Patent ID: 9427930
Filing Date: 2016-08-30
CPC Classification: B31D,Y10T

Claim Text:
1. A transversely crumpled dunnage unit including a first and second crimped region at a first transverse region, that locks in an area of common folds, the dunnage unit produced by a process comprising: operating a first set of entry-side crumpling members engaged with opposite faces of a sheet of stock material at a first entry-engagement location on a transverse side of the first transverse region to advance the sheet along a path at an entry rate; operating a first set of exit-side crumpling members engaged with the opposite faces of the sheet at a first exit-engagement location downstream of the first set of entry-side crumpling members and on an opposite transverse side of the first transverse region to retard the advancing sheet, moving the sheet at an exit rate that is slower than the entry rate, wherein the first set of entry-side crumpling members are offset laterally with respect to the first set of exit-side crumbling members to define a space that is laterally adjacent the exit-side crumpling members at a location directly downstream along the path from the entry-side members, and to define another space that is laterally adjacent the entry-side crumpling members at a location directly upstream along the path from the exit-side crumpling members, to cause shearing of the sheet in the first transverse region to create the first crimped region; and produce the common folds with a lower frequency than the compressed folds in the sheet adjacent the first transverse region, which common folds are locked in by the crimped regions.