Patent ID: 7765778

Claim:
A strapping apparatus, comprising: a plurality of upright elements; a transverse element moveable up and down along said upright elements; a strapping zone which is defined by said upright elements and said transverse element and in which an object to be strapped is positioned for strapping; a strapping material supplying unit for supplying a strapping material for strapping the object; a closing unit for closing a loop of the strapping material guided around the object by said upright and transverse elements, said closing unit being moveable together with said transverse element; a pair of reversibly driven rollers for feeding the strapping material from said supplying unit to said closing unit when said rollers are driven in a first rotational direction, and for tightening the strapping material in the loop around the object when said rollers are driven in a second rotational direction opposite to the first direction; an upright channel positioned downstream of said rollers and configured to extend along beside and outboard of one of the upright elements for guiding the strapping material upwardly from said rollers; and a strapping material storage for storing a length of the strapping material moved back from the tightened loop by said rollers being driven in the second direction, said strapping material storage being positioned proximate a base of said upright channel so as to be downstream of said supplying unit and upstream of said rollers; wherein said strapping material storage and said rollers are positioned outside said strapping zone at all times.