extended one inch from its withdrawn position the next step is illustrated in fig1 and involves both loop folders moving inwardly approximately one quarter inch so that the respective top and bottom jaws of the formers move over the outer sides of bottom fingers 246 of the transfer clamps in so moving the lower jaws 284b 286b of the loop formers cause the free ends of the beltloop to fold under their respective bottom fingers 246 it is noted that the outer tips of the top and bottom jaws of the loop formers are inclined toward the beltloop so that they hold the folded beltloop ends substantially along respective line contacts as described above each pair of jaws of the loop formers are spring biased against further opening so that they will resiliently clamp the looped ends of the beltloop therebetween when the two loop folders reach their innermost positions illustrated in fig1 a signal is generated by a suitable position sensor the control system responds to this signal to cause the top fingers 254 of the transfer clamps to pivot upwardly and release the beltloop after a time delay of approximately 1 10 second the horizontal slide block 180 of the transfer clamp subassembly fig3 and 7 is actuated to move the transfer clamps to the rear so that they move from their forward position illustrated in broken lines in fig3 to the rear position represented.