A grapple device for grasping, holding and releasing an object having a deformable cover material such as sacks and bags, has a mounting bracket and two rollers. The rollers are pushed toward each other by the force of at least one spring. When the rollers are powered to spin, the inward spinning of the rollers causes the sack material to be dragged in between the rollers due to friction between the surfaces of the rollers and the sack material. The spring pushes the rollers toward each other with sufficient force to hold the sack material in place between the rollers. The grapple device also includes a holding mechanism to engage at least one of the rollers and prevent rotation of the roller when engaged, so that when sack material is located in the inter-roller region and the holding mechanism is engaged, the contact between the sack material and rollers causes the sack to be held by the grapple device. When the rollers are powered to spin outwardly, the sack material passes out of inter-roller region causing the sack to be released. Using the invention described here, in conjunction with a robot or a material handling device, a sack can be lifted by grasping any point on the sack. The device includes a control system for operating the device in three phases to: grasp, hold and release sacks.

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