the reception substrate.

In a method for processing a cushioning material strand, which is produced by a cushioning conversion machine from a web-shaped stock material (e.g. a roll or a leporello stack, for example of paper), the cushioning material strand is wound around a winding center into a cushioning material winding and is compressed during winding into the cushioning material winding.