Patent attributes
A reduced force sealless connection mechanism is used in a strapping machine for forming a sealless connection of strapping material overlapped onto itself. The mechanism includes an upper and a lower punch support. The upper punch support includes two punches for engaging the strapping material. The lower punch support includes one punch. The upper punch support incorporates a stepped design such that one of the two punches mounted to the upper punch support is at a different height than the other punch mounted to the upper punch support. Each of the punches includes a plurality of punching heads. At least one punching head of each of the plurality of punching heads is shorter than the other punching heads. A multi-step punching sequence is therefore created such that no more than two slits of any of the joints of the sealless connection are simultaneously punched during creation of the sealless connection. Thus, the operator force required to actuate the mechanism is reduced and wear on the strapping machine components is decreased.
