Patent ID: 7361132

Claim:
A cushioning conversion machine for making a cushioning product by converting an essentially two-dimensional web of sheet-like stock material of at least one ply into a three-dimensional cushioning product, comprising: a housing through which the stock material passes along a path; and a feeding/connecting assembly which advances the stock material from a source thereof along said path, crumples the stock material, and connects the crumpled stock material to produce a strip of cushioning, said feeding/connecting assembly including: upstream and downstream components disposed along said path of the stock material through said housing, at least the upstream component being driven to advance the stock material toward the downstream component at a rate faster than the sheet-like stock material can pass from the downstream component to effect crumpling of the stock material therebetween to form a strip of cushioning, and said upstream and downstream components each including opposed members between which the stock material is passed and pinched by said opposed members with a pinch pressure; and a tension control mechanism for adjusting the amount of pinch pressure applied to the stock material by said opposed members of said downstream component independently of the pinch pressure applied to the stock material by said opposed members of said upstream component, whereby a characteristic of the strip of cushioning can be varied.