Patent ID: 7704129

Claim:
An apparatus for rucking sleeves of covering material onto a chute body, comprising: a housing; a translating member disposed in the housing having an axis of movement configured to reciprocally translate a chute body about the axis of movement; and at least one gripping member disposed in the housing in cooperating alignment with the translating member, each at least one gripping member having a gripping edge portion that defines a gripping surface, the at least one gripping member in communication with at least one actuator that directs the at least one gripping member to reciprocally translate generally orthogonal to the axis of movement, wherein, in operation, the at least one gripping member has an automated stroke cycle wherein the actuator directs the at least one gripping member to travel inwardly a distance sufficient to snugly abut an outer surface of the chute body while the chute body travels in a first direction about the axis of movement and directs the at least one gripping member to travel outwardly a sufficient distance to prevent contact with the chute body while the chute body travels in a second opposing direction about the axis of movement to directly load covering material over substantially an entire length of the chute body.