An efficient mechanism that uses a heat roller and a pressure roller for flattening crumpled paper was developed. The mechanical properties of creased paper bills that had been exposed to tension and a heated hot-air stream were measured, and the folds in the paper bills were observed optically by laser microscope. It was found that before flattening, the fibers in the folded papers bills showed kinks. After flattening, however, the kinks remained. It was also found that applying heat strengthened the paper. Based on these results, a mechanical model for flattening crumpled paper bills was devised and tested. The numerical results of the mechanical model for flattening paper agreed well with the experimental ones. It was found that the calculated paper height from the mechanical model agrees well with the experimentally measured height, and this agreement confirms the applicability of the model.
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