Patent ID: 7789819

Claim:
A cushioning dunnage producing machine for producing dunnage from a roll of paper sheet material, said machine comprising: a crumpler adapted to draw the paper sheet material from the roll and crumple the paper sheet material into cushioning dunnage, and a cutter which travels laterally across the cushioning dunnage to cut the dunnage into a strip of a desired length, wherein said cutter comprises: a mounting plate having first and second transverse slots therethrough, the cushioning dunnage passing through said first slot, a rack gear mounted on one side of said mounting plate adjacent said second slot, an electric motor having an output shaft, a pinion gear mounted on said output shaft of said electric motor and positioned to engage said rack gear, said output shaft of said electric motor passing through said second slot to the other side of said mounting plate, and a circular cutting blade mounted to an end of said output shaft and positioned on said other side of said mounting plate, said cutting blade and first and second slots being sized and arranged so that as said blade travels from one end of said rack gear to the other end of said rack gear said blade travels across said first slot to sever the dunnage.