Patent ID: 7395638

Claim:
An apparatus for supplying a clip to a clip window associated with a closure attachment mechanism having a closure delivery path for attaching a single clip or two clips to leading and/or trailing edge portions of covering material enclosing a target object in a clip closure zone, comprising: means for forcing a plurality of clips to travel in a first predetermined clip travel path having a forward direction toward a first closure delivery path in a closure zone at a first point in time; means for selectively retracting the plurality of clips so that the clips travel in a reverse direction along the first predetermined clip travel path; and means for forcing the plurality of clips to again travel in the forward direction along the first predetermined clip travel path at a second point in time, whereby the apparatus is configured to successively enclose articles in packaging material, wherein, in operation, the means for forcing the clips in the first predetermined clip travel path automatically forces a plurality of clips to travel in the clip feed direction along a clip rail, and the means for selectively retracting the plurality of clips automatically and forcibly retracts the plurality of clips so that the clips travel in a reverse direction along the clip rail, and the means for forcing the clips in the first predetermined clip travel path then automatically forces the plurality of clips to again travel in the forward direction along the clip rail toward the clip closure delivery path to thereby successively package the articles.