GB2103994A - Bale accumulator - Google Patents

Abstract

A bale accumulator comprises a frame (10) in which bales are received from a chute (12) from a baler (14) and are diverted by gates (26, 32, 40, 42) into different positions within the frame to make a compact set of e.g. ten or twelve bales which can be released by a tailgate (62) into the field. The frame comprises a central portion (A) flanked by two lateral portions (B, C) hinged thereto so that they can be swung up on top of the central portion (A) when the accumulator is not in use, thereby reducing the width of the accumulator. The central portion may have wheels (72), the bales passing on either side of the wheels, aided by fairings (74) around the wheels. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Bale accumulator This invention relates to bale accumulators for agricultural use.

Various types of bale accumulator are presently known, but one of the most popular in recent years is the so-called "flat-eight". In it the accumulator collects eight bales in succession from the moving baler and collates them into two transverse rows of four bales, one row being immediately in front of the other, so that a compact set of eight bales is formed. This set can be picked up by a specially designed grab mounted on the fore end loader of a tractor, and transported thereby directly to storage or to a stack on a transporter.

A stack of bales thus formed has certain weaknesses, in that one or more vertical joints extend throughout the height of the stack, even if vertically adjacent sets are oriented at 900 to each other (which they can be as each bale is normally twice as long as it is wide so that the resulting set of eight is square in plan). Also, on larger farms it would be advantageous to be able to handle more than eight bales at a time.

In a preferred embodiment the present invention provides equipment which can form a set of ten bales in two transverse rows of five.

Each bale has a length to width ratio of 2.5 :1 so that the resulting set is still square. However, if vertically adjacent sets in a stack are oriented at 900 to each other each bale will overlap and be overlapped by at least three others, and there will be no vertical joint extending throughout the stack.

A disadvantage of a flat-ten accumulator, however, is that it will tend to be rather large.

While this may not matter so much on a farm with large fields, it can be more awkward when trying to move the accumulator along narrow lanes or through narrow openings. An extra two or three feet in width can be critical.

One aspect of the present invention provides a bale accumulator for attachment to a baler and comprising a frame adapted to enclose at least one set of bales side by side transversely to the direction of travel of the accumulator, and having an inlet to receive bales from the accumulator, releasable rear abutment means to retain the bales in the accumulated set and release the completed set, and diverter means to direct the incoming bales into different locations forming the set; the frame comprising at least two laterally adjacent portions one of which is displaceable relative to the other when the baler is not in use so as to reduce the overall width of the baler.

The displaceable portion may be dismounted from the adjacent portion and, for example, remounted on top of or at the front or rear of the adjacent portion. Preferably, however, it is hinged relative to the adjacent portion so that it can be swung into the displaced condition. It may be swung to the front or rear of the adjacent portion, but is preferably swung to a position above the adjacent portion. In this way the overall length of the equipment is not increased. Preferably a pair of displaceable portions are provided one on each side of a central portion. The central or non displaceable portion preferably has ground wheels to assist its travel.Thus, as compared with conventional wheeled accumulators, in which ground wheels are located at the side edges of the accumulator, the wheels of the present accumulator can be provided laterally inwardly of the sides, so that the accumulator is still supported on wheels when in its reduced width condition.

Another aspect of the present invention provides a novel system of bale actuated diverters for producing a transverse set of five or six bales in an accumulator. According to this aspect of the present invention, the accumulator comprises a forward diverter pivotally mounted and arranged to divert incoming bales to one side region or the other of the frame, a pair of pivotally mounted rear diverter means behind the forward diverter and arranged to receive bales from the forward diverter and divert them to one side or other of their respective regions of the frame, at least one of said rear diverter means comprising a pair of diverters side by side and linked so that they move jointly to act as a single diverter in directing bales to laterally innermost and outermost positions in their respective region of the frame but separate to receive between them a third bale.

The general methods of diverter actuation by the bales will be well understood by those skilled in this art, both from consideration of presently manufactured balers, and from consideration of existing patents in this field, such as GB 1349747 and GB 1461833.

Further details of the construction and operation of the present equipment will be apparent from the following description with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, wherein: Fig. 1 shows a plan view of the accumulator for a flat-ten set of bales; Fig. 2 shows an end view of the accumulator of Fig. 1 in its reduced width configuration; Figs. 3 and 4 show fragmentary plan views of the baler of Fig. 1 at two stages during operation, and Figs. 5, 6 and 7 show fragmentary plan views of a modified form of baler at three stages during operation.

Referring to the drawings, and firstly to Figs. 1, 3 and 4; the baler comprises a frame 10 for attachment via a sloping inlet chut 12 to the discharge end 14 of a baler. In this embodiment the chute is articulated about vertical axes 1 6, 18 and horizontal axes 20, 22 to both the baler and the frame respectively, but it could be rigidly attached to the frame or be articulated to it about only one axis if desired. The chute delivers bales to an inlet 24 at the front of the frame. Immediately behind the inlet is a forward diverter gate 26, pivoted at its rear portion to the frame at 28, and urged by a spring 30 into one of a pair of alternative positions (the other being shown in dot-dash lines). In these two positions the gate diverts incoming bales into one side region or the other of the frame.

Behind the forward diverter gate are two rear diverter means 32, 34, respectively, one in each side region of the frame, to receive bales from the forward diverter. The diverter means 32 comprises a single gate pivotally mounted to the frame at 34 and urged by a spring 36 into one of a pair of positions (the other of which is shown in dot-dash lines). In said one position the gate diverts a bale to a laterally outer location within its region of the frame. In that position the bale engages a trailing cam portion 38 of the gate, causing it to move against the spring 36 into its other position so that it diverts the next bale it receives into a laterally inner position aiongside the other bale.

The diverter means 34 comprises a pair of gates 40, 42 side by side, pivoted to the frame suitably (but not necessarily) about a common axis 44. The gates are urged together at their forward ends by a spring 46 so that they tend when possible to move as a single unit. A spring 48 acts between the frame and the outer gate 40 to urge its forward end (and hence that also of the gate 42) towards the centre of the frame, as shown in Fig. 1. In this position the first bale 50 to enter that side region of the frame from the forward diverter gate will be diverted by the gate 40 to a laterally outermost location in that region of the frame.In that location it engages a trailing cam portion 38 on the gate 40 which moves it, together with the gate 42, into an alternative position, as shown in Fig. 3. In this position the next bale 52 to be received from the forward diverter gate will be diverted by the gate 42 into a laterally innermost location in that region of the frame. (This location will be adjacent the laterally inner bale in the other region of the frame). In this location it engages a trailing cam portion 38 on the gate 42 which moves that gate (but not the gate 40, which is still held by the outermost bale) back into its original position, as shown in Fig. 4, so that a central location is defined between the two gates 40, 42 to receive a third bale from the forward diverter.

Thus a set of five bales transversely side by side is built up. The forward diverter gate 26 is shown as biased into a position in which it will deliver the first (three) bales to the side containing the rear diverter gates 40, 42. The last bale 52 to enter that side operates a lever mechanism (not shown) which moves the forward diverter gate into the other position so that the next two bales are delivered to the gate 32. However, the arrangement could be reversed so that the forward diverter gate is spring-biased into a position to deliver the first two bales to the gate 32 and then be actuated to deliver the next three to the gates 40, 42. This unidirectional biasing of the forward diverter gate is more fully disclosed in GB 1349747 and is well known in the art.

However, the forward diverter gate could be arranged to operate on a flip-flop principle whereby successive bales are diverted to alternate sides. Such a mechanism is also well known in the art, and is described in GB 1461833. It will be apparent, however, that in such an arrangement the first bale must be delivered to the side containing the twin diverter gates 40, 42.

The set of five bales move back through the frame by engagement with the ground, the frame being open-bottomed. They are arrested in their respective locations by rear abutments 54 carried on a common transverse beam 56 which is pivotally mounted to the frame and held by a latch which is released by the last of the five bales entering its respective location, thereby releasing the set of five bales rearwardly. As shown in Fig. 1, they then pass into a rear portion 58 of the frame, in which the sides of the frame converge somewhat at 60 to draw the bales compactly together. The bales are held in this rear position by a tailgate 62. The tailgate can be released manually by the baler operator to discharge the set of five bales at a desired position. This is known as wind rowing.Alternatively the tailgate can be released automatically when the second set of five bales is released by the abutments 54, so that a flat set of ten bales is discharged from the accumulator. If the rear portion 58 were longer, so that it could contain such a set of the bales, then the tailgate could still be manually operated, thereby allowing windrowing of flat ten sets of bales. The machine would however be appreciably longer overall.

In this embodiment of Fig. 1 , the two lateral side regions of the frame are divided by a partition, such as a rail or pair of rails, comprising an angled forward part 64 and a straight rear part 66. The forward part 64 helps to guide the bales from the front diverter gate to the rear gate 32, while the straight part 66 helps to locate the inner bale in that region and separate it from the innermost bale in the other side region. The forward end of the rear diverter gate 32 terminates at the junction of the forward and rear parts 64, 66 of the partition. The rear diverter gates 40, 42 however are rather longer so that they extend up to the rear of the forward diverter gate 26.In the embodiment of Figs. 5, 6 and 7, however the gates 40, 42 are similar in length to the gate 32, and a movable guide member 68, hinged at 28, takes the place of the extra forward length of the gates 40, 42. It is operatively linked to the gate 42, for example by levers or push rods (not shown) so that when the gate 42 is in its naturally biased position towards the centre of the frame the guide member 68 is angled outwardly to cooperate with it (Fig. 7) or with the gate 40 if that is also in its centre-biased position (Fig. 5). to form, in effect the forward extension of those gates; but when the gate 42 is in its outwardly directed position (Fig. 6) the guide member 68 is swung over to a more central position where it does not interfere with the bale entering the innermost location.

The bales used in this accumulator preferably have a length to width ratio of 2.5 :1 so that a flat set of ten will be square in plan and can be stacked with adjacent layers oriented at 90 to each other.

It will be apparent that if both side regions of the frame are provided with pairs of gates 40, 42 (and a completely straight partition 66 is provided down the centre line of the frame), rather than a single gate 32 being provided in one side region, a set of six bales will be formed, which in turn can be released by the rear tailgate as part of a flat set of twelve bales.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2, the frame is shown as comprising three portions transversely; a central portion A flanked by two lateral portions B, C which are hinged to the central portion about longitudinal hinges 70 so that when not in use they can be swung up over the central portion A as shown in Fig. 2, thereby reducing the width of the accumulator. Ground wheels 72 are provided at the sides of the central portion A so that they continue to support the central portion when the lateral portions are swung into the inoperative, raised position. Fairings 74 are provided around the wheels to allow the bales to pass either side. A forward ground wheel (not shown) is provided, preferably castored, suitably on the axis 1 8.

It will be apparent that this division of the frame into longitudinally hinged sections could be applied to the frames of accumulators which assemble the bales other than in transverse rows of five; for example the six bale accumulator described briefly above or conventional four bale accumulators, with or without rear portions for assembling two rows into flat tens, twelves or eights.

Indeed in any of the embodiments described above the rear portions could be omitted so that a single transverse row of bales is discharged from the accumulator. On the other hand, in connection with the six bale accumulator described above, the rear portion could be extended to accommodate two transverse rows of bales so that the third row from the accumulator completes a set of eighteen bales. In such a case each bale would have a length to width ration of 2 :1, so that the flat eighteen set would be square in plan.

Claims (12)

1. A bale accumulator for attachment to a baler and comprising a frame adapted to enclose at least one set of bales side by side transversely to the direction of travel of the accumulator, and having an inlet to receive bales from the accumulator, releasable rear abutment means to retain the bales in the accumulated set and release the completed set, and diverter means to direct the incoming bales into different locations forming the set; the frame comprising at least two laterally adjacent portions one of which is displaceable relative to the other when the baler is not in use so as to reduce the overall width of the baler.

2. A bale accumulator according to claim 1 wherein the displaceable portion is hinged relative to the adjacent portion so that it can be swung into the displaced condition.

3. A bale accumulator according to claim 2 wherein the displaceable portion is swung to a position above the adjacent portion.

4. A bale accumulator according to any one of claims 1, 2 and 3 wherein a pair of displaceable portions are provided one on each side of a central portion.

5. A bale accumulator according to claim 4 wherein the central portion has ground wheels to assist its travel.

6. A bale accumulator according to claim 5 wherein the ground wheels are arranged so that during operation of the accumulator bales pass on each side of the wheels.

7. A bale accumulator according to claim 6 wherein the wheels are located in fairings which assist the smooth travel of the bales past the wheels.

8. A bale accumulator according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the accumulator comprises a forward diverter pivotally mounted and arranged to divert incoming bales to one side region or the other of the frame, a pair of pivotally mounted rear diverter means behind the forward diverter and arranged to receive bales from the forward diverter and divert them to one side or other of their respective regions of the frame, at least one of said rear diverter means comprising a pair of diverters side by side and linked so that they move jointly to act as a single diverter in directing bales to laterally innermost and outermost positions in their respective region of the frame but separate to receive between them a third bale.

9. A bale accumulator according to claim 8 wherein just one of the rear diverter means comprises a said pair of diverters, whereby the accumulator assembles five bales transversely.

10. A bale accumulator according to claim 9 wherein a first transverse row of five bales is formed against an abutment which is operable by the last bale of the five to release the row rearwards as the accumulator advances.

11. A bale accumulator according to claim 10 including a tailgate which is operable to release the bales from the accumulator into the field, said abutment being provided for successive transverse rows of bales alternatively by abutment means actuated by the last bale of the row to release the row rearwards into abutment with the tailgate and by the ends of the preceding row of bales thus held by the tailgate, the tailgate being released by the last bale entering a row which is supported by the preceding row.

12. A bale accumulator substantially is described herein with reference to the drawings.