Strapping band guide unit in full automatic strapping machine

Claim 1

In an automatic strapping machine comprising a main body and a band guiding arch extending from said body; said arch including two parallel side portions interconnected by an end portion, said side and end portions defining side and end portions, respectively, of a bandway which opens toward a center of said arch; said main body including means for feeding a strapping band through said bandway, retracting the band from said bandway and tightening the band around an object to be strapped, fusing together a pair of band sections, and cutting the fused band; the improvement comprising guide bar means extending across said arch from one said arch side portion to the other said arch side portion, said guide bar means disposed intermediate said main body and said arch end portion and being slidable relative to said arch so as to be movable toward and away from said main body and said arch end portion, said guide bar means including first and second guide bars forming therebetween a band guiding passage having a length extending substantially perpendicular to said bandway side portions, said guide bars being spaced apart throughout said length and separated by a plane defined by said bandway such that said passage is open at its opposite ends toward said bandway side portions, and said passage is open along its length toward said bandway end portion and toward said main body, such that a band emerging from said bandway side portions enters said opposite ends of said passage and is guided within said passage as it travels toward the object.