Abstract: A packaging system for transferring a dunnage product to a packaging container includes a dunnage sensor configured to detect the dunnage product registered at an alignment reference plane in a staging location. The packaging system also includes a package sensor configured to detect the packaging container registered at the alignment reference plane in a loading location. A dunnage placement apparatus is configured to transfer the dunnage product from the staging location to the packaging container in the loading location after both the dunnage sensor detects the dunnage product registered at the alignment reference plane in the staging location and the package sensor detects the packaging container registered at the alignment reference plane in the loading location.

Abstract: 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.

Abstract: 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.

Abstract: 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.

Abstract: 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.

Abstract: 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.

Abstract: A dunnage conversion machine that converts a stock material into a less dense dunnage product includes an outlet chute having a housing with a passage therethrough from an inlet at an inlet end downstream to an outlet at an outlet end spaced from the inlet end. The output chute includes a lower guide surface that defines a bottom side of the passage. The lower guide surface has an upstream end toward the inlet and a downstream end toward the outlet. The upstream end of the lower guide surface is spaced from a centerline of the passage a distance that is greater than a distance that the downstream end is spaced from the centerline of the passage to provide an inclined surface, such that a cross-section of the passage decreases from the inlet to the outlet.

Abstract: A coiler for producing tighter or smaller coils of dunnage uses a cam to move fork pins from a dunnage-receiving position inwardly to a more closely-spaced coiling position. The fork pins are coupled to pin mounts that cooperate with the cam and slots in a guide plate to move the parallel fork pins between the dunnage-receiving and coiling positions. The fork pins are mounted to extend perpendicular to and through the guide plate on opposing sides of a path of the dunnage to capture and wind a dunnage strip into a coil.

Abstract: A supply of stock material for a dunnage conversion machine includes two plies of sheet stock material wound into a roll or fan-folded into a stack. Each ply has disposed on a corresponding leading or trailing end thereof an adhesive layer and a removable release liner covering the adhesive layer. When applied to a leading end of the supply, the adhesive layer is applied to opposing, outwardly-facing surfaces of the respective plies. When a supply of stock material is almost spent, the operator removes the release liners from both plies to expose respective adhesive layers, and then interposes the leading end of a new supply between the plies of the trailing end of the almost-spent supply and presses the layers together to attach the plies of the new supply to respective plies of the almost-spent supply, for conversion into dunnage.

Abstract: A dunnage conversion system for making a coil of dunnage from a sheet stock includes a coiler, a movable dancer upstream of the coiler and interposed in a path of the sheet stock, and a controller communicatively coupled to each of the coiler and the movable dancer. The coiler is configured to wind the sheet stock, and the controller is configured to control the speed of the coiler based on the position of the movable dancer to control tension of the sheet stock upstream of the coiler. The sheet stock drawn about the movable dancer may be a slit-sheet stock having a plurality of slits configured to expand under tension applied in a feed direction. The controller may be configured to control expansion of the slit-sheet stock upstream of the coiler allowing conversion of the sheet stock into a coil of relatively less dense dunnage prior to or during winding.

Abstract: A dunnage conversion system includes a machine for converting a stock material into a strip of relatively lower-density dunnage, a coiling mechanism for winding the strip into a coil, a taping mechanism for automatically securing a trailing end of the strip to the coil, and a coil ejecting mechanism for automatically removing the coil from the coiling mechanism. The taping mechanism includes a guide surface between an outlet of the machine and the coiling mechanism to guide the strip to the coiling mechanism and to guide tape for engagement with a trailing end of the strip and to secure the trailing end of the strip to the coil. The coil ejecting mechanism includes a lever arm that pivots to push the completed coil off the coiling mechanism.

Abstract: A quick-change cutting assembly includes a base having a support surface for supporting a cutting blade, a clamping arm having a clamping surface, a spring interposed between the base and the clamping arm, and a pivot defining a pivot axis between the spring and the clamping surface that couples the clamping arm to the base. The spring biases the clamping surface toward the support surface and a cutting blade therebetween. The clamping arm is pivotable between a closed position where the clamping surface is parallel to the support surface and an open position removed from the closed position where the clamping surface is spaced further from the support surface. The cutting assembly further includes a locking pin transverse the direction of biasing action of the spring that connects the clamping arm to the base to prevent the clamping arm from pivoting relative to the base when in the closed position.

Abstract: 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.

Abstract: 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.

Abstract: A machine for converting a sheet stock material into a dunnage product includes a conversion assembly for converting sheet stock material into a dunnage product as the sheet stock material travels along a path from an upstream end of the conversion assembly to a downstream end of the conversion assembly. The machine further includes a transversely extending guide over which the stock material passes for guided entry into the upstream end of the conversion assembly. The guide is rotatable such that the transverse extent of the guide can be moved between a plurality of relatively rotated orientations to guide the sheet stock material from different sides of the conversion assembly.

Abstract: A compact dunnage conversion machine includes a converging chute with a restricted inlet, a powered feed assembly with a sealed gearbox, a plurality of interchangeable power supplies, and a restricted outlet chute. The converter can convert a sheet stock material into dunnage for use in packaging one or more objects in a container. The restricted inlet and outlet make it more difficult for foreign objects to enter the converter and disrupt the conversion process. The sealed gearbox interposed between the driving elements of the feed assembly and an electric motor facilitates maintenance and repair of the feed assembly, while also protecting the gears therein. Finally, the power supplies provide electrical power to the motor and can include an electrical storage device, such as a battery, or an alternating-current-to-direct-current converter which is connectable to a source of electricity for supplying that electricity to the motor in an acceptable form.

Abstract: An apparatus for conforming a dunnage element about contents in a container includes an array of pushers having biased end portions that are movable relative to one another and having end faces for engaging the dunnage element. The end faces of the pushers are biased to an extended state and are movable against the bias in response to engagement of the end faces with the contents and with the dunnage element between the end faces and the contents. At least one of the pushers is movable against the bias separately from a remainder of the pushers to enable conformance of the array to the shape of the contents. The pushers are mounted to a carrier at respective mounts. A motive device is coupled to the carrier and is configured to collectively move the mounts vertically.

Abstract: A system for closing a shipping container that has a rectangular bottom wall, upstanding side walls extending from the periphery of the bottom wall, and an open top end, includes a sled capable of moving the container between a first station and a second station spaced from the first station, and a flap-folding assembly movable with the sled. The flap-folding assembly is configured to inwardly fold flaps of the container while the sled moves the container between the first station and the second station.

Abstract: A manually-operated dunnage conversion apparatus includes a housing, a support mounted in the housing and configured to support a supply of sheet material for dispensing from the dunnage conversion apparatus, and one or both of (a) a guide member mounted in the housing downstream of the support and providing a resilient surface across which the sheet material may be drawn to restrict tearing of the sheet material as it is drawn from the dunnage conversion apparatus, and (b) a tensioning assembly mounted in the housing and configured to apply a compressive force between opposite axial sides of the housing to control the force necessary to dispense the supply of sheet material. Except for the tensioning assembly, 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.

Abstract: A method of making a dunnage product includes the following steps: (a) converting a sheet stock material into a lower density strip of dunnage having a width and a height that is less than the width; and (b) cutting the strip of dunnage to form a discrete dunnage product of a desired length by cutting across less than the width of the strip of dunnage to maintain a connection between the strip of dunnage and the discrete dunnage product. The connection between respective dunnage products in a string of connected dunnage products keeps the dunnage products together, in the order in which they were produced, and helps to ensure that the dunnage products do not shingle and can assist in feeding the dunnage products to a packing station.