Patent ID: 8272192

Claim:
A device that unrolls a spring roll pack, which includes spring units that are compressed and spirally wound in a first direction around a central axis with a length of flexible material, the device comprising: a lower belt that rotates in a second direction about a first set of rollers and that is positioned to support the spring roll pack, such that the central axis is generally parallel to each roller of the first set of rollers; an upper belt spaced above the lower belt to define a space between the upper belt and the lower belt, wherein the upper belt rotates in the second direction about a second set of rollers; a compression mechanism that moves the upper belt toward the lower belt, such that when the spring roll pack is loaded through a loading end of the space and onto the lower belt, the upper belt is movable to compress the spring roll pack toward the central axis; a wrapping accumulator that rotates about an axis and that accepts an end of the flexible material when the spring roll pack is loaded into the space and onto the lower belt, wherein the axis of the wrapping accumulator is positioned generally parallel to both the first set of rollers and the second set of rollers; and a drive mechanism having an axle that is operably coupled to each of the first set of rollers, the second set of rollers, and the wrapping accumulator, (1) wherein a rotation of the axle rotates the lower belt and the upper belt in the second direction, (2) wherein the rotation of the axle rotates the wrapping accumulator about the axis in one of the first direction and the second direction, and (3) wherein when the spring roll pack is compressed between the upper belt and the lower belt, the upper belt and lower belt are operable to rotate the spring roll pack in the first direction, thereby unrolling the spring units and the flexible material, which is both secured to and wound by the wrapping accumulator.