Ranpak Corporation

Children's Medical Center Corporation

Kevin Park

Robert C Cheich

Daniel L Carlson

Zhigang He

Steven M Toneff

Kai Liu

Yang Hu

Paul Francis Deimling

Dennis J Wagner

David V Murphy

Thomas A Bilkie

Raimond P M Demers

Carrie A Schlegel

Stephen Louis Dominak

Alexandra Snijders

Harry H Lu

Hubertus J M Cals

Ronny Hubertus Joseph Hendrix

Johannes Hermanus Wilhelmus Driehuijs

Thomas Bayt

Derek M Gabrielsen

Joseph J Harding

Douglas C Corbin

Timothy A Frederick

James J Corbett

Michael A Steimle

Roger G Fischer

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.

Dunnage conversion machine and method

A dunnage conversion machine converts a sheet stock material into a dunnage product that is relatively thicker and less dense than the stock material. The conversion machine includes a conversion assembly that draws the sheet stock material therethrough and randomly crumples at least a portion of the sheet stock material. Before severing a discrete dunnage product of a desired length from the substantially continuous length of sheet stock material, the random crumpling is minimized or eliminated in an area to be cut to reduce or eliminate the production of scrap shards of sheet stock material during the cutting operation.

A packaging method includes the steps of (a) detecting whether a height () of contents () in a container () exceeds a predetermined height (), and (b) indicating how much dunnage to dispense based on predetermined criteria, including whether a detected height exceeds a predetermined height that is less than a height of the container. The indicating step includes indicating a quantity of dunnage to dispense selected from a plurality of predetermined quantities of dunnage. If no detected height is greater than the predetermined height, the indicating step includes indicating that a regular amount of dunnage should be dispensed. And if a detected height is greater than the predetermined height, the indicating step includes indicating that either zero or less than the regular amount of dunnage should be dispensed. The detecting step also can include detecting whether any contents in the container have a height above the height of the container.

Packaging system and method with controlled dunnage dispensing

A jam-sensing method for a dunnage conversion machine includes the following steps: (a) converting a stock material into a relatively less dense dunnage material having characteristics that vary along the length of the dunnage material; (b) sensing the characteristics of the dunnage material; (c) generating a signal that varies as a function of the sensed characteristics; (d) monitoring the generated signal over time; and (e) generating a control signal when variation in the generated signal within a predetermined period is less than a predetermined amount, which would indicate a lack of movement of the material. This control signal can used to shut down the conversion process, thereby minimizing the extent of the jam condition.

Dunnage conversion machine jam-detection system and method

An improved packaging system () includes a packaging line that guides containers in a downstream direction, a sensor () that can identify a dimension of a container on the packaging line, a dunnage dispenser () on the packaging line downstream of the sensor to dispense dunnage to a void volume in a container, and a container closer () downstream of the dunnage dispenser () to close containers on the packaging line downstream of the dunnage dispenser. The container closer () includes an adjustable member (), and is in communication with the sensor to () adjust the adjustable member () based on the identified dimension of the container. The system thus includes a way to identify the size of the container before the container reaches the container closer. The container closer can adjust for the container's size before the container arrives, speeding up the container closing operation.

Packaging system with adjustable container closer

Survival of, or axon regeneration in a lesioned mature central nervous system (CNS) neuron is promoted by (a) contacting the neuron with a therapeutically effective amount of an exogenous activator of protein translation; and (b) detecting the resultant promotion of the survival of, or axon regeneration in the neuron.

Promoting axon regeneration in the adult CNS through control of protein translation

A system () for automatically dispensing a strip of dunnage to a container () includes a dispenser () having an outlet () from which the dispenser can feed a length of a strip of dunnage lengthwise, a container support () for supporting a container () thereon, and a pusher device () at the outlet () for pushing, more particularly propelling, a trailing end of the strip of dunnage from the outlet () toward the container support (). The outlet () is aligned with the container support (). Thus the outlet () is positioned relative to a container () such that the strip will curl or fold back and forth upon itself within the confines of the container () as it is being fed from the outlet (). A container closer (and) automatically closes the flaps (and) of the container ().

Automated dunnage filling system and method

A packaging system () includes a controller (), an input device () in communication with the controller () that identifies one or more characteristics of the container, an illustration with indicia representing different degrees of fill for a container; and a manual input device () in communication with the controller () for inputting an estimated degree of fullness of the packing container having one or more articles to be packed correlated with the indicia in the illustration. The controller () provides an output signal indicating a quantity of dunnage to dispense to the container based on the input estimated degree of fullness and the one or more identified characteristics of the container. Then the controller can determine the amount of dunnage that needs to be provided to fill the remaining void in the container, and the controller can signal a dunnage dispenser () to dispense the determined amount of dunnage.

Manually-assisted void-fill dunnage dispensing system and method

A method for clearing stalled containers in a taping or other container sealer includes the steps of (i) conveying a container to a sealing station, (ii) sealing the container with a sealer at the sealing station as the container travels through the sealing station, (iii) detecting a stalled container in the sealing station, and (iv) raising the sealer upon detection of a stalled container in the sealing station to relieve the stalled condition so that the container travels through the sealing station and is sealed by the sealer. Raising the sealer can clear the stalled container, thereby minimizing or eliminating events that require an operator's attention.

System and method for sealing packing containers

Growing community of inventors

Chardon, OH, United States of America

Kevin Park