Winding apparatuses, systems, and related methods

A method of forming product rolls of sheet material using a coreless winding apparatus, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing a winding apparatus comprising:
• a set of upper and lower front drive rollers and at least one back drive roller, each drive roller of the upper and lower front drive rollers and the at least one back drive roller comprising drive wheels spaced apart along the respective drive roller with a winding zone between the front drive rollers and the at least one back drive roller to wind the sheet material into a roll of sheet material;
• a feed system positioned before the set of the front drive rollers and the at least one back drive roller for moving the sheet material along a travel path in a machine direction into the winding zone between the set of the front drive rollers and the at least one back drive roller;
• and
• air tubes positioned periodically in the spaces between the drive wheels of at least one of the upper front drive roller or the lower front drive roller, the air tubes angled to blow air into the winding zone;
• moving a start end of sheet material with the feed system into the winding zone between the set of the front drive rollers and the at least one back drive roller;
• blowing air into the winding zone to prevent the catching of a start end of the sheet material by the wheels of the front drive rollers in a manner that would cause the start end to exit between the upper and lower front drive rollers during the beginning formation of the roll of sheet material;
• and
• winding the sheet material into the roll of sheet material in the winding zone as the set of the front drive rollers and the at least one back drive roller rotate and separate to widen the winding zone as the roll of sheet material grows.