A sheet body is gripped (bound) by grip conveyance units, and conveyed as the grip conveyance units are displaced in this state. At the same time as this conveyance, the sheet body is held by delivering units, and delivered by a predetermined amount by the delivering units. After that, the sheet body is cut in predetermined size and shape by cutting molds.

A sheet manufacturing method includes a conveying step of conveying a base material sheet; and a processing step of rotating a pair of processing rolls to sandwich a conveyance path on which the base material sheet is conveyed, wherein irregular portions along respective outer peripheral faces of the processing rolls engage with each other with a clearance to stretch the base material sheet when the base material sheet passes between the processing rolls. In the conveying step, the base material sheet is conveyed such that the base material sheet contacts along the outer peripheral face of one of the processing rolls immediately prior to passing between the processing rolls; and the tension in the conveyance direction applied to the base material sheet immediately prior to reaching the outer peripheral face of the one of the processing rolls is less than 10% of a breaking load of the base material sheet.

A lamination system includes a film supply, a non-woven material supply, and a laminator. The laminator causes a film from the film supply to be laminated to a sheet from the non-woven material supply to establish a laminated sheet.

To provide a cloth spreading device capable of operating stably. The cloth spreading device includes: introduction chucks 21, 21 in a pair that grip corner portions of a cloth C; an up and down moving device 23 that moves the introduction chucks 21, 21 in a pair up and down; extension chucks 31, 31 in a pair that receive the cloth C from the introduction chucks 21, 21 in a pair and grip corner portions of the cloth C; and a transversely moving device 34 that moves the extension chucks 31, 31 in a pair transversely. The up and down moving device 23 is driven by an actuator permitting speed control and position control. Thus, an external factor does not cause large change in the operation of the up and down moving device 23 to achieve stable upward and downward moving operations of the introduction chucks 21, 21. The introduction chucks 21, 21 can be moved and stopped at will. This eliminates the need for a position sensor to achieve reduction in facility cost.

A method, apparatus and program product may evaluate a packaging material to determine various metrics associated with the packaging material. A test apparatus may be used to evaluate packaging material using a take up drum capable of sensing containment force imparted upon the drum by packaging material applied thereto, and in some instances, simulated flaws may be formed in a web of packaging material to evaluate a packaging materials response to such flaws when under tension.

A method, apparatus and program product may evaluate a packaging material to determine various metrics associated with the packaging material. A test apparatus may be used to evaluate packaging material using a take up drum capable of sensing containment force imparted upon the drum by packaging material applied thereto, and in some instances, simulated flaws may be formed in a web of packaging material to evaluate a packaging materials response to such flaws when under tension.

A method, apparatus and program product may evaluate a packaging material to determine various metrics associated with the packaging material. An apparatus may be used to sense flaws in packaging material, and in some instances, to accommodate such flaws by temporarily increasing a dispense rate of a packaging material dispenser.

A dunnage conversion assembly includes a supply of expandable sheet material and a dunnage conversion apparatus configured to expand the expandable sheet material. The apparatus includes a frame, a supply support mounted to the frame to support a supply of sheet material, and first and second expansion members rotatably mounted to the frame downstream of the supply support to receive the sheet material therebetween. At least one of the first expansion member or the second expansion member is rotatably driven. A drive assembly of the apparatus includes a drive member and a motive device that drives rotation of the drive member to dispense the sheet material from the supply. The drive member is movable between an operating position adjacent the supply support and a disengaged position spaced from the supply support. The drive member in the operating position is biased toward the supply support.

A sheet conveying device and a sheet conveying method whereby it is possible to convey a sheet more accurately. This sheet conveying device includes a holder capable of holding a sheet, bringing the sheet into a stretched state while holding the sheet, and conveying the held sheet. This sheet conveying device also includes a sheet state recognizer that recognizes the state of the sheet when the sheet is held in a stretched state by the holder.

A sheet body is gripped (bound) by grip conveyance units, and conveyed as the grip conveyance units are displaced in this state. At the same time as this conveyance, the sheet body is held by delivering units, and delivered by a predetermined amount by the delivering units. After that, the sheet body is cut in predetermined size and shape by cutting molds.