Converting: The processing of a web material from one form to another. Converting processes include calendaring, coating, die cutting, embossing, laminating, printing, punching, sheeting, slitting, treating, winding and unwinding. 

Core: A hollow tube, often of fiber, plastic or metal, upon which a roll is wound. 

Core shaft: A mandrel upon which rolls are wound 

Dancer: A moving roller sensor used for feedback control of web tension 

Idler roller: A roller which is driven by the web rather than by an electric motor, belt or other external means 

Intermediate zone: An independent tension zone typically created between two driven nip points on a converting line 

Load Cell: An electronic sensor that measures force. On converting machinery, load cells under the ends of an undriven roller are often used to measure web tension. 

Nip: Two parallel rolls pressed together on converting machinery between which the web passes. 
 
Rewind Zone: A tension zone, typically on converting machinery, created between a driven nip roll or other tensioning point and the driven core onto which the web is wound. 

Roll: A web in wound roll form. This term is also used in the converting industry for rollers. 

Roller: A rotating cylinder used for web transport. Aliases include drums and rolls. 

Soft start feature:  A tension controller feature used in unwind zones; soft start causes the controller output to drop to a preset low level to prevent brake lockup when the machine starts; the feature is actuated automatically upon loss of tension below a preset trip point, by a change in machine speed, or by an external contact closure. 

Strain Gauge: A thin flat electrical transducer for measuring strain that is bonded to a body of interest. 

Substrate: The material composition of a web. 
Tension Transducer: A tension sensor and variation of a load cell specifically designed to measure exact web or filament tension in processing machinery. 

Taper tension feature: A means of decreasing web tension as roll diameter increases in a rewind zone; Taper tension helps produce a roll of better quality by eliminating telescoping, crushed cores, and overly tight or loose rolls. 

Tension Zone: A length of machine in which the web is under nominally the same tension, usually between driven rollers. 

Unwind Zone: A tension zone created between a driven roll or driven nip and the  core from which a roll is unwound. Tension is often created by torque applied to the unwind shaft by a pneumatic brake.