GB2207084A

GB2207084A - Bale compressing apparatus

Info

Publication number: GB2207084A
Application number: GB08717499A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Desmond Fountain; Christopher Jagger
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1987-07-23
Filing date: 1987-07-23
Publication date: 1989-01-25
Also published as: GB8717499D0

Abstract

Bale compressing apparatus 1 for compressing Hesston rectangular bales comprises a platform 2 and a pair of compression plates 4, 6 one of said plates being displaceable towards the other to compress a bale 5 placed on the platform between the two plates. The original baling cords 11 may be used to maintain the compressed state of the bale, by twisting the cords to take up the slack as the bale is compressed. Alternatively new ties may be employed. <IMAGE>

Description

BALE COMPRESSING APPARATUS The present invention relates to apparatus for compressing bales of straw, hay and the like and particularly, though not exclusively, to apparatus for compressing large rectangular bales known as "Hess ton" bales.

Rectangular "Hesston" bales are typically 8.5 feet long by 4 feet square, and this large size means that transport costs are particularly high due to the space required to accommodate the bales.

It is therefore the aim of the present invention to provide apparatus for compressing a bale in order-to reduce its size and hence reduce transport costs.

According to the present invention there is provided apparatus for compressing bales either singly or in groups of two or more, the apparatus comprising a platform for supporting the bale or bales to be compressed, two or more spaced apart opposed compression plates each adapted to engage a respective face of a bale placed on the platform, at least one of said compression plates being displaceable towards the other compression plate in order to compress the bale or bales placed therebetween, and means for maintaining the bale or bales in a compressed state after removal from the apparatus.

Conveniently, one of the compression plates remains stationary relative to the platform at one end thereof, with the other compression plate being displaceable towards the fixed plate.

In a preferred embodiment, the displaceable plate includes wheels which rollingly engage with tracks located along and above the platform.

It has been found that two wheels, one located close to the bottom edge of the displaceable plate and the other located close to the top edge of the displaceable plate will provide adequately uniform compression, but the compression is much more uniform by providing four wheels, one at each corner of the displaceable plate, each wheel rolling along a corresponding track, two of said tracks being located on the platform and two above the platform.

The apparatus may be used to compress a single bale, in which case the bale is placed on to the platform between the two compression plates, the bale is compressed and secured in its compressed state by the apparatus, and the bale is then removed from the apparatus. In a case where the apparatus is used to compress a number of bales, a first bale is placed on the platform and is compressed against the stationary plate by movement of the displaceable plate, the displaceable plate is then drawn back and a further bale is placed on the platform which further bale is then compressed against the first bale and so on until a number of bales have been compressed.

After binding the compressed bales together in a manner to be described in more detail below, the stationary plate, which is mounted for pivotal movement about a horizontal pivot axis located a fixed distance above'the platform, is pivoted about said pivot axis to allow the bound and compressed bales to be pushed towards the rear of the platform from whence they are collected.

When the apparatus is used for compressing a single bale, the means for maintained the bale in its compressed state preferably comprises a vertical arm extending sideways from one side edge of the stationary plate, which arm is mounted for pivotal movement about a vertical pivot axis and has rotatably mounted thereon a number of vertically spaced apart hooks.

In use, the arm is pivoted about the pivot axis towards the side of the bale, and the hooks are engaged with the original baling cords put on the bale by the baling machine. The compression of the bale then takes place, during which the arm is swung slowly outwards by pivotig about the pivot axis in order to maintain the - tension on the cords as the bale is reduced in length down to approximately 3ft. The displaceable plate is then drawn back away from the stationary plate until the bale has expanded lengthwise to approximately 5ft. The hooks are then rotated to twist the cords, and as the cords become shorter due to the twisting the arm is again swung back inwards towards the bale. The twisted cords are then disconnected from the hooks by means of a vertically disposed cutting member pivotally mounted on the arm for pivotal movement about a vertical axis.The twisted cut ends of the cords "lock" together to maintain the bale in its compressed state.

An alternative means of maintaining the bale in its compressed state is to remove the original baling cords and as the bale is compressed, two or more vertically spaced apart bands are wrapped around the bale, the ends of the bands being joined together after compression of the bale.

This arrangement is preferred in the case of a number of bales being compressed together, the bands then being passed around all of the compressed bales to bind them together.

Preferably, all the moving parts of the apparatus are hydraulically powered by means of suitable cylinder/ram pairs.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig 1 is a perspective view from one side of one embodiment of the apparatus according to the present invention being used to compress a single bale, Fig 2 is a close-up view showing an arrangement for maintaining the compressed bale in its compressed state by twisting the slack bale cords, Figs 2A and 2B show how the bale twisting hooks are engaged with the bale cords, Fig 3 is a perspective view from one side of the apparatus shown in Fig 1, the compressed bale having been removed, Fig 4 is a side view of an alternative embodiment of apparatus according to the present invention, Fig 5 is a close-up of the pusher of the apparatus shown in Fig 4, Fig 6 is a side view of the pusher shown in Fig 5, Figs 7A and 7B show the operation of the pusher of Figs 5 and 6 when fitted with an additional leverage mechanism.

Referring to Figs 1, 2 and 3, bale compressing apparatus according to the present invention comprises a platform 2 mounted on wheels for ease of transportation and supported on the ground by stand 3 when the towing vehicle is removed.

At the rear end of the platform there is a rigidly fixed compression plate 4 which acts a back stop against which a bale 5 is compressed by a second compression plate 6.

The second compression plate 6 forms a "T" junction with a central plate 7 and is rigidly fixed thereto.

In use, the bale 5 is placed on to the platform 2 by forklift truck, the central plate 7 and integral compression plate 6 is displaced towards back stop 4 by operation of a hydraulic ram 8 of which there are two, one either side of central plate 7. In order to support the bottom corners of compression plate 6, two pivoting arms 9, one on each side of the central plate 7, are provided, these arms being pivotally attached to bottom corners 10 of compression plate 6.

The continued thrusting of ram 8 causes the bale 5 to be compressed between the compression plate 6 and back stop 4. During this part of the operation, central plate 7 is guided by wheels 13 running along tracks 14,15, one of said tracks 14 being located above the platform 2 on a beam 16, and the other 15 being located in the platform itself.

The bale cords 11 which are placed around the bale by the baling machine obviously require to be tightened to maintain the bale in its compressed state (typically 8.5ft long down to 5ft long) and therefore additional means 12 is provided for this purpose.

The additional means 12 comprises a series of vertically spaced apart hooks 17 rotatably mounted on a vertical arm 18. This arm 18 is fixed to a swinging boom 19 which is in turn pivotally mounted on a vertical pivot rod 20, the pivot rod 20 being held some distance to the side of plate 4 by two horizontal rigid arms 21,22.

At the beginning of the process, before actual compression takes place, hydraulic ram 23 is pulled in to cause vertical arm 18 carrying the hooks 17 to swing inwardly towards the bale and forwardly, and the bale cords 11 can then be engaged with the hooks 17. This is achieved by moving arm 18 upwardly by pulling in hydraulic ram 18A, as shown in Figs 2A and 2B. The compression sequence is then begun, and during compression arm 18 is swung slowly outwardly, away from the bale in order to maintain the tension in the cords as the bale is reduced in length.

When the bale has been compressed down to 3ft in length, the displaceable plate is withdrawn away from the bale and the backstop until the bale expands again to approximately 5ft long. At this point the hooks 17 are rotated to twist the cords 11, the arm 18 being swung slowly inwardly towards the bale as the cords become shorter. Then the twisted cords 11 have to be removed from hooks 17, and this is conveniently achieved by means of a vertically disposed cutting member 25 mounted on the vertical hook carrying arm 12 for pivotal movement about vertical pivot axis 24. The cutting member 25 has mounted thereon a number of vertically spaced apart individual cutting blades 26, one adjacent each hook 17, so that pulling-in of ram 27 will cause the blades 26 to cut the twisted bale cords off the hooks.The cords are thus twisted along a substantial part of their length, and when they are released from the hooks the twisted parts serve to retain the cut ends of the cords together so that the bale is maintained in its compressed state after it is removed from the platform, typically by forklift truck. In order to allow the forklift access to the compressed bale, hydraulic ram 23 is extended to cause boom 19.to swing outwardly and rearwardly.

Referring now to Figs 4 to 7B, further alternative embodiments of the invention are shown and now described.

Instead of the displaceable compression plate 6 of Fig 1 there may be provided a cubically shaped pusher 28 the rearwardly facing end 29 of which is flat to engage a face of the bale. The pusher has eight wheels disposed one at each corner of the trolley, the wheels 33 being adapted to roll along corresponding tracks 30,31 during movement of the pusher, said movement being achieved by the extension of three adjacent hydraulic rams 32,33,34.

In the embodiment shown in Fig 4, the back stop takes the form of a hatch-like member 35 mounted on framework 37 for pivotal movement about horizontal pivot axis 36.

Forwardly of the back stop 35 there is provided an enclosed chamber 38 in to which a number of bales (typically five) are compressed by pusher 28 acting against back stop 35.

Instead of the above described additional means 12 for maintaining the bale in its compressed state, there may be provided two flexible bands 39,40 of sufficient length to go around all five of the bales, the free ends of the bands being fixed at the entry to the enclosed chamber. When the last bale has been compressed into chamber 38, the ends of the bands are brought together and joined to bind the fivebales together. Two hydraulic rams 41,42 are then pulled in to raise back stop 35, and continued operation of the pusher moves the compressed bales on to the rear of the platform from whence they may be removed by forklift truck.

The pusher shown in Figs 4 to 7B may be employed with the simpler arrangement shown in Figs 1 to 3, such a combination being suitable for compressing an intermediate number of bales, for example two.

Figs 7A and 7B show the appearance of such a two bale press, and in this version the pusher 28 is provided with additional leverage by means of a number of hydraulic rams connected together by a bracket 47 which is mounted on framework 37 for pivotal movement about pivot axis 48.

Three rams 45 are connected to one end of bracket 47, and two rams 46 are connected to the centre portion of bracket 47.

At the start of the compression sequence, bracket 47 is vertical and all rams are pulled in. Rams 46 are then extended to lower the bracket 47 to a horizontal position, and the rams 45 are extended causing the pusher 28 to be displaced in the direction indicated by arrow A.

It should be appreciated that apparatus according to the present invention may take a number of different forms according to the number, size and shape of the bales to be compressed.

Claims

1. Apparatus for compressing bales either singly or in groups of two or more, the apparatus comprising a platform for supporting the bale or bales to be compressed, two or more spaced apart opposed compression plates each adapted to engage a respective face of a bale placed on the platform, at least one of said compression plates being displaceable towards the other compression plate in order to compress the bale or bales placed therebetween, and means for maintaining the bale or bales in a compressed state after removal from the apparatus.

2. Apparatus according to Claim 1 in which one of the compression plates remains stationary relative to the platform at one end thereof, with the other compression plate being displaceable towards the stationary plate.

3. Apparatus according to Claim 2 in which the displaceable plate includes wheels which rollingly engage with tracks located along and above the platform.

4. Apparatus according to Claim 3 in which there are four wheels, one at each corner of the displaceable plate, each wheel rolling along a corresponding track, two of said tracks being located on the platform and two above the platform.

5. Apparatus according to any of the preceding Claims in which the means for maintaining the bale in its compressed state comprise a vertical arm extending sideways from one side edge of the stationary plate, which arm is mounted for pivotal movement about a vertical pivot axis and has rotatably mounted thereon a number of vertically spaced apart hooks.

6. Apparatus according to any of the preceding Claims in which one of the compression plates is mounted on the apparatus for pivotal movement about an axis which extends generally transversely of the direction of compression of the bale.

7. A method of compressing one or more bales, the method comprising compressing the bale or bales between two spaced apart compression plates, and securing the bale so that it remains compressed after it is removed from between the compression plates.

8. A method according to Claim 7 in which the original baling cords surrounding the bale are utilised to maintain the bale in its compressed state, by twisting the cords to take up the slack as the bale is compressed.

9. A method according to Claim 7 in which the original baling cords are removed and replaced by one or more bonds which surround either one bale or a number of adjacent bales.

10. Apparatus according to Claim 1 and substantially as herein described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

11. A method of compressing one or more bales, the method being in accordance with Claim 7 and substantially as herein described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.