GB2210824A

GB2210824A - Pick-up roll baler

Info

Publication number: GB2210824A
Application number: GB8823618A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Dr Ing Hans-Otto Sacht; Juergen Roehrbein
Original assignee: Gebrueder Welger GmbH and Co KG
Current assignee: Gebrueder Welger GmbH and Co KG
Priority date: 1987-10-09
Filing date: 1988-10-07
Publication date: 1989-06-21
Anticipated expiration: 2008-10-07
Also published as: GB2210824B; GB8823618D0; NL8802362A; FR2621446B1; DE3734186A1; FR2621446A1

Description

22 10824 Title: PICK-UP ROLL BALER This invention relates to a baling

press for producing big round bales of stalky materials. The baling press is of the kind which has a front (relative to the intended direction of travel) set of belts passing over rollers, which set of belts is situated in a front casing of the press, and a rear set of belts passing over rollers, which set of belts is situated in a rear casing which can be swung open into a discharge position, two sections of belt arranged to move in opposite directions bounding a baling or winding chamber, and there being two intermediate rollers situated at a level higher than an entry gap for the material and being closely spaced opposite one another on a supporting part, which is hinged on one of the casing parts, so that the intermediate rollers can move upwards against the force of a belt tension device with increasing bale diameter. Such a baling press press will hereinafter be referred to as "a baling press of the kind hereinbefore set forth".

A baling press of the kind hereinbefore set forth is described in EP-A-0 125 719, for example. This press includes a front set of belts and a rear set of belts, which pass over rollers with a fixed axis of rotation and partly over movable rollers, so that two sections of belt moving in opposite directions bound the winding chamber and a sufficient length is available for the belts, which are drawn out with increasing bale diameter and corresponding increase of the winding chamber volume in the area of the belt sections bounding the winding chamber. The belt sections moving in opposite directions are taken through two intermediate rollers, which move upwards nearly in a straight line via a parallel linkage situated on the front casing. In addition, three hinged tension rollers are provided to take up the necessary excess length of belts. In order to achieve the required pressing density of the bale, it is necessary that the belts and the supporting parts of the movable rollers should be kept at a sufficient 2 pretension and should only yield when subjected to a predetermined tension arising as the result of an increase of the bale diameter, for which purpose four hydraulic cylinder units are provided.

In the well-known devices, the means for controlling the expansion of the winding chamber and for setting the density of the bales are very expensive. These devices also suffer from the disadvantage that the belts suffer alternating bending, which causes great wear of the belt material and which requires belt connecting elements, which are liable to wear and cannot withstand much tensile load. In the case of the above-mentioned EPPS, for example, the direction of bending changes twice during one belt cycle.

In DE-PS 24 43 838 there is described a very simple design of a roll bale press with the so-called 'fixed chamber principle', which avoids the above-mentioned disadvantages, but which, with the means known at present, is at the limits regarding a further increase in bale density, which is required if the bales are used for commercial purposes and in certain harvesting conditions, for example with very dry straw.

It is an object of the invention to develop a roll baling press of the kind hereinbefore set forth so that the above-mentioned disadvantages are avoided and the roll bale press uses the design advantages of the fixed chamber principle.

According to the present invention there is provided a baling press of the kind hereinbefore set forth wherein the belt sections of both sets of belts remote from the winding chamber can be taken up by a movable tension roller situated inside a space surrounded by a set of belts guided by rollers the axes of rotation of which are fixed relative to the casing parts.

The configuration of the present roll bale press only includes the pair of pressure rollers necessary for high compression and formed by the intermediate rollers 3 and a further tension roller, which can store and when necessary release the necessary excess length of belt without alternate bending. Control is exercised in a simple way by a single tensioning device, which in the case of an hydraulic cylinder unit can be simultaneously used for swinging open the rear casing. In the initially triangular cross-section winding space of constant volume, the material is first wound loosely, while the material is then continuously tightly wound around this core with the winding chamber yielding, and the core being compressed from the outside towards the inside.

A roll bale is formed with a very small star-shaped folded core, which is surrounded by highly compressed layers. The core area of this rolled bale can easily be undone.

- In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the supporting part and the tension roller are situated on a common pivot. The whole control of the expansion of the winding chamber can therefore be exerted from one point using one tensioning element.

According to an ancillary feature of the invention, the. supporting part consists of two adjacent support arms spaced apart from one another and standing forward from the pivot, the arms carrying the two intermediate rollers at their free ends via a hinged support, while the tension roller is connected to the pair of support arms spaced below the pivot via a pair of lever arms. Due to this arrangement, the two intermediate rollers remain constantly on top of the bale, so that the belts driving the bale are reliably in contact with the bale over their whole extent, and so that the intermediate rollers can exert a high compressive pressure on the bale.

In a particularly advantageous embodiment, the tension roller is mounted so as to be pivotable around an axis coaxial with the pivot on the supporting part, so that the tension roller takes up a position limited by a stop during the bale-formation process, while the tension 4 roller is rotated in the opposite direction by a spring during swinging open of the rear casing into the discharge position, the tension roller thereby serving to tension the released length of belt of the rear set of belts. In this way, the tension roller will reliably take up the excess length of belt when the rear casing is swung open and prevents 'whipping' or 1junpover' of the belts so that the belt drive does not have to be interrupted during the discharge of the bale. In a preferred'embodiment, the intermediate rollers are located, in an initial position, approximately at the height of the midpoint of a bale of maximum diameter situated in the winding chamber. The greater initial volume of the winding chamber makes it possible to use belts of a shorter length than is necessary in winding chambers which have a very small initial volume. Further, the loose material supplied can be distributed at the start in the initially free space and is only compressed from the outside inwards, so that the resulting bale is not formed with a hard core which is difficult to undo. Other embodiments and features are mentioned in the claims. In order to enable the invention to be more readily understood, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate diagrammatically and by way of example an embodiment thereof, and in which:Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section through a roll bale press according to the invention before bale production has commenced, Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing the roll bale press after a bale with maximum diameter has been produced, and Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing a rear casing swung open and the press in a discharge position. Referring now to the drawings, there is shown a roll bale press which has a two-part pressing space provided by a front casing 1, which rests on a driving frame 2, and a rear casing 3, which can swing about a pivot-4 to a discharge position 5 shown in Fig. 3.

The front casing 1 has two front side wall sections 6, which are connected to each other by cross-connections. The rear casing 3 has two rear side wall sections 7 which in the closed position rest with their front edges 8 abutting the front sidewall sections 6. A drawbar 9 is attached to the front casing 1 for connection with a tractor (not shown), for towing the roll bale press over a field in the direction of the arrow 10.

A winding chamber 11, the diameter of which can increase during the production of a bale is bounded in the pressing space casing 1, 3 below by a floor conveyor 12 and above by a front set of belts 13 and a rear set of belts 14. The conveyor 12 and the sets of belts 13,14 each consists of one or more endless belts situated next to one another, which are driven in the direction 15 so that they all run in the same direction around the winding chamber 11. They can also be made as drive chains. A gap 16 is left at the lowest front position of the pressing space casing for the entry of material to be baled. A pick-up 17 is supported in front of and below this gap.

The front set of belts 13 follow paths defining a parallelogram in the initial position 18 as shown in Fig. 1, i.e. before the start of the bale formation process. A section of belt 19 remote from the winding chamber 11 passes over front deflection rollers 20 and 21, the axes of rotation of which are fixed relative to the front side wall sections 6, an upper deflection roller 22, the axis of rotation of which is fixed relative to the rear side wall sections 7 and a front intermediate roller 23. A belt section 24 directly limiting the winding chamber 11 runs in the direction of arrow 25 and extends from the intermediate rollers 23 to the front deflection roller 20.

6 The rear set of belts 14 follow paths substantially defining an equilateral triangle in the initial position 18 as shown in Fig. 1. A rear belt section 26 directly limiting the winding chamber 11 moves in the opposite direction to the front belt section 24 and extends between a lower deflection roller 27, the axis of rotation of which is fixed relative to the rear side wall sections 7, and a rear intermediate roller 28. A belt section 29 leads away from the winding chamber 11 and runs from the rear intermediate roller 28 upwards to an upper deflection roller 30, the axis of rotation of which is coaxial with the pivot 4 of the rear casing 3 fixed in the front side wall sections 6. From here, the belt section 29 passes over a subsequent tension roller 31, to be described later, to the lower deflection roller 27. Two supporting rollers 32, 33 extend between the rear side wall sections 7 and serve to prevent the belt section 26 tensioning the bale and the belt section 29 remote from it from coming into contact with one another as can be seen from Fig. 2.

In the initial position 18, the intermediate rollers 23 and 28 are situated at approximately half the diameter of a bale 34 of maximum diameter shown in Fig. 2. They guide the two belt sections 24, 26 going in opposite directions between them. Both the intermediate rollers 23 and 28 can rotate in a support 35, which can pivot like a pendulum head about an axis 36 at the free end of a supporting part 37. The supporting part 37 consists of support arms 38 extending from back to front, which are situated directly on the inside of the two rear side wall sections 7. The support arms are solidly connected together by a cross tube 39, which is supported in the rear side wall sections 7 so as to be pivotable about a pivot 40 and which extends through the side wall sections to the outside at both ends. An arm 41 is fixed directly outside each side wall section 7 at each outer end of the cross tube 39 and each arm 41 is connected to an hydraulic cylinder 42, which is supported by a bolt 43 7 to the rear side wall section 7.

A lever arm 44 is pivoted on the cross tube 39 in the immediate vicinity of each inner rear side wall section 7 so as to be pivotable about the pivot 40, and carries the tension roller 31 normally spaced below the pivot 40. Each lever arm 44 has a stop 45, which, as can be seen from Fig. 2, is adjacent to the support arm 38 during the bale production process, because of.the belt tension, so that the supporting part 37 and the lever arm 44 for the tension roller 31 move together as though rigidly connected. A tension spring 46 acts at one end on the lever arm 44 and at the other end on a plate 47 welded to the cross tube 39. The spring force is less than the belt tension during the bale formation process. Because of belt elasticity, the stop 45 may be only a short distance from support arm 38 in its initial position 18.

Before the start of the bale formation process, all the elements take up the initial position 18 shown in Fig. 1.

In operation, the roll baler shown in the drawings is pulled by a tractor over the windrows of crop lying in the field, and the windrow are picked up by the pick-up drum 17 rotating in the direction of arrow 50 and are taken through the gap 16 into winding chamber 11.

The floor conveyor 12 carries the crop material to the belt section 26 moving upwards, from which the material is taken upwards for some distance and is thrown forwards by the belt section 24 transporting it in the direction of arrow 25. Due to the relatively large initial volume of winding chamber 11, it is spread out evenly over its width and starts to roll into a bale. As material is supplied, the rolled bale 34 increases in size, until finally it reaches the maximum diameter shown in Fig. 2. During the winding process, the intermediate rollers 23 and 28 are constantly in contact with the bale at its circumference and they apply a downward compressive pressure which can be predetermined, due to the hydraulic cylinder 42, the rollers moving upwards with increasing 8 bale size.

The axis 36 of the support 35 of the intermediate rollers 23 and 28 moves along a track 48 curved to the rear upwards and allows the length of belt 24 involved in the bale formation process to change its path under pretension. The tension roller 31 moves together with the-supporting part 37 from the position 51 shown in Fig. 1 along track 49 to the position shown in.Fig. 2. The stops 45 are constantly in contact with supporting part 37, so that the tension roller 31 and the intermediate roller 28 are at a constant distance from one another and the length of belt required by belt section 26 is allowed to change its path reliably and evenly under a predetermined tension as the bale diameter increases.

The rolled bale 34 shown in Fig. 2 is tied several times by binding thread from a binding device (not shown) and is then thrown out by swinging open the rear casing 3 to the discharge position 5 shown in Fig. 3. Simultaneously with the swinging open of the rear casing, the deflection roller 22 pivots around the pivot 4 and therefore releases the length of belt pulled in by the intermediate roller 23 during the swinging open. In the discharge position 5 of the rear case 3, the length of belt of belt section 26 released by the rolled bale thrown out is tensioned by tension roller 31, which moves anticlockwise to the position shown in Fig. 3 during the throwing out process due to the force of tension spring 46. After closing of the rear case 3, all the elements automatically return to their initial position 18 and a new bale formation cycle can start.

9

Claims

CLAIMS: 1. A baling press of the kind hereinbefore set forth wherein the

belt sections of at least one set of belts remote from the winding chamber can be taken up by a movable tension roller situated inside a space surrounded by a set of belts guided by rollers the axes of rotation of which are fixed relative to the casing parts.
2. A baling press as claimed in Claim 2, wherein the tension roller can be swung jointly with the supporting part.
3. A baling press as claimed in Claim 1 or 2, wherein the supporting part and the tension roller are swingable about a common pivot.
4. A baling press as claimed in Claim 3, wherein the pivot is supported on the rear casing.
5. A baling press as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 4, wherein the tension roller acts at the apex of a triangle formed by the equilateral initial position of the rear set of belts, the base of said triangle being the section of belt bounding the winding chamber.
6. A baling press as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 5, wherein the supporting part consists of two adjacent support arms spaced apart from one another, extending forward from the pivot, the arms carrying two intermediate rollers at their free ends via a hinged support, while the tension roller is connected to the pair of supporting arms spaced below the pivot via a pair of lever arms.
7. A baling press as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 6, wherein the tension roller is mounted so as to be pivotable about an axis on the supporting part coaxial with the pivot, so that the tension roller can take up a position limited by a stop during the formation of bales and can move jointly with the supporting part, while during the swinging open of the rear casing into the discharge position, the tension roller can move in the opposite direction by means of springs so as to tighten the length of belt behind the set of belts becoming free.
8. A baling press as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 7, wherein the intermediate roller at the front set of belts moves along a curved path in the space surrounded by its belts.
9. A baling press as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 8, wherein the intermediate rollers are situated in the initial position at about the height of the midpoint of a bale of maximum diameter situated in the winding chamber.
10. A baling press as claimed in claim 1 or any one of Claims 4 to 9, wherein each intermediate roller is hinged on a supporting part, both the supporting parts being connected by a coupling bar, and one supporting part being connected to the tension roller.
11. A baling press as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 10J. wherein an upper deflecting roller of the front set of belts is carried by the rear casing.
12. A baling press as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 11, wherein the set of belts having the tension roller has belts of greater length than the other set.
13. A baling press as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 12, wherein the winding chamber is bounded in the lower part between a pick-up drum and a lower deflection roller of the rear casing by-transport rollers, a set of belts or similar endless transport elements.
14. A baling press of the kind set forth substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

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