DE29710971U1 - Bale gripper for strapped bales - Google Patents

Description

Applicant:

AUTEFA

Maschinenfabrik GmbH Röntgenstr. 1-5 86316 Friedberg

Representative:

Patent attorneys

Dipl.-Ing. H.-D. Ernicke

Dipl.-Ing. Klaus Ernicke

Schwibbogenplatz 2b

D-86153 Augsburg

Date:

File:

23.06.1997 727-98 he/sw

·

AAl DE-G 297 10 971.5

DESCRIPTION

Bale gripper for strapped pressed bales

The invention relates to a bale gripper for strapped pressed bales with the features in the preamble of the main claim.

DE-C-42 08 902 shows such a bale gripper. The bale gripper has a width-adjustable gripper with two plate-shaped gripper arms that cover the strapping of the bale in the closed position. A cutting device is arranged in one of the gripper arms.

The other, opposite, gripper arm has a holding device for the strapping, consisting of toothed strips that can be moved against each other. The bale gripper can cut through the strapping in the holding position. The bales are hay or straw bales that are relatively lightly compressed and lightweight. The bale gripper can be attached to the fork of a forklift truck. The well-known bale gripper is suitable for the bale shapes and materials mentioned. However, it cannot be used for highly compressed and very heavy pressed bales made of textile fibers.

Another bale gripper is known as an attachment for a forklift truck from DE-A-40 29 759. It has a two-part gripper that is adjustable in width. The gripper arms are formed by tines that leave a considerable amount of space between them and only cover the pressed bale in relatively small areas of its surface. The strapping of the pressed bale is mostly exposed.

Another device is also known from DE-OS 40 38 688. This shows an automatic device for cutting the strapping of a pressed bale. With this state of the art, the strapping is also free in the area of the gripping tongs.

The latter type of bale, which usually consists of textile fibres and is compressed into a bale shape under very high pressure, has the problem of

&iacgr;&ogr; strapping can be removed safely. Depending on the type of bale material, e.g. siliconized fibers, the pressed bale tends to quickly spring open and expand strongly when the load is removed. The strapping is therefore under a lot of tension. If it is cut or separated by an operator, the expansion force of the bale can cause it to suddenly spring open and injure the operator. This danger is particularly present with the previously known grippers with the narrow prongs, because the strapping has a large spring open length.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a better bale gripper.

The invention solves this problem with the features in the main claim.

The bale gripper according to the invention has the advantage that it ensures safe handling of the pressed bale during transport, stacking and other handling tasks. The ejector allows the opened pressed bale to be pushed off via the gripper and delivered to a further processing device in the correct position. The ejector plate preferably fits as tightly as possible to the gripper arms in order to enable the complete pressed bale to be pushed off safely while avoiding any fiber residues remaining behind.

On the other hand, the bale gripper offers a high level of accident safety when opening the bale and strapping by covering the bale strapping. The strapping is clamped and held in place over most of its length. When opening, only a small free end can spring open, which significantly increases accident safety.

The turning device of the bale gripper has the advantage that the pressed bale can be turned into a position suitable for opening

&iacgr;&ogr;. This makes it easier to grasp and remove the strapping bands after opening. Likewise, any packaging film that may be present can be removed from the pressed bale more easily and effectively. In addition, the bale gripper can be moved into a gripping position that is convenient for stacking.

Further advantageous embodiments of the invention are specified in the subclaims.

The invention is illustrated by way of example and schematically in the drawings. In detail:

Figure 1 : a handling device for a

Pressing bales with a conveyor and a bale gripper;

Figures 2 and 3 : a front view and a top view of the bale gripper according to the arrows

II and III of Figure 1 and

Figure 4 : a front view of the bale gripper

with clamped pressed bales.

The drawings show a handling device (1) for pressed bales (3) with strapping (4). The handling device (1) consists of a conveyor (5), e.g. a forklift truck, and a bale gripper (2), which is shown in more detail in Figures 2 and 3.

The pressed bale (3) preferably consists of textile fibers. These can be short-cut fibers, so-called staple fibers, or long fibers, so-called tow. The fibers were pressed into the bale shape in a baler under very high pressure. The pressed bale (3) is held together by several straps (4). These are bands or wires made of metal or plastic.

In addition, the pressed bale (3) can have packaging that consists, for example, of two or three plastic films. The strapping bands (4) are usually placed over the packaging.

The conveyor (5) has a suitable connection (19) for attaching the bale gripper (2) for transmitting the necessary operating resources, such as electricity and, if necessary,

Compressed air or hydraulic oil. In the embodiment shown, the forklift truck (5) has a fork guide (20) that can be pivoted about a horizontal axis and to which the connection (19) with the bale gripper (2) is attached in a height-adjustable manner. The fork guide (20) can be telescopic.

The bale gripper (2) consists of a movable gripping tongs (7), a rotating device (6) and an ejector (1). The gripping tongs (7) have two protruding tong arms which are designed as gripping plates (9). The gripping plates (9) can be solid or have interruptions in places. The gripping plates (9) are dimensioned and arranged in such a way that they can grasp the usually cuboid-shaped pressed bale (3) on two opposite long sides and clamp it between them. As Figure 2 shows, they preferably cover all the strappings running transversely around the pressed bale (3) and hold them in place when the strapping bands are opened. The gripping plates (9) preferably cover the entire side surface of the bale. Any recesses which, for example, run transversely to the strappings (4) are harmless.

The gripping plates (9) can be moved apart and together using an adjustment device (10) arranged on a central pliers housing (8). Figures 2 and 3 show the moved apart open position with solid lines and the closed position with dashed lines. The adjustment device (10) has a suitable drive and guides for the arms of the gripping plates (9).

The gripper housing (8) with the gripper (7) is provided with a rotating device (6) on the back. The bale gripper (2) can be attached to the aforementioned connection (19) to the conveyor (5) using the rotating device (6). The

Bale gripper (2) can be swiveled by 180° or more around the horizontal axis. It can assume the stacking position shown in Figure 2 with vertical gripping plates (9), in which the pressed bales (3) can be removed from a bale stack or stacked up again. When turned around, the gripping tongs (7) assume the horizontal position shown in Figure 2, in which the pressed bale (3) and the gripping plates (9) are in a lying position. This position can also be turned by 180° to swap the head and foot sides.

The ejector (11) is arranged on the inside of the pliers housing (8) between the gripping plates (9). It consists of a substantially vertical ejector plate (12) which can be moved back and forth along the gripping plates (9) by a thrust drive (16) and thereby pushes the pressed bale (3) away. As Figure 1 shows, the thrust drive (16) can be designed as a space-saving scissor drive, for example.

The ejector plate (12) is preferably made up of two or more parts. In the embodiment shown, it has a central part (13) that is connected to the thrust drive (16). Two side wings (14) are mounted on both sides of the central part (13) so that they can move transversely. They are moved by a wing actuator (17) with one or more suitable wing guides (15, 18).

The ejector plate (12) automatically adjusts to the opening width of the gripping tongs (7) and always forms a closed plate front opposite the bale (3). This means that no fiber residues can become jammed or stuck. In addition, this design allows the bale (3) to be pushed away without causing damage, which preferably takes place in the horizontal gripping tongs position shown in the figure.

In the preferred embodiment, the wing actuation (17) consists of a driver connection of side wings (14) and gripping plates (9). The side wings

(14) are positively suspended on the adjacent gripping plate (9) with a rail-like wing guide (15) and follow its opening and closing movements, moving relative to the middle section (13). At the same time, the side wings (14) are held on the associated gripping plate (9) by the wing guide (15) so that they can be moved lengthwise for the pushing-off movement. They are guided on the middle section (13) via another rear wing guide (18).

Alternatively, the wing actuator (17) can have a wing drive that extends the side wings (14) and moves them against the gripping plates (9). On the side edges, the side wings (14) have a wing guide (15) in the form of sliding rollers, with which they slide along the gripping plates (9) when the pressed bale (3) is pushed off. The wing drive (17) is, for example, a controllable drive or an elastic or spring-loaded drive that constantly positions the side wings (14) against the gripping plates (9) and follows their transverse movements.

A typical working cycle of the handling device (1) can take place as follows. The forklift truck (5) grips a packed and strapped bale (3) from a stack with vertical gripping tongs (7), takes it to an opening and unpacking station and there carries the gripping tongs (7) into the lying or horizontal position shown in Figure 2. In this position, the bale (3) is firmly clamped between the gripping plates (9) on the top and bottom. The straps (4) can be manually cut by an operator with scissors or another suitable separating device at least at the

open front. Due to the clamping at the top and bottom, they can only spring open over a short length. Under certain circumstances, the straps (4) can also be opened at the back of the bale if the pressed bale (3) is gripped at the front end of the clamp and there is free space at the back of the bale to the retracted ejector plate (12).

When the strapping (4) is opened, the clamped bale (3) can only relax and expand slightly to the front and back. The gripper (7) is then opened. This makes the top of the bale freely accessible, from which the top cover film of the packaging and the top strapping parts can be removed manually. If necessary, the belly band of the packaging can also be removed. The gripper (7) then closes again, holds the bale (3) firmly and turns 180°. With the gripper (7) then opened, the remaining strapping parts and the cover film can be removed from the bottom of the bale, which is now on top. When removing the packaging and strapping, it is advisable to tilt the fork guide (20) backwards.

The now exposed bale (3) can be fed into a suitable position for further processing. For example, it can be placed in a milling machine. To do this, a row of bales is then placed at the back. The open gripper (7), which is still lying flat, is tilted forward slightly using the fork guide. The pressed bale (3) is then pushed off the lower gripper plate (9) via the ejector (11). The handling cycle can then start again from the beginning.

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Modifications to the embodiment shown are possible in various ways. The components of the bale gripper can vary in any way. Parts of them can also be omitted or swapped. The ejector plate can consist of two plate halves that can be pushed over one another. In addition to wing guide rollers, other sliding and sealing devices, e.g. spring-loaded sealing strips or lips, are also possible. Furthermore, the various adjustment devices and drives can be designed differently. The conveyor (5) can consist of a robot or manipulator or be designed in any other suitable way.

LIST OF REFERENCE SYMBOLS

1 handling device

2 bale grippers 3 pressed bales

4 Strapping

5 Conveyor

6 Rotating device

7 Gripping pliers

&iacgr;&ogr; 8 pliers housing

9 Gripping plate

10 Adjustment device

11 ejectors

12 Ejector plate 13 Middle part

14 side wings

15 Wing guide, roller

16 Thrust drive, scissor drive

17 Wing operation 18 Wing guide

19 Connection

20 Gift!leadership

Claims (7)

PROTECTION CLAIMS 1.) Bale gripper for strapped pressed bales with a gripping tongs that are adjustable in width, the tongs arms of which are designed as gripping plates that cover the strapping of the pressed bale in the closed position, characterized in that the bale gripper (2) has an ejector (11) for the pressed bale (3), which is arranged between the gripping plates (9). 2.) Bale gripper according to claim 1, characterized in that the bale gripper (2) has a rotating device (6) for the gripping tongs (7) and a connection (19) for fastening to a conveyor (5). 3.) Bale gripper according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the ejector (11) has an ejector plate (12) adjustable in width, which rests with its edges on the gripper plates (9). 4.) Bale gripper according to claim 3, characterized in that the ejector plate (12) is designed in several parts and a middle part (13) with at least one side wing (14) and a wing actuation (17). 5.) Bale gripper according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the ejector plate (12) has a wing guide (15) on the edges to the gripping plates (9). 6.) Bale gripper according to claim 3, 4 or 5, characterized in that the ejector plate (12) is connected to a thrust drive (16). 7.) Bale gripper according to claim 6, characterized in that the thrust drive (16) is designed as a scissor drive.