GB2144102A

GB2144102A - Big bale baler for agricultural crop material

Info

Publication number: GB2144102A
Application number: GB08415952A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Gerhard Clostermeyer; Werner Muller
Original assignee: Claas KGaA mbH
Current assignee: Claas KGaA mbH
Priority date: 1983-07-27
Filing date: 1984-06-22
Publication date: 1985-02-27
Also published as: DE3327042A1; GB8415952D0; FR2549689B1; GB2144102B; DE3327042C2; FR2549689A1

Abstract

A big bale baler has winding rollers 3 which define the baling chamber at the periphery thereof and which are mounted in side walls, a container 5 which is provided with an inclined bottom 8, for receiving a roll of web 6, and a braking bar 13 resting on the periphery of the roll in order to maintain a uniform tension in the web, by basing the roll against 2 walls. The braking bar is mounted on pivotal levers 11(12), the effective lever arms of which increase with decreasing roll diameter. The pressing force applied by the braking bar is increased by means of a spring 19. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Big bale baler for agricultural crop material The invention relates to big bale balers for agricultural crop material. Such balers may have bale chambers with driven winding rollers, side defining walls, and means for accommodating a roll of covering material web and for braking the roll of web during the operation of winding it around a finished bale.

Such a big bale baler has been proposed for example in U.S. Patent Specification No.

4366 665. In the big bale baler shown therein, the roll of web material is held at its axis of rotation by means of cone members which are mounted on levers, one cone members being connected to its mounting assembly by way of a braking means. The force of the brake is adjustable so that a certain tension in the web material can always be maintained while the web (tape) is being drawn off. However, such an arrangement suffers from the disadvantage that the braking force, once set, always remains the same, but the force which has to be applied to draw off a web material increases by virtue of the steadily decreasing radius of the roll and thus the movement of the force.Consequently, it is not possible to achieve a uniform degree of tension in the web, unless the force of the brake is always being re-adjusted, which however, is not a viable economic proposition with such an arrangement.

According to one aspect the invention provides a big bale baler for producing rolled bales of agricultural crop material, which includes means for wrapping a web of covering material around a finished bale, wherein provision is made for lodging a roll of web between two surfaces disposed at an acute angle to each other in such a way that it is free to rotate in contact with the surfaces as web is pulled from it and wherein a pivoted braking member is arranged to be resiliently pressed against the roll in such a direction as to keep the roll in contact with the surfaces the pressure being arranged to increase as the diameter of the roll decreases. Preferably the increasing pressure is brought about by the increasing movement of a spring and/or gravity force applied to the braking member as the braking member moves about its pivotal axis due to the decreasing diameter of the roll.

According to another aspect the invention provides a big bale baler for agricultural crop material, having a baling chamber with driven winding rollers and side defining walls, the baler also including means for accommodating a roll of web to be wound around the finished bales and for braking rotation of the roll of web during the operation of winding it around a finished bale, wherein said means comprises a container such that the outside peripheral surface of the roll is in contact at at least two points with the wall of the container during the entire unrolling operation, and a braking bar which can be applied to the roll, the braking bar being mounted on pivoted levers and acting on the roll with an increasing contact pressure as the diameter of the roll decreases.

This arrangement permits the tensile force to be applied for drawing off the web material to remain substantially constant. So that the roll can be reliably mounted or guided in a simple manner, irrespective of the diameter thereof, the roll may be mounted in the container without any spindle, a rear perpendicular wall and a bottom of the container including an angle which is smaller than 90 . In a construction which is simple in design, the pivotal levers are connected to the ends of a shaft which is rotatably mounted in two supports, the ends of the pivotal levers that are remote from the shaft carrying between them a braking bar which is rigidly connected to the pivotal levers.In order for the pressure applied by the braking bar to the roll to be as radial as possible, over the entire roll diameter range, the distance between axes from the shaft to the braking bar substantially corresponds to the distance between axes from the roll, at its smallest diameter, to the shaft. The pressing force applied by the braking bar can be increased by the pivotal levers being spring-loaded. In order to indicate to the tractor drvier when a fresh roll is to be fitted, at least one of the two pivotal levers, at the end thereof that is remote from the braking bar, may be extended beyond the shaft and have an abutment which, when the roll is at its smallest diameter, comes into contact with a switch connected to one of the supports, the switch triggering off a suitable warning signal.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a big bale baler according to the invention, and Figure 2 is a side view of the upper part of the big bale baler shown in Fig. 1.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a big bale baler, the baling (winding) chamber 2 of which is defined at its periphery by winding rollers 3 and at its sides by walls 4. Disposed above the baler 1 and connected thereto is a container 5 in which a roll 6 of web is mounted, without a spindle or shaft. The perpendicular rear wall 7 of the container forms an angle which is less than 90 with the bottom 8 thereof. Thus the roll 6 is always supported by the bottom 8 and the rear wall 7, irrespective of the diameter of the roll, more specifically because the roll 6, as its diameter decreases, rolls on the inclined bottom 8 and always comes to bear against the rear wall 7. As the drawings also show, welded to the side walls 4 of the baler 1 are supports 9, the free ends of which rotatably mount a shaft 10.Connected to the ends of the shaft 10 are two pivotal levers 11 and 1 2 which, at their ends remote from the shaft 10, carry a braking bar 1 3 which is rigidly connected to the pivotal levers 11 and 1 2. The mounting of the shaft 10 is such that the horizontal distance between the axis thereof and the axis of the braking bar, as measured between the vertical lines 14 and 1 5 in Fig.

2, increases from a small distance a with the largest roll diameter to the largest distance b with the smallest operative roll diameter.

Thus, the force which is required for drawing the web material 1 6 the roll 6 remains substantially the same. As shown in Fig. 2, the pivotal lever 1 2 has an extension portion 26 to which an abutment 1 7 is fixedly connected. The abutment 1 7 bears against a switch 1 8 which is connected to the support 9, and actuates the switch 18 as soon as the roll 6 has reached its smallest diameter (see the roll 6' as shown in the broken lines). In order to be able to increase the pressing force applied by the braking bar, a tension spring 1 9 is connected to levers 11 and 1 2. The web 1 6 is drawn off over a direction-changing roller 1 9 and feed rollers 20, with which there are associated guide plates 21 which are adjoined by a pair of severing blades as indicated at 22.

Claims

1. A big bale baler for agricultural crop material, having a baling chamber with driven winding rollers and side defining walls, the baler also including means for accommodating a roll of web to be wound around the finished bales and for braking rotation of the roll of web during the operation of winding it around a finished bale, wherein said means comprises a container such that the outside peripheral surface of the roll is in contact at at least two points with the wall of the container during the entire unrolling operation, and a braking bar which can be applied to the roll, the braking bar being mounted on pivoted levers and acting on the roll with an increasing contact pressure as the diameter of the roll decreases.

2. A big bale baler according to claim 1 wherein the roll is accommodated in the container without any spindle, a rear perpendicular wall and a bottom of the container including an angle which is smaller than 90 .

3. A big bale baler according to claim 1 or 2 wherein the pivotal levers are connected to the ends of a shaft which is rotatably mounted in two supports, wherein the ends of the pivotal levers that are remote from the shaft carry between them the braking bar which is rigidly connected to the pivotal levers.

4. A big bale baler according to claim 3 wherein the distance from axis of the shaft to the axis of the braking bar substantially corresponds to the distance between axis of the roll at its smallest diameter to the axis of the shaft.

5. A big bale baler acccording to claim 3 or 4 wherein at least one of the pivotal levers, at its end remote from the braking bar, is extended beyond the shaft and has an abutment which, with the roll at its smallest diameter, comes into contact with a switch connected to one of the two supports, the switch being arranged to trigger off a signal.

6. A big bale baler according to any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein the pivotal levers are spring-loaded.

7. A big bale baler for producing rolled bales of agricultural crop material, which includes means for wrapping a web of covering material around a finished bale, wherein provision is made for lodging a roll of web between two surfaces disposed at an acute angle to each other in such a way that it is free to rotate in contact with the surfaces as web is pulled from it and wherein a pivoted braking member is arranged to be resiliently pressed against the roll in such a direction as to keep the roll in contact with the surfaces the pressure being arranged to increase as the diameter of the roll decreases.

8. A big bale baler according to claim 7 wherein the increasing pressure is brought about by the increasing movement of a spring and/or gravity force applied to the braking member as the braking member moves about its pivotal axis due to the decreasing diameter of the roll.

9. A big bale baler according to claim 7 or 8 wherein the braking member is arranged to operate a signal switch when the roll reaches its smallest operating diameter.

10. A big bale baler for producing rolled bales of agricultural crop material, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the drawings.