Method and apparatus for baling a tow of textile filaments

In a process for baling a tow of continuous textile filaments in a baling cycle in which a tow is fed to a container having a sidewall by a laying means driven with an oscillating movement between maximum oscillating positions about a median position, the improvement comprising,

• filling said container while constantly gripping a beginning end of the tow while the tow is being fed to said container by said laying means;
• releasing the gripped beginning end of the tow when the filling of the container is completed;
• displacing the tow downstream of the oscillating laying means by means of a member driven with a pendular movement, to bring the tow to a fixed means for gripping the tow, the fixed gripping means being located at a position which is beyond the maximum oscillating position of the oscillating laying means;
• stopping the feed of the tow and the oscillating movement of the laying means;
• automatically cutting the continuous tow originating from outside the container by means of a blade adjacent to the fixed gripping means, to form a beginning end of tow for a new container, that end of the cut tow formed by said automatic cutting, which is integral with the tow located in the container, falling over the sidewall of the container and the newly formed beginning end of tow, integral with the tow fed in through the laying means, being gripped until a new container is filled;
• replacing the filled container with a new container;
• and
• restarting the feed of the tow and returning the member driven with a pendular movement to a rest position which is essentially symmetrical to the fixed gripping means, relative to the median position in the oscillating movement of the laying means, and filling the new container.