Back to results
US 5,593,376 AGranted
Cushioning conversion machine and method
AssigneeRanpak Corp.
InventorsSteven E. Armington, Richard O. Ratzel
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Loading patent…
Loading patent…
AssigneeRanpak Corp.
InventorsSteven E. Armington, Richard O. Ratzel
Estimating the term…
A novel dunnage-creating machine and methodology characterized by various features including, inter alia, a modular construction, easier access to interior components, and a low cost cutting assembly. The machine comprises front and rear units having separate housings. The housing of the rear unit includes an outer shell having a converging chute surrounding a shaping member over which sheet-like stock material is drawn to form the stock material into a three-dimensional shape. The front unit includes in the housing thereof a feed mechanism for drawing the stock material over the shaping member and stitching the shaped material to form a strip of dunnage product. The front unit also includes a manual cutting mechanism for cutting the strip to form cut pieces, which manual cutting mechanism includes a readily replaceable blade assembly.
A cushioning conversion machine for converting sheet-like stock material into a relatively low density cushioning dunnage product, comprising a shaping member over which the sheet-like stock material is drawn to form the stock material into a three-dimensional shape, a feed mechanism for drawing the stock material over the shaping member, and an outer shell having a wall with an exterior surface forming the exterior of the machine and an interior surface forming a converging chute cooperative with said shaping member to roll edges of the stock material to form lateral pillow-like portions, said shell including a base portion and a removable cover portion.
A cushioning conversion machine for converting sheet-like stock material into a relatively low density cushioning dunnage product, comprising a shaping member over which the sheet-like stock material is drawn to form the stock material into a three-dimensional shape, a feed mechanism for drawing the stock material over the shaping member, and a cutting assembly for cutting the cushioning dunnage product into cut sections, said cutting assembly including a blade assembly and an operator assembly for operating said blade assembly, said blade assembly including a guide frame and a pair of relatively movable blades mounted on said guide frame for relative movement towards and away from one another, and said guide frame is removably mounted to said machine independently of said operator assembly whereby said blade assembly can be removed without having to remove said operator assembly, and wherein said operator assembly includes a handle member movable in a first direction to move said blades together and in a second direction to move said blades apart.
A blade assembly for use in a cushioning conversion machine to cut a cushioning dunnage product into cut pieces, comprising a guide frame and a pair of blades mounted for relative movement on said guide frame, said guide frame including moving blade carriage and a guide for guiding transverse movement of said moving blade carriage, and said moving blade carriage including a cam pin engageable in a slot of a slotted crank in the cushioning conversion machine and cooperative therewith to effect movement of said moving blade carriage in response to movement of said slotted crank.
A cushioning conversion machine for converting a sheet-like stock material into a cushioning product, said machine comprising conversion assemblies and a shell enclosing at least some of the conversion assemblies;
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.