Method of providing net bags with wicketing flaps

The method of providing net bags with flap means, each bag having opposed walls and being open at one end constituting its mouth end, each wall thereby having a mouth edge, the flap means being provided at the mouth end of the bag, comprising:

• feeding forward a series of said bags one after another in a predetermined path with the bags extending transversely of said path and spaced longitudinally along said path with spaces between successive bags and with the mouth ends of the bags generally aligned;
• securing a tape to one wall of the bags as they are fed forward with the tape extending longitudinally of said path and transversely of the bags at the mouth ends of the bags, the tape extending from bag-to-bag across the spaces between successive bags and overlapping the mouth end of said one wall of the bags, the tape projecting beyond the mouth edge of said one wall of the bags to a free edge spaced outwardly of the mouth edge of the bags;
• and
• severing the tape between the leading bag of the series and the next bag thereby to separate the leading bag from the next bag, with the leading bag having the separated portion of the tape secured to said one wall thereof as a flap projecting beyond the mouth edge of said one wall of the bag, the portion of the flap projecting beyond the mouth edge being adapted to receive means for holding a plurality of the bags in stacked assembly, the flap of each bag being adapted to be torn off said holding means.