Patent attributes
An apparatus for taking up imbricated bags carried by a pair of carrier tapes includes two carrier tape winding spools positioned coaxially with one another; and a differential gear unit positioned between said spools and adapted to be removably connectable to a shaft of a bag loader whereby the pair of carrier tapes can be wound up on said spools with equal tension. A method includes providing a bag train having a succession of imbricated bags on two supply tapes having lead ends equipped with two tape-winding spools with a differential gear unit positioned coaxially between the spools; connecting the differential gear unit to a shaft of said bag loader; and driving said spools to wind up said tapes on said spools with equal tension to bring each of the imbricated bags successively to a loading position where each bag is loaded and separated from the tapes.