GB2159762A

GB2159762A - Round bale baler

Info

Publication number: GB2159762A
Application number: GB08514167A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Dirk Bruer
Original assignee: Claas KGaA mbH
Current assignee: Claas KGaA mbH
Priority date: 1984-06-08
Filing date: 1985-06-05
Publication date: 1985-12-11
Also published as: JPH0469965B2; FR2565456A1; GB2159762B; FR2565456B1; DE3421427A1; JPS60262534A; GB8514167D0

Abstract

A round bale baler for agricultural crop material, comprising a bailing chamber which remains the same size and shape during the compacting operation and which is formed by driven conveyor elements 7 representing the peripheral boundary thereof, wherein:- a) means are provided for wrapping a finished round bale with a web of mesh material 24, said means comprising a supply roll 17, draw-off rollers 20 and severing means 21, the arrangement being such that the mesh material clings with its overlapping end portion to the region which is disposed therebeneath, and b) disposed upstream of the baling chamber there is a crop material storage chamber 11 which is arranged to receive crop material 8 during the wrapping and bale ejection operations and which can be separated from the pressing chamber by blocking and conveyor members 22. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Round bale baler The invention relates to a round bale baler for stalked agricultural crop material such as straw or hay comprising a baling chamber which remains the same size and shape during the compacting operation and which is formed by driven conveyor elements representing the peripheral boundary thereof. The conveyor elements may for example be in the form of rollers, belts or chains. The invention is particularly applicable to big bale pick-up balers.

In such balers, the bale of crop material, when in its finished form, normally has binding yarn or twine wound therearound. Before the binding operation is triggered off, the forward movement of the baler is stopped so that the flow of material into the baler comes to a stop. A relatively long interruption in operation of the baler is required from the time of stopping the forward motion until resuming forward motion after the bale has been discharged. For that reason, it has already been proposed that a material storage chamber should be disposed upstream of the baling chamber, in order to permit continuous operation, that is to say, no interruption in forward motion during the binding process.

Round bale balers which are equipped in that fashion suffer in particular from the disadvantage that the capacity of the storage chamber, which is predetermined by the binding time, has a highly disadvantageous effect on the size of the baler. In particular however the introduction of the crop material which has been stored during the relatively long binding time, into the pressing chamber, gives rise to serious troubles in the operation of the baler.

For the purposes of reducing the binding time and the interruption in operation of the baler, it has already proved to be successful to use a wrapping in web form, comprising mesh fabric or material, in place of the above-mentioned twine binding. However, not even that permits continuous operation of the machine.

Ways were therefore sought of providing a baler which operates continuously and nonstop, with a material storage chamber of minimum size, in order to avoid disadvantageous design configurations and to avoid operation difficulties during the introduction of the stored material into the baling chamber.

According to the invention, there is provided a round bale baler for agricultural crop material comprising a baling chamber which remains the same size and shape during the compacting operation and which is formed by driven conveyor elements representing the peripheral boundary thereof, wherein: a) means are provided for wrapping a finished round bale with a web of mesh material, said means comprising a supply roll, draw-off rollers and severing means, the arrangement being such that the mesh material clings with its overlapping end portion to the region which is disposed therebeneath, and b) disposed upstream of the baling chamber there is a crop material storage chamber which is arranged to receive crop material during the wrapping and bale ejection operations and which can be separated from the pressing chamber by blocking and conveyor members.

An embodiment of the invention will be described in greater detail hereinafter with reference to the single figure of drawings: Reference numerals 1 and 2 denote parts of a tractor-drawn big bale pick-up baler housing, which are pivotably connected at their side walls by way of a coupling member 3.

The part 1 of the housing is disposed stationarily on the machine frame structure while the part 2 is pivotable by the piston cylinder unit 5 in the direction indicated by the arrow 4.

The baling chamber 6 is defined by rollers 7 which are arranged therearound and which run in juxtaposed relationship. The crop material 8 is fed to the baling chamber by way of a pick-up reel arrangement 9 which is extended to form the lower boundary 10 of a crop material storage chamber 11, this chamber being delimited by side walls 1 2 and by a grid, tines or the like 1 3 at the top. Disposed between the pick-up arrangement 9 and the feed opening 14 of the baling chamber 6 is a gathering device 1 5 which conveys the crop material into the baling chamber 6. A binding means 1 6 is supported on the part 1 of the housing, in the vicinity of the rollers 7 which define the baling chamber 6.The binding means 1 6 essentially comprises a trough 1 8 which carries a roll 1 7 of a web of binding material, preferably in the form of a mesh, guide means 19, a pair of feed rollers 20 and a severing means 21 (see for example our published U.K. Patent Application No. 2 146 947). As soon as an adequately compacted bale 23 has been produced in the baling chamber 6, the binding operation is initiated, in response to achievement of a desired compacting pressure, automatically or manually by the tractor driver. The binding mesh 24 is now passed by the feed rollers 20 through the gap 25 between two adjacent rollers 7 onto the outside peripheral surface of the bale 23, to which it clings so that it is entrained thereby. Before the leading end of the binding mesh 24 reaches the feed opening 14, the feed of crop material is stopped by blocking and conveyor memebrs in the form of tines 22 of the device 15, which remain in their upper position (as shown) until, after completion of the binding operation and unloading of the bale, the baling chamber 6 is closed again. The tines 22 are carried by a pair of cranks and are driven so that their tips follow the chain-dotted line in a clockwise direction.

During the period for which the device 1 5 is stopped, the crop material which is picked up by the pick-up arrangement 9 is kept in the storage chamber 11; it is subsequently conveyed with a pushing motion into the baling chamber for the next bale forming operation.

Claims

1. A round bale baler for agricultural crop material, comprising a baling chamber which remains the same size and shape during the compacting operation and which is formed by driven conveyor elements representing the peripheral boundary thereof, wherein: a) means are provided for wrapping a finished round bale with a web of mesh material, said means comprising a supply roll, draw-off rollers and severing means, the arrangement being such that the mesh material clings with its overlapping end portion to the region which is disposed therebeneath, and b) disposed upstream of the baling chamber there is a crop material storage chamber which is arranged to receive crop material during the wrapping and bale ejection operations and which can be separated from the pressing chamber by blocking and conveyor members.

2. A baler according to Claim 1, wherein the blocking and conveyor members comprises tines arranged to move in a closed path, means being provided to temporarily stop their motion in a position obstructing flow of crop material into the baling chamber.

3. A round baler substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the drawing.