Manufacturing container or tube from paper; or other manufacturi – With cutting – breaking – tearing – or abrading – And with bending
Utility Patent
1993-11-19
2001-01-02
Vo, Peter (Department: 3721)
Manufacturing container or tube from paper; or other manufacturi
With cutting, breaking, tearing, or abrading
And with bending
C493S407000, C493S440000, C493S446000, C493S464000, C493S967000
Utility Patent
active
06168559
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally as indicated to a cushioning conversion machine including a pad-transferring assembly. More particularly, the invention relates to a pad-transferring assembly which provides a positive, mechanical means for transferring a cut cushioning pad away from the other components of the machine.
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In the process of shipping an item from one location to another, a protective packaging material is typically placed in the shipping container to fill any voids and/or to cushion the item during the shipping process. Some commonly used protective packaging materials are plastic foam peanuts and plastic bubble pack. While these conventional plastic materials seem to perform adequately as cushioning products, they are not without disadvantages. Perhaps the most serious drawback of plastic bubble wrap and/or plastic foam peanuts is their effect on our environment. Quite simply, these plastic packaging materials are not biodegradable and thus they cannot avoid further multiplying our planet's already critical waste disposal problems. The non-biodegradability of these packaging materials has become increasingly important in light of many industries adopting more progressive policies in terms of environmental responsibility.
These and other disadvantages of conventional plastic packaging materials have made paper protective packaging material a very popular alternative. Paper is biodegradable, recyclable and renewable; making it an environmentally responsible choice for conscientious companies.
While paper in sheet form could possibly be used as a protective packaging material, it is usually preferable to convert the sheets of paper into a low density cushioning product. This conversion may be accomplished by a cushioning conversion machine, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,026,198; 4,085,662; 4,109,040; 4,237,776; 4,557,716; 4,650,456; 4,717,613; 4,750,896; and 4,968,291. (These patents are all assigned to the assignee of the present invention and their entire disclosures are hereby incorporated by reference.) Such a cushioning conversion machine converts sheet-like stock material, such as paper in multi-ply form, into low density cushioning pads.
A cushioning conversion machine, such as those disclosed in the above-identified patents, may include a stock supply assembly, a forming assembly, a gear assembly, and a cutting assembly, all of which are mounted on the machine's frame. During operation of such a cushioning conversion machine, the stock supply assembly supplies the stock material to the forming assembly. The forming assembly causes inward rolling of the lateral edges of the sheet-like stock material to form a continuous strip having lateral pillow-like portions and a thin central band. The gear assembly pulls the stock material through the machine and also coins the central band of the continuous strip to form a coined strip. The coined strip travels downstream to the cutting assembly which cuts the coined strip into pads of a desired length.
Typically, the cut pad is transferred downstream to a transitional zone (e.g., a table, a conveyor belt, a bin etc.) and is thereafter removed from the transitional zone and inserted within a container for cushioning purposes. In the past, the transitional zone has been positioned beneath the cutting assembly whereby gravity caused the pad to fall towards the transitional zone, or, in other words, away from the cutting assembly. Additionally or alternatively, the approaching coined strip would urge the cut pad in this direction.
The practice of depending upon the force of gravity and/or the urging of the approaching strip for pad-transferring purposes has, for the most part, been very successful. Nevertheless, applicant appreciated that in certain circumstances (such as high/constant volume cushioning situations), pad-transfer problems sometimes, albeit very rarely, occurred. For example, because of the lightweight nature of the pad, one would occasionally fail to travel downstream to the transitional zone. While, in most instances, the approaching pads would eradicate this failure by pushing the “stalled” pad downstream, periodically the approaching pads would instead “shingle” (i.e., the pads would stack one on top of the other in a shingle-like arrangement). Such shingling (although itself uncommon) would usually result in the “jamming” the cushioning conversion machine and this jamming would almost always translate into machine downtime.
Accordingly, applicant developed the pad-transferring assembly of the present invention to ensure that each and every pad is properly transferred to the transitional zone. Thus, in contrast to the conventional technique of depending upon the force of gravity and/or the urging of the approaching strip for pad-transferring purposes, applicant's invention provides a positive, mechanical means for transferring pads to the transitional zone.
More particularly, the present invention provides a cushioning conversion machine comprising conversion assemblies, a cutting assembly, and a pad-transferring assembly. The conversion assemblies are mounted to the machine's frame and convert the sheet-like stock material into a continuous strip of cushioning product. The cutting assembly is mounted to the frame downstream of the conversion assemblies and cuts a leading portion of the strip into a cut pad of a desired length. The pad-transferring assembly is mounted to the frame downstream of the cutting assembly and transfers the cut pad (formed when the strip is cut) away from the cutting assembly. Preferably, the pad-transferring assembly is a conveyor which frictionally engages the leading portion of the strip prior to it being cut and which frictionally transfers the cut pad away from the cutting assembly. More preferably, the conveyor engages the upper surface of the strip and the upper surface of the cut pad.
These and other features of the invention are fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following descriptive annexed drawings set forth in detail one illustrative embodiment, this embodiment being indicative of but one of the various ways in which the principles of the invention may be employed.
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Ranpak Corp.
Renner , Otto, Boisselle & Sklar, LLP
Vo Peter
LandOfFree
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