Repetitive high-density packing mechanisms for arranging suspended lengths of elongated items in a desired orientation and associated methods

A packing apparatus for arranging suspended elongated product on a carrier member, comprising:

• an elongated packing arm having an associated length and opposing first and second ended portions, said first end portion comprising a contact member;
• an elongate carrier member comprising at least one suspended elongate product held thereon disposed under and cooperably aligned with the packing arm, the carrier member configured to move generally horizontally, wherein, in operation, the contact member is adapted to push and/or pull the elongate product in a predetermined direction to cause adjacent suspended portions of the at least one elongated item to move closer together on the carrier member;
• and
• a drive mechanism attached to the second end portion of the packing arm and configured to repeatedly move the packing arm in a predetermined motion so that the contact member serially moves in a cycle that includes moving in a first longitudinal direction, descending a desired vertical distance sufficient to engage the carrier member, moving in a second longitudinal direction opposite the first longitudinal direction with the contact member substantially horizontal and parallel to the orientation of the carrier member, then rising a distance to reside above the carrier member.