# US 12,168,334 B2 · Systems and methods for making envelopes and/or other protective products with expanded paper cushioning > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,168,334 B2 - Document ID: US12168334B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/187,768 - Filed: 2021-02-27 - Published: 2021-08-19 - Granted: 2024-12-17 - Earliest claimed: 2017-06-26 - Assignees: HexcelPack, LLC - Applicants: David Paul Goodrich - Inventors: David Paul Goodrich - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12168334B2 ## CPC - B31B 70/00: Making flexible containers, e.g. envelopes or bags - B31B 70/10: Feeding or positioning webs - B31B 70/16: Cutting webs - B31B 70/62: by adhesives - B31B 70/88: Printing; Embossing - B31D 5/006: {including controlled deformation of flat material, e.g. pleating, corrugating or embossing (including crumpling flat material B31D5/0043)} - B65D 27/005: {Linings} - B65D 27/16: using pressure-sensitive adhesive - B65D 81/03: Wrappers or envelopes with shock-absorbing properties, e.g. bubble films {(for thermal insulating purposes B65D81/3888)} - B31B 70/008: {Stiffening or reinforcing (B31B70/876 takes precedence)} - B31B 2155/002: {by joining superimposed webs, e.g. with separate bottom webs} - B31B 2160/102: {obtained from essentially rectangular sheets} - B31B 2160/106: {obtained from sheets cut from larger sheets or webs before finishing the bag forming operations} - B31B 2170/20: having multi-layered walls, e.g. laminated or lined - B31D 5/0065: {including slitting and expanding flat material} - B31D 2205/0023: as web from a roll - B31D 2205/0047: Feeding, guiding or shaping the material - B31F 1/07: Embossing {, i.e. producing impressions formed by locally deep-drawing, e.g. using rolls provided with complementary profiles}({B31F1/128 takes precedence;} corrugating B31F1/20; embossing in combination with printing B41F19/02, B41M1/24; typewriters for embossing B41J3/38; stamping in combination with deforming B41K3/36) - B31B: MAKING CONTAINERS OF PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER (making wound articles, e.g. wound tubes, B31C; combined making and filling B65B) - B31D: MAKING ARTICLES OF PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER, NOT PROVIDED FOR IN SUBCLASSES B31B OR B31C (manufacture by dry processes of articles made from particles or fibres consisting of wood or other lignocellulosic or like organic material B27N; making layered products not composed wholly of paper or cardboard B32B; making articles from cellulosic fibrous suspensions, e.g. wood pulp, D21J) - B65D: CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES - B31F: MECHANICAL WORKING OR DEFORMATION OF PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER (making layered products not composed wholly of paper or cardboard B32B) ## Abstract According to some illustrative embodiments, a system and method is provided that includes, e.g., means for continuously conveying an assembly of layered sheets including a first paper sheet, at least one expanded sheet and a second paper sheet in a conveying flow between, e.g., a rotary mandrel or member at an upstream position in a direction of conveyance and a rotary die crushing and cutting tool, with said rotary mandrel or member and said rotary die crushing and cutting tool maintaining the at least one expanded sheet in an expanded state, said rotary tool having a crushing component that crushes a portion of the at least one expanded sheet such as to form a flap forming region of an envelope and a cutting component that cuts the assembly of layered sheets such as to separate individual envelope units. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method for making a padded envelope, comprising: conveying a first sheet of paper in a conveying direction; conveying an expanded sheet of paper in an expanded state in said conveying direction with one side of said expanded sheet of paper facing said first sheet of paper; conveying a second sheet of paper in said conveying direction with an opposite side of said expanded sheet of paper in said expanded state facing said second sheet of paper; while continuing conveying movement during said conveying of said first sheet of paper, said expanded sheet of paper in said expanded state and said second sheet of paper in said conveying direction, pressing together a region of said first sheet of paper, said expanded sheet of paper and said second sheet of paper which region extends along a direction transverse to the conveying direction and causing said expanded sheet of paper to collapse within said region and said first sheet of paper, said expanded sheet of paper and said second sheet of paper to adhere together within said region; and while continuing conveying movement during conveying of said first sheet of paper, said expanded sheet of paper and said second sheet of paper in said conveying direction, cutting along said region that is pressed together during said pressing together such as to sever said first sheet of paper, said expanded sheet of paper and said second sheet of paper. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein said expanded sheet of paper in an expanded state includes a sheet of paper in which the plane of the paper varies positionally in a direction of the thickness of the expanded sheet of paper. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein said expanded sheet of paper includes at least one of an expanded slit sheet paper, a folded paper sheet, an embossed paper sheet, an undulating paper sheet. ### Claim 4 A method for making a padded envelope, comprising: conveying a first sheet of paper in a conveying direction; expanding an expandable sheet of slit sheet paper into an expanded state and conveying the expandable sheet of slit sheet paper in the expanded state in said conveying direction with one side of said expandable slit sheet paper facing said first sheet of paper; conveying a second sheet of paper in said conveying direction with an opposite side of said expandable slit sheet paper in the expanded state facing said second sheet of paper; while continuing conveying movement during said conveying of said first sheet of paper, said expandable sheet of slit sheet paper in said expanded state and said second sheet of paper in said conveying direction, pressing together a region of said first sheet of paper, said expandable sheet of slit sheet paper and said second sheet of paper which region extends along a direction transverse to the conveying direction and causing said expandable sheet of paper to collapse within said region and said first sheet of paper, said expandable sheet of slit sheet paper and said second sheet of paper to adhere together within said region; and while continuing conveying movement during conveying of said first sheet of paper, said expandable sheet of slit sheet paper and said second sheet of paper in said conveying direction, cutting along said region that is pressed together during said pressing together such as to sever said first sheet of paper, said expandable sheet of slit sheet paper and said second sheet of paper. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, wherein said causing said first sheet of paper, said expandable sheet of paper and said second sheet of paper to adhere together includes applying an adhesive within said region that is pressed together during said pressing together. ### Claim 6 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, further including while continuing conveying movement during conveying of said expandable sheet of slit sheet paper continuously maintaining the expandable sheet of slit sheet paper in an expanded state by pulling on a distal end of the expandable sheet of slit sheet paper without applying a pulling force on lateral sides of the expandable sheet of slit sheet paper. ### Claim 7 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, further including performing said pressing together employing at least one rotated member that includes at least one pressing element around a periphery thereof that is caused to press against said region that is pressed together during said pressing together upon reaching a rotational pressing position. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, wherein said at least one rotated member includes a rotated roller than is rotated such as to effect said pressing along with an opposing moving member. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8, wherein said opposing moving member is a second roller that opposes said rotated roller. ### Claim 10 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8, wherein said opposing moving member is a conveyor member that opposes said rotated roller. ### Claim 11 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, wherein said expanding said expandable sheet of slit sheet paper into said expanded state includes: at least one expansion roller that is configured to engage slits of the expandable slit sheet paper to expand the expandable slit sheet paper. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein said at least one expansion roller that is configured to engage slits of the expandable slit sheet paper includes at least one expansion roller having a plurality of hooks distributed around a periphery thereof which are configured to engage slits of the expandable slit sheet paper. ### Claim 13 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein said at least one expansion roller that is configured to engage slits of the expandable slit sheet paper includes two adjacent expansion rollers that are separated from one another in the longitudinal feeding direction of the expandable slit sheet material by a distance greater than a thickness of said expandable slit sheet material in a fully expanded state, such that the said two adjacent expansion rollers do not concurrently press against opposite sides of the expanded slit sheet material at a same longitudinal position of the expanded slit sheet material so that said two adjacent expansion rollers avoid damaging the expanded slit sheet material. ### Claim 14 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, wherein said expandable sheet of slit sheet paper is the only layer of expandable slit sheet paper in between said first sheet of paper and said second sheet of paper. ### Claim 15 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, wherein said expandable sheet of slit sheet paper is the only layer of expandable slit sheet paper in between said first sheet of paper and said second sheet of paper and wherein said expandable sheet of slit sheet paper directly contacts a side of said first sheet of paper and directly contacts a side of said second sheet of paper. ### Claim 16 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, wherein further including at least one additional expandable sheet of slit sheet paper in an expanded state that is conveyed along with said expandable sheet of slit sheet paper in between said first sheet of paper and said second sheet of paper. ### Claim 17 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, wherein the extendable paper is an extensible paper having an extensibility, as measured in a pre-slit configuration, of 3 to 20% in a cross direction. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, wherein said cross direction is parallel to said direction transverse to the conveying direction. ### Claim 19 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, wherein the extendable paper is an extensible paper having an extensibility, as measured in a pre-slit configuration, of 4 to 20% in a cross direction. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The method of claim 19, wherein said cross direction is parallel to said direction transverse to the conveying direction. ### Claim 21 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, wherein the extendable paper is an extensible paper having an extensibility, as measured in a pre-slit configuration, of 5 to 20% in a cross direction. ### Claim 22 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, wherein the extendable paper is an extensible paper having an extensibility, as measured in a pre-slit configuration, of 6 to 20% in a cross direction. ### Claim 23 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, wherein the extendable paper is an extensible paper having an extensibility, as measured in a pre-slit configuration, of 7 to 20% in a cross direction. ### Claim 24 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, wherein the extendable paper is an extensible paper having an extensibility, as measured in a pre-slit configuration, of 8 to 20% in a cross direction. ### Claim 25 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, wherein said expandable slit sheet paper is adhered together with said first sheet of paper and said second sheet only at two opposite ends of said expandable slit sheet paper in an expansion direction of the expandable slit sheet paper. ### Claim 26 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, wherein said expandable slit sheet paper is unattached to said first sheet of paper and said second sheet of paper along lateral sides of said expandable slit sheet paper. ### Claim 27 (depends on 26) The method of claim 26, wherein said expandable slit sheet paper is fixed with respect to said first sheet of paper and said second sheet only at two opposite ends of said expandable slit sheet paper in an expansion direction of the expandable slit sheet paper. ### Claim 28 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, further including performing said cutting along said region that is pressed together during said pressing together concurrently when performing said pressing together of said region. ### Claim 29 (depends on 28) The method of claim 28, further including performing said cutting along said region that is pressed together during said pressing together concurrently when performing said pressing together of said region using a pressure member having a cutting blade. ### Claim 30 (depends on 29) The method of claim 29, further including providing said pressure member on a rotated roller. ### Claim 31 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, wherein the extendable paper is an extensible paper having an extensibility, as measured in a pre-slit configuration, of 4 to about 9% in a machine direction. ### Claim 32 (depends on 31) The method of claim 31, wherein said machine direction is parallel to said conveying direction. ### Claim 33 A system for making a padded envelope, comprising: means for conveying a first sheet of paper in a conveying direction; means for conveying an expanded sheet of paper in an expanded state in said conveying direction with one side of said expanded sheet of paper facing said first sheet of paper; means for conveying a second sheet of paper in said conveying direction with an opposite side of said expanded sheet of paper in said expanded state facing said second sheet of paper; means for while continuing conveying movement during said conveying of said first sheet of paper, said expanded sheet of paper in said expanded state and said second sheet of paper in said conveying direction, pressing together a region of said first sheet of paper, said expanded sheet of paper and said second sheet of paper which region extends along a direction transverse to the conveying direction and causing said expanded sheet of paper to collapse within said region and said first sheet of paper, said expanded sheet of paper and said second sheet of paper to adhere together within said region; and means for while continuing conveying movement during conveying of said first sheet of paper, said expanded sheet of paper and said second sheet of paper in said conveying direction, cutting along said region that is pressed together during said pressing together such as to sever said first sheet of paper, said expanded sheet of paper and said second sheet of paper. ### Claim 34 (depends on 33) The system of claim 33, wherein said expanded sheet of paper in an expanded state includes a sheet of paper in which the plane of the paper varies positionally in a direction of the thickness of the expanded sheet of paper. ### Claim 35 (depends on 34) The system of claim 34, wherein said expanded sheet of paper includes at least one of an expanded slit sheet paper, a folded paper sheet, an embossed paper sheet, an undulating paper sheet. ### Claim 36 A system for making a padded envelope, comprising: means for conveying a first sheet of paper in a conveying direction; means for expanding an expandable sheet of slit sheet paper into an expanded state and conveying the expandable sheet of slit sheet paper in the expanded state in said conveying direction with one side of said expandable slit sheet paper facing said first sheet of paper; means for conveying a second sheet of paper in said conveying direction with an opposite side of said expandable slit sheet paper in the expanded state facing said second sheet of paper; means for while continuing conveying movement during said conveying of said first sheet of paper, said expandable sheet of slit sheet paper in said expanded state and said second sheet of paper in said conveying direction, pressing together a region of said first sheet of paper, said expandable sheet of slit sheet paper and said second sheet of paper which region extends along a direction transverse to the conveying direction and causing said expandable sheet of paper to collapse within said region and said first sheet of paper, said expandable sheet of slit sheet paper and said second sheet of paper to adhere together within said region; and means for while continuing conveying movement during conveying of said first sheet of paper, said expandable sheet of slit sheet paper and said second sheet of paper in said conveying direction, cutting along said region that is pressed together during said pressing together such as to sever said first sheet of paper, said expandable sheet of slit sheet paper and said second sheet of paper. ### Claim 37 (depends on 36) The system of claim 36, wherein said causing said first sheet of paper, said expandable sheet of paper and said second sheet of paper to adhere together includes applying an adhesive within said region that is pressed together during said pressing together. ### Claim 38 (depends on 36) The system of claim 36, further including while continuing conveying movement during conveying of said expandable sheet of slit sheet paper continuously maintaining the expandable sheet of slit sheet paper in an expanded state by pulling on a distal end of the expandable sheet of slit sheet paper without applying a pulling force on lateral sides of the expandable sheet of slit sheet paper. ### Claim 39 (depends on 36) The system of claim 36, further including performing said pressing together employing at least one rotated member that includes at least one pressing element around a periphery thereof that is caused to press against said region that is pressed together during said pressing together upon reaching a rotational pressing position. ### Claim 40 (depends on 39) The system of claim 39, wherein said at least one rotated member includes a rotated roller than is rotated such as to effect said pressing along with an opposing moving member. ### Claim 41 (depends on 40) The system of claim 40, wherein said opposing moving member is a second roller that opposes said rotated roller. ### Claim 42 (depends on 40) The system of claim 40, wherein said opposing moving member is a conveyor member that opposes said rotated roller. ### Claim 43 (depends on 36) The system of claim 36, wherein said expanding said expandable sheet of slit sheet paper into said expanded state includes: at least one expansion roller that is configured to engage slits of the expandable slit sheet paper to expand the expandable slit sheet paper. ### Claim 44 (depends on 43) The system of claim 43, wherein said at least one expansion roller that is configured to engage slits of the expandable slit sheet paper includes at least one expansion roller having a plurality of hooks distributed around a periphery thereof which are configured to engage slits of the expandable slit sheet paper. ### Claim 45 (depends on 43) The system of claim 43, wherein said at least one expansion roller that is configured to engage slits of the expandable slit sheet paper includes two adjacent expansion rollers that are separated from one another in the longitudinal feeding direction of the expandable slit sheet material by a distance greater than a thickness of said expandable slit sheet material in a fully expanded state, such that the said two adjacent expansion rollers do not concurrently press against opposite sides of the expanded slit sheet material at a same longitudinal position of the expanded slit sheet material so that said two adjacent expansion rollers avoid damaging the expanded slit sheet material. ### Claim 46 (depends on 36) The system of claim 36, wherein said expandable sheet of slit sheet paper is the only layer of expandable slit sheet paper in between said first sheet of paper and said second sheet of paper. ### Claim 47 (depends on 36) The system of claim 36, wherein said expandable sheet of slit sheet paper is the only layer of expandable slit sheet paper in between said first sheet of paper and said second sheet of paper and wherein said expandable sheet of slit sheet paper directly contacts a side of said first sheet of paper and directly contacts a side of said second sheet of paper. ### Claim 48 (depends on 36) The system of claim 36, wherein further including at least one additional expandable sheet of slit sheet paper in an expanded state that is conveyed along with said expandable sheet of slit sheet paper in between said first sheet of paper and said second sheet of paper. ### Claim 49 (depends on 36) The system of claim 36, wherein the extendable paper is an extensible paper having an extensibility, as measured in a pre-slit configuration, of 3 to 20% in a machine direction. ### Claim 50 (depends on 49) The system of claim 49, wherein said machine direction is parallel to said conveying direction. ### Claim 51 (depends on 36) The system of claim 36, wherein the extendable paper is an extensible paper having an extensibility, as measured in a pre-slit configuration, of 4 to 20% in a machine direction. ### Claim 52 (depends on 36) The system of claim 36, wherein the extendable paper is an extensible paper having an extensibility, as measured in a pre-slit configuration, of 5 to 20% in a machine direction. ### Claim 53 (depends on 36) The system of claim 36, wherein the extendable paper is an extensible paper having an extensibility, as measured in a pre-slit configuration, of 6 to 20% in a machine direction. ### Claim 54 (depends on 36) The system of claim 36, wherein the extendable paper is an extensible paper having an extensibility, as measured in a pre-slit configuration, of 7 to 20% in the machine direction. ### Claim 55 (depends on 36) The system of claim 36, wherein the extendable paper is an extensible paper having an extensibility, as measured in a pre-slit configuration, of 8 to 20% in the machine direction. ### Claim 56 (depends on 36) The system of claim 36, wherein the extendable paper is an extensible paper having an extensibility, as measured in a pre-slit configuration, of 4 to about 9% in a machine direction. ### Claim 57 (depends on 56) The system of claim 56, wherein said machine direction is parallel to said conveying direction.