Center-fed dunnage system feed and cutter
A dunnage system may include a converting station including a converter configured for pulling in a stream of sheet material and converting the material into dunnage, and an inlet guide having an inlet surface that is coiled such that first and second ends of the inlet surface are discontinuous with each other to define a gap therebetween, the inlet surface configured to channel the sheet material into the converter. A cutter for a dunnage system may include a blade with first and second phases of serrations that are coextensive over at least a portion of the blade, the first phase providing cutting serrations for cutting the dunnage, and the second phase comprising ledges for focusing the cutting and preventing or reducing bunching of the dunnage towards a side of the blade. A method of converting dunnage may also be provided.
1. A dunnage system, comprising:
a converter configured for pulling in a stream of continuous sheet material and converting the sheet material into dunnage;
an inlet guide disposed with respect to the converter to define a path segment that has a feed direction for the sheet material that extends from the inlet guide to the converter, the inlet guide being configured for receiving the sheet material from a variety of angular positions and feeding the sheet material along the path segment in the feed direction to the converter, wherein the inlet guide defines a throat through which the supply material is directed to the converter, the throat having a throat axis; and
a supply station configured for holding the sheet material in first and second feed locations and feeding the sheet material therefrom to the converter via the inlet guide, wherein the first and second feed locations are circumferentially spaced around the throat axis of the inlet guide.
2. The dunnage system of claim 1 , wherein the supply station is repositionable relative to the inlet guide between the first and second feed locations.
3. The dunnage system of claim 2 , wherein the supply station is pivotally connected to the inlet guide to pivot between the first and second feed locations.
4. The dunnage system of claim 3 , further comprising a converter support that supports the converter, the supply station being mounted pivotally to the converter support to pivot between the first and second feed locations.
5. The dunnage system of claim 1 , wherein the supply station includes:
a first supply unit support disposed at the first feed location and configured for holding a first supply unit of the sheet material; and
a second supply unit support disposed at the second feed location and configured for holding a second supply unit of the sheet material.
6. The dunnage system of claim 5 , wherein the first and second supply unit support are positioned adjacent each other to enable the first and second supply units to be daisy chained to each other such that when the sheet material of the first supply unit being fed to the inlet guide from the first supply unit support is depleted, the sheet material is then automatically fed to the inlet guide from the second supply unit on the second supply unit support.
7. The dunnage system of claim 6 , wherein the first and second supply unit support are independent from each other.
8. The dunnage system of claim 6 , further comprising the first and second supply units respectively held by the first and second supply unit supports, wherein an end of the first supply unit is connected to a beginning of the second supply unit such that the end of the first supply unit automatically pulls the beginning of the second supply unit into the guide and converter.
9. The dunnage system of claim 5 , wherein the supply unit support is a roll support configured for holding a roll of the sheet material.
10. The dunnage system of claim 1 , wherein:
the supply station is configured for holding a roll of the sheet material; and
the guide is configured for receiving the sheet material fed from the roll of sheet material.
11. The dunnage system of claim 1 , wherein:
the supply station is configured for holding a roll of the sheet material; and
the guide is configured for receiving the sheet material fed from a center of the roll of sheet material.
12. The dunnage system of claim 1 , wherein the first and second feed locations are circumferentially spaced by.
13. The dunnage system of claim 1 , wherein the first and second feed locations are disposed at different azimuths about the throat axis.
14. The dunnage system of claim 13 , wherein the inlet guide has an inlet surface that is spiraled about a length of a throat axis allowing the inlet guide to receive the sheet material from the variety of angular positions.
15. The dunnage system of claim 1 , wherein the path of the sheet material includes a first path portion leading up to the inlet guide, and a second path portion after the inlet guide, and an angle is formed between the first path portion and the second path portion.
16. The dunnage system of claim 1 , further comprising a blade, which includes:
a plurality of large teeth collectively forming serrations on the blade, at least one of the plurality of large teeth having a tooth edge; and
a plurality of small teeth collectively forming serrations along said tooth edge.
17. A dunnage system, comprising:
a converter configured for pulling in a stream of continuous sheet material and converting the sheet material into dunnage;
an inlet guide configured for receiving the sheet material from a variety of angular positions, the guide disposed with respect to the converter for feeding the supply material to the converter along a feed direction; and
a supply station arranged below the converter and configured for holding the sheet material in first and second supply locations and feeding the sheet material therefrom to the converter via the inlet guide, wherein the first feed location is disposed at a first angle with respect to the feed direction when viewed from the converter and a second feed location is disposed at a second angle with respect to the feed direction when viewed from the converter and the sum of the first angle and the second angle is at least about 40°.