Patent ID: 8689684

Claim:
A strap loading assembly for a strapping machine for feeding a strap material around a load, positioning, tensioning and sealing the strop material around the load, the strapping machine having a feed head for feeding the strapping material into the strapping machine, the strapping machine including a strap chute through which the strapping material is conveyed and a sealing head to seal overlapping courses of the strapping material to one another, the strapping machine including a strap pre-feed assembly and a slack box positioned at least in part between the strap pre-feed assembly and the feed head, the strap loading assembly comprising: a movable first rail; a second rail movable between a deployed position, and a stowed position, the second rail, when in the deployed position, confronting the first rail and defining a strap guide with the first rail, the second rail, when in the stowed position, opening the strap guide; and a link operably connecting the first rail and the second rail, wherein strap material in the strap guide, when in tension, exerts a force on the first rail to move the first rail and the link, the link moving the second rail from the deployed position to the stowed position.