Importance

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Abstract

A cushioning conversion machine having a novel former around which a sheet material is folded to form an improved cushioning product. The former has longitudinally spaced side surfaces inclined from bottom to top toward a downstream end of the machine. The side surfaces cause the obstruction of the sheet stock material upstream of the side surfaces so that the sheet material crumples in the spaces upstream of the side surfaces, thereby increasing the cushioning properties of pillow portions of the cushioning product. The former also has a centrally located base plate which minimizes crumpling in a central portion of the sheet material so that the folded over portions and the central portion can be connected to maintain more effectively the shape of the pillow portions in the resulting cushioning product. In addition, the former has a guard plate mounted above longitudinally spaced bottom edges extending laterally outwardly from the base plate and upstream from a vertical central plane. The former also has a pair of mandrels at its downstream end which internally fluff the crumpled pillow portions before the central portion is connected. The machine also has a width adjustment device for selectively adjusting the width of the resulting cushioning product.

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First Claim