Abstract: A method and an apparatus for automatically binding bundles of electric cables.According to this invention, a plastic strap in the form of a continuous serrated band is advanced by means of a feeding and pulling mechanism along guides and through a hollow retaining element provided with a similar indentation and fed in the form of a continuous strip of retaining elements. The plastic strap is advanced until the bundle of cables has been wrapped, and the end of the serrated band is reinserted through the opposite side of the retaining element. The binding is tightened by reversing the operation of the pulling mechanism until the cables are pulled together; the serrated band is then cut performing a binding stretched to the desired value.

Abstract: A machine for automatically marking electric wires, leads and the like, by means of small rings made of plastic material, provided with symbols, and joined together by weakened breaking portions, to form a sort of flexible tube.According to the invention, the machine comprises a marking tube magazine supported rotating on an axis, and a feeding device for moving, by one ring at a time, any one of said marking tubes towards a delivering point in which each individual ring is broken off. The machine comprises moreover a ring-gripping and tearing member, capable of automatically tearing and positioning each ring in front of a hollow needle movable from a backward position to a forward position with respect to the gripping member; and furthermore comprises a device for transferring each ring or combination of rings from the needle onto a wire, inserted into the same hollow needle.