Ranpak Corporation

Illinois Tool Works Inc.

Robert C Cheich

Dennis J Wagner

Steven M Toneff

David V Murphy

Kevin Park

Joseph J Harding

Carrie A Schlegel

Pedro Erik Willem Winkens

Raymond Paulus Hubertus Nollé

Brian J Stinard

Maurice Jozef Paulus Anthonius Savelberg

James A Simmons, Jr

Daniel L Carlson

Edward W Lintala

Raimond P M Demers

Erwin Methorst

Judith L Skiba

Pierre Kobben

James Tekavec

Koen H M Kuypers

Kevin W Park

Dan Coppus

Thomas A Bilkie

Stephen Louis Dominak

Alexandra Snijders

Harry H Lu

Raymond P M Demers

Shawn M Baiers

Thomas Bayt

Johannes Hermanus Wilhelmus Driehuijs

Ronny Hubertus Joseph Hendrix

Hubertus J M Cals

Carrie Schlegal

Brian H Stewartson

Bryce James Fox

Mike J Timmers

Donald A Gorg

Raimond Demers

Erwin Riga

Jiri Sip

Peter L C Lemmens

David M Gabrielsen

Dan Koppus

David M Gabrielson

Hubertus Y Cals

Richard L Gwynne

Edward S Martis, Jr

Jacob G Popek

Franklin B Yap

Cals Hubertus

Craig L Lenart

Peter Urban

Jacob G Popek, Jr

Leon Hanssen

Hugo Van Ool

Daniel A Espinoza

Richard S Zenoz

Brandon C Page

Raymond Paulus Hubertud Nollé

Koen HM Kuypers

Raymond Paulus Hubertus NollÉ

Jr Jacob G Popek

Jr Thomas A Bilkie

Rob A H Pluijmen

Dennis Wagner

Raymond PM Demers

Hubertus Jm Cals

Peter J Urban

Jr Bilkie

Steve Toneff

Johannes Hermanus Driehuijs

Ronny Hubertus Hendrix

Raimond Pm Demmers

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.

Dunnage conversion system and method for expanding expandable sheet material

A machine for converting a sheet material into a relatively less dense dunnage product includes a forming assembly and a feeding assembly downstream of the forming assembly. The forming assembly is configured to cause lateral edges of the sheet material to roll towards one another, forming a tubular shape. A deflector at a downstream end of the forming assembly is configured to engage the lateral edges of the sheet material and to urge the lateral edges into an interior of the tubular shape. This juxtaposes lateral edge portions of the sheet material adjacent the respective lateral edges. A forming channel at a downstream end of the forming assembly faces the deflector to receive the lateral edge portions and shape them into a tab. Finally, the feeding assembly includes rotating connecting members that engage and connect together the overlapping lateral edge portions of the sheet material forming the tab.

Dunnage conversion machine, method, and product with a polygonal cross-section

A bag forming apparatus for forming a flat bottom of a bag includes a base, opposing sidewalls that extend upright relative to the base, and a top that is operably coupled to an upper portion of each of the sidewalls. The top has an intermediate pivot axis between the sidewalls that enables the top to pivot about the pivot axis between a collapsed state and an expanded state. In the collapsed state, the upper portions of the respective sidewalls are closer together and the top extends upright relative to the base to form a tip for insertion into an opening of the bag. In the expanded state, the upper portions of the respective sidewalls are spaced further apart and the top extends horizontally relative to the base to form a platform for forming the flat bottom of the bag.

Bag forming apparatus

A dunnage conversion machine includes a forming assembly configured to form a sheet stock material into a strip of dunnage, and a feeding assembly downstream of the forming assembly that is configured to pull the sheet stock material through the forming assembly. The machine also includes a tear assist assembly downstream of the feeding assembly that includes a pinch arm on one side of the path and a stop opposing the pinch arm on an opposite side of the path. The pinch arm is movable between a resting position in which the pinch arm is located on the one side of the path, and a pinching position in which the pinch arm is located in the path to capture the strip of dunnage between the pinch arm and the stop. Reversing the feed assembly while the pinch arm is in the pinching position causes the strip of dunnage to tear.

Dunnage conversion machine and method with assisted tear apparatus

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 includes (i) a pair of gripping rollers configured to rotate at a first rotational speed to advance a slit-sheet material in a downstream direction; (ii) a pair of expansion rollers configured to rotate at a second rotational speed, faster than the first rotational speed, creating a stretching force on the slit-sheet material and further advancing the slit-sheet material, causing expansion of the slit-sheet material to a fully expanded state; and (iii) a pair of relaxation rollers configured to rotate at a third rotational speed, slower than the second rotational speed, reducing the stretching force and further advancing the slit-sheet material, allowing the slit-sheet material to relax to a partially expanded state. The pair of relaxation rollers (iii) also are configured to capture the slit-sheet material in the partially expanded state between a top cover sheet and a bottom cover sheet to form a dunnage pad.

Dunnage conversion machine for producing a dunnage pad having slit-sheet material therein

Compact manual dunnage conversion apparatus

A machine for converting a sheet material into a relatively less dense dunnage product includes a forming assembly and a feeding assembly downstream of the forming assembly. The forming assembly is configured to form the sheet material into a tubular shape with lateral edges of the sheet material adjacent one another. A deflector at a downstream end of the forming assembly is configured to engage the lateral edges of the sheet material and to urge the lateral edges into an interior of the tubular shape. This juxtaposes lateral edge portions of the sheet material adjacent the respective lateral edges. A forming channel at a downstream end of the forming assembly faces the deflector to receive the lateral edge portions and shape them into a tab. Finally, the feeding assembly includes rotating connecting members that engage and connect the overlapping lateral edge portions of the sheet material forming the tab.

A supply () of sheet stock material () for a dunnage conversion machine () that is readily spliced to another supply includes (a) one or more plies of sheet material () having (i) multiple longitudinally-extending sections, including a center section () bounded by lateral sections (), where the lateral sections () are folded over a common face of the center section () along longitudinal fold lines () at lateral edges of the folded sheet material, and (ii) a leading end () and a trailing end () at respective longitudinally-opposite ends of the sheet material, where the lateral sections () are separated from the center section () adjacent the leading end () and adjacent the trailing end () along respective lines of separation; and (b) a splicing adhesive () applied to the sheet material adjacent the leading end () or the trailing end () on both the center section () and each of the lateral WO 2020/092578 A1 sections () to facilitate splicing each section to respective sections of two supplies.

Supply of sheet stock material for a dunnage conversion machine and a method of converting same into a dunnage product

A supply of single-ply, fan-folded sheet stock material includes a holder that facilitates simultaneously loading multiple plies of sheet stock material into a dunnage conversion machine for conversion into a dunnage product. The holder has inclined support surfaces and intersecting support walls that support the support surfaces in their inclined orientations. The holder has a W-shape cross-section, with inclined outer support surfaces and inclined inner support surfaces that may meet in the middle. The inner support surfaces generally are perpendicular to adjacent outer support surfaces to support a generally rectangular stack and sub-stacks of single-ply, fan-folded sheet stock material. The inclined support surfaces of the holder facilitate splitting the stack in half and supporting the two sub-stacks so that pages on top of the two stacks, connected by a center fold line, can be drawn into the conversion machine simultaneously.

Fan-folded sheet stock material support for use with a dunnage conversion machine and method

A bundle of packing material includes at least two strips of packing material folded into a compact configuration. The strips of packing material include a top strip having a length dimension between first and second end portions and a central portion between the first end portion and the second end portion, and a bottom strip having a length dimension between first and second end portions and a central portion between the first end portion and the second end portion. The central portion of the top strip overlays the central portion of the bottom strip and the length dimension of the top strip is oriented orthogonal to the length dimension of the bottom strip. The first and second end portions of top strip are folded over the central portions, and the first and second end portions of the bottom strip are folded over the central portions.

Packaging product and methods of making and using

A dunnage conversion system for expanding an unexpanded slit sheet stock material to form an expanded dunnage product. The dunnage conversion system includes a converging chute to inwardly gather laterally-extending edges of sheet stock material towards one another, causing random crumpling of the sheet stock material to form a modified ply. The conversion system also includes feed wheels that advance the modified ply through the converging chute and pinch rollers that cooperate with the feed wheels to expand the modified ply traveling between the feed wheels and the pinch rollers to form a dunnage product. The expanded dunnage product is expanded both in a longitudinal feed direction and in thickness as compared to the unexpanded slit sheet stock material, and thus is a three-dimensional product having increased volume and lower density per unit of length as compared to the unexpanded slit sheet stock material.

Dunnage conversion system and method for expanding pre-slit sheet stock material

A manually-operated dunnage conversion apparatus includes a housing with an outlet opening, a supply of slit sheet stock material supported within the housing for dispensing from the outlet opening, and a pair of opposed expansion members rotatably coupled to the housing for rotation about respective, parallel expansion axes between the supply and the outlet opening. The expansion members are biased towards each other via a biasing member to provide a gripping force on sheet stock material fed therebetween to apply friction to the sheet stock material that causes the sheet stock material to expand in length and thickness as an operator pulls the sheet stock material from the outlet opening in the housing. With the possible exception of the biasing member, the apparatus may be made of paper-based products, making the apparatus recyclable, reusable, and composed of a renewable resource, as well as inexpensive to manufacture.

Low cost manual expanding-dunnage conversion apparatus

Growing community of inventors

Independence, OH, United States of America

Robert C Cheich