Forming stretch strapping and binding an article therewith

An assembly for forming a stretchable strapping and binding an article therewith, said assembly comprising:

• a. a support base including a supply of sheet film material from which the strapping is formed being movably mounted on said support base,
• b. shaping means mounted on said base in spaced, communicating relation to said supply and structured for continuously shaping and reducing the width of the material from a sheet configuration to an elongated strap configuration,
• c. stretching means mounted on said base in spaced, downstream relation to said shaping means along a flow path traveled by the strap and structured for stretching the strap by applying a force thereto,
• d. positioning means movably mounted on said base downstream of said shaping means and removably gripping said elongated strap and being structured for exerting a pulling force thereon for positioning said strap along a predetermined path of travel relative to the article being bound,
• e. said path of travel defined in substantially surrounding relation to the article being bound, and
• f. seal means mounted on said base and disposed and structured to connect, by heat seal, overlapping ends of said strap to define a closed, continuous configuration of said strap in surrounding, binding relation to the article.