GB2304670A - A bale wrapping system - Google Patents

Abstract

A bale wrapping system comprises a path along which a bale 40 is conveyed and urged against a curtain of wrapping material from a dispenser 18, 26, 28 extending across its path, an operable sealing means 20, cutting means 22 and front loading arms 14, 16. The material dispenser 18 consists of a hoop shaped frame with a reel 26, 28 of material positioned above and below the path of the bale 40. In use arms 14,16 lift the bale from ground level to a position up a ramp towards said curtain of material urging the bale against it. This action releases further material from the dispenser 18, which overlaps the bale 40 and as it continues its movement, extends beyond a rear end of the bale. With the plastic material beyond the rear end of the bale 40, the sealing means 20 comprising of a pair of heated plates 34, 36 is activated in order to form the material covering the bale into a sealed bag.

Description

TITLE: A Bale Wrapping System DESCRIPTION This invention relates to a bale wrapping system.

It is common practice to wrap bales, for example, the wrapping of bales of grass for the production of silage. The conventional method of wrapping a bale is to simply place the bale in a plastic bag, the open mouth of which is sealed by the use of twine. However, there is an automated method which requires placing a bale on aqturntable, applying a film to the surface of the bale and rotating the bale such that the bale becomes completely covered in two or three layers of the film.

An aim of the present invention is to provide a system for the wrapping of bales.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided a bale wrapping system comprising at least one material dispenser, a path along which a bale having a front and a rear end is conveyed, means for holding said material across the path and operable sealing means wherein, in use, a bale to be wrapped is conveyed along said path and a front end thereof is urged against the material held across the path thereby releasing further material from the dispenser which, as the bale continues along the path and releases more material, overlaps the bale and extends beyond said rear end whereupon activation of said sealing means results in the material covering the bale being formed into a sealed bag.

Preferably, said system further comprises an operable cutting means whereby the material wrapped around a bale can be separated from the remaining material.

The material dispenser may conveniently take the form of a reel upon which a sheet of said material may be wound. A reel may be positioned above and below said path such that a bale is conveyed there between.

In an embodiment of the present invention wherein a bale is wrapped utilising a top and a bottom sheet of material held on respective top and bottom reels, sealing means are conveniently provided to seal together the top and bottom sheets along both sides of the bale and along the rear end of the bale. Preferably, the sealing means also provides a seal between the top and bottom sheets of the material to be used to cover a front end of a subsequent bale to be wrapped. Hence, material is effectively held across the path between the top and bottom rollers by virtue of the sealing of the top and bottom sheets together.

The sealing means may take the form of a heated pair of cooperating plates which are moveable in order to engage, on either side, two overlapping sections of said plastics material thereby sealing the two sections together. The pair of plates are preferably located, when in the disengaged position, one above and below said path.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the material is in the form of a tube. The material dispenser preferably takes the form of a frame defining an opening through which a bale passes. The material is preferably concertined and held in said frame. The frame may be in the shape of a hoop.

In use, the sealing means is used to seal the open mouth of the tube. Conveniently, the sealing means also seals an end of the tubular material forming the bag of a subsequent bale to be wrapped.

Said material may be formed from plastics and is preferably a flexible plastics material.

Preferably, the system further comprises means for conveying a bale along at least part of said path.

The conveying means may be a conveyer belt or, in one embodiment of the invention, may comprise moveable arms which may be adapted to lift a bale from ground level to a position adjacent said frame. Hence, the arms may be pivoted from a horizontal to a vertical position. The arms may be used to lift round bales and it is preferred that a pair of arms are utilised in order to lift a round bale. In use, an arm may be positioned on either side of a round bale such that each arm underlies at least part of the bale.

Alternatively, the conveying means comprises one or more moveable arms which, in use, extends above and behind a bale to be wrapped and pushes or rolls the bale through the opening defined by said frame.

Conveniently, the conveying means further comprises a ramp up which the bale is pushed by said front arms towards said frame.

The system may be incorporated into a trailer which may be used in association with a tractor.

Alternatively, the system may be incorporated into a conventional baler. It is envisaged that the baler is adapted such that a formed bale is passed directly into the system prior to in being tied.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figures 1, 2 and 3 are side views of a trailer incorporating a system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention and illustrate the wrapping operation; Figures 4, 5 and 6 are respective top views of the trailer illustrated in figures 1, 2 and 3; Figures 7 and 8 are schematic side views illustrating the sealing and cutting operations; Figures 9 and 10 are side views of an alternative arrangement of a material dispenser illustrated in figures 1 to 8; Figures 11 and 12 are side views of a further alternative arrangement of a material dispenser illustrated in figures 1 to 8; Figure 13 is a perspective view of the present invention according to a further embodiment;; Figure 14 is a side view of the bale wrapping vehicle illustrated in figure 13; and Figure 15 is a plan view of the bale wrapping vehicle illustrated in figures 13 and 14.

Referring to figures 1 to 8 in the first instance, a trailer incorporating the system is indicated generally by the numeral 10. The trailer is conveniently hitched to a tractor 12 by conventional means. The trailer is pulled off set from the tractor as can be clearly seen with reference to figure 4 and for reasons which will become apparent hereinafter.

The trailer comprises hydraulically operated lifting arms 14, 16, material dispenser 18, sealing means 20, cutter 22 and a platform 24.

The material dispenser 18 comprises a top holder 26 and a bottom holder 28 in which plastic tubing 30 is held in a concertined form. Sufficient tubing may be held to ensure the wrapping of between 100 - 200 bales.

The lifting arms 14, 16 are rotatable about an axis 32 and are moveable from a position where the arms are substantially horizontal to a position where the arms are substantially vertical.

The sealing means 20 are located after material dispenser 18 and comprise two pairs of heating units 34, 36. Each pair of heating units comprise an upper element A and a lower element B which are both sufficiently wide to extend beyond the width of the tubing material. The heating elements are moveable vertically towards a central location. The cutter 22 is located between the upper elements of heating units 34, 36 and is similarly vertically moveable to a central location.

Platform 24 comprises a plurality of spaced apart freely spinning rollers 38 and extends outwardly and downwardly from material dispenser 18.

A first part of a path is described by the rotation of the lifting arms 14, 16 from the horizontal to the vertical. The remaining part of the path passes between holders 26, 28 and along said platform.

With particular reference to figures 7 and 8, a wrapped bale 40 having a front end 42, rear end 44 and sides 46, 48 is illustrated. The plastic tubing has a front seal 50 thereby sealing the tubing at a front end of the bale and a rear seal 52 thereby sealing the tubing at a rear end of the bale.

The operation of wrapping a bale will now be described with, initially, arms 14, 16 in their lowered position ie held horizontally, and the tubing material formed across said path between holders 26, 28 by virtue of a front seal joining a top and bottom section of the plastic tubing together. One typical example of the envisaged use of the present invention is for the wrapping of a bale whilst still in the field in which it has been produced. Typically, the bales will be positioned in a line although, of course, spaced apart.

The tractor is driven such that it is off set to a line of bales although with the trailer in line. The tractor is driven alongside a bale 40 such that lifting arms 14, 16 are positioned either side of the bale. The arms are then rotated about axis 32 thereby lifting bale 40 from the ground. As the arms are rotated, the bale moves into a position wherein a front end 42 comes into contact with the end of the plastic tubing formed across the path. The continual rotation of the bale thereby results in the front end 42 of the bale being urged against the end of the tubing. The force applied to the tubing pushes it forward ie in a direction towards the platform, and thus releases further tubing material from holders 26, 28. This further material surrounds the front section of the bale.The arms 14, 16 are rotated until they reach a final position wherein they are held vertically as shown in figures 2 and 5. In this position, the front section of the bale rests on at least one of said rollers 38. The momentum imparted by the lifting arms 14, 16 carries the bale forward and completely onto rollers 38. Since the platform 24 slopes downward, the action of gravity upon the bale coupled with the free spinning rollers ensures that the bale continues its forward movement. As a result, further plastic tubing is released from holders 26, 28 and which overlaps more and more of the bale as it continues its forward movement.

With particular reference to figures 3, 6 and 8, a position is reached where the tubing overlaps a rear end 44 of the bale. In this position, heating units are operated such that the heating elements move toward one another. Heating elements 36 A and B sandwich a bottom and a top layer of the plastic tubing therebetween and fuse the plastic forming rear seal 52 along the entire width of the tubing. Hence, the bale is effectively wrapped by the forming of said seal across the tubing.

Simultaneously, heating elements 34 A and B form another seal across the width of the tubing which thereby forms front seal 50 of a the subsequent bale to be wrapped.

Cutter 22 is operated in order to separate the wrapped bale from the remaining material. The cutter cuts the plastic material between the formation of the two seals ie between rear seal 52 of the bale being wrapped and front seal 50 of a subsequent bale to be wrapped. The operation is then repeated for the wrapping of a further bale.

With reference to figures 9 and 10, an alternative arrangement for the dispenser of the above described embodiment is illustrated. The dispenser comprises an upper reel 60 and a lower reel 62. Each reel has a sheet of plastic wound thereon. A front and a rear seal 64, 66 are formed in the same manner as described above eg the front seal is formed simultaneously with the forming of a rear seal of a previously wrapped bale. In addition to the forming of the two aforementioned seals, it is also necessary to form a seal 68 along each side of the bale. The forming of seals 68 necessitates the provision of further sealing means as will be understood by the man skilled in the art.

Referring to figures 11 and 12, a further alternative arrangement for the dispenser is illustrated. In this arrangement, a single reel 70 holding a sheet of plastic is provided. An end 72 of the sheet is held at a position directly opposite the reel and consequently, the sheet is held vertically across said path. As in the above described embodiment, a front end of a bale is urged against the plastic material thereby releasing further material from reel 70. The forward movement of the bale results in yet more material being released from the reel until a position is reached where the sheet overlaps a rear end of the bale. In this position, sealing means are operated in order to form rear seal 74 and side seals 76.

With reference to figures 13, 14 and 15, a further embodiment of the present invention will now be described. A bale wrapping vehicle 80 comprises a base 82, a plastics material dispenser 84, an operable sealing and cutting mechanism 86, a front loading arm 88, wheels 90 and a draw bar 92 for connection of the vehicle to, for example, a tractor.

The base 82 comprises a first side 93, a second side 94, three free spinning rollers 95 each positioned across the width of the base between said first and second sides, a tailgate 96 located at one end of the base and a ramp 98 located at the other end.

The material dispenser 84 comprises an upright square frame 100 defining an opening 101 therein and is positioned across base 82 and located adjacent said ramp 98. Frame 100 holds the plastics wrapping material, which is in the form of tubing, in a concertined manner (not shown). The end of the plastics tubing is sealed and held across opening 101 as clearly illustrated in figure 13.

The sealing and cutting mechanism 86 comprises two pairs of pivotally connected arms 102, 104 which lie above and along said sides of the base, hydraulic rams 106, 108 and vertical guide members 110, 112. Guide members 110 and 112 extend vertically from respective sides 93 and 94 at positions between said rollers and the square frame 100 and are each provided with a slot 114 therein. Said guide members are positioned such that slots 114 directly oppose and coincide with one another. The first pair of arms 102a and 102b are pivotally connected to one another at an end 116 and hydraulic ram 106 connects the two arms together at positions intermediate their lengths. Hydraulic ram 106 is secured to support strut 118. The second pair of arms 104a and 104b are similarly constructed with hydraulic ram 108 connecting them together which is itself secured to a support strut. Support member 120 extends across the width of the base and through slots 114 so as to connect the free ends of arms 102a and 104a together. In a similar manner, support member 122 connects free ends of arms 102b and 104b together. A metal plate 124 extends across the base between sides 93 and 94 and is secured to arms 102a and 104a by support arms 126. Similarly, a metal plate 128 extends across the base and is secured to arms 102b and 104b by support arms 130. The plates 124 and 128 are arranged such that when in the position shown in figure 15, they are clamped together. Metal plate 124 is divided (not shown) in half along its length by a downwardly extending blade and metal plate 128 is divided by a groove such that when said plates are clamped together, the blade is engaged in said groove.Heating means (not shown) are provided so as to heat the metal plates including said blade extending from plate 124.

In use, the hydraulic rams 106, 108 are operated together and result in arms 102, 104 moving in a scissor like manner from an extended or open position shown in figure 15 to a closed position illustrated in figure 13.

The front loading arm 88 is pivotally connected to two spaced apart members 130, 132 which extend horizontally from frame 100. A hydraulic ram 134 is provided for pivoting arm 88 with respect to members 130, 132.

Draw bar 92 connects the vehicle to a tractor in a similar fashion as described above with reference to figure 1 ie such that the vehicle is off-set from the tractor.

The operation of the vehicle will now be described with, initially, the two pairs of arms 102, 104 and the front loading arm in the positions illustrated in figure 14 ie with arms 102, 104 in their open position. The tractor manoeuvres the vehicle such that ramp 98 is adjacent a round bale and arm 88 lies above and beyond a rear end of the bale. Hydraulic ram 134 is then operated so as to pivot arm 88 so as to engage the bale. Movement of the arm pushes or rolls the bale up ramp 98 and through opening 101. The front end of the bale comes into contact with the end of the tubing and the forward motion of the bale pushes the end of the tubing forward ie in the direction of arrow 'A', thereby releasing further wrapping material from frame 100.As the bale moves in the direction of arrow 'A', it comes into contact with rollers 95 which aids the continued movement of the bale. As the bale continues its movement, further wrapping material is released and the bale becomes covered with said material. Once the bale is completely covered, hydraulic rams 106, 108 are operated so as to move arms 102, 104 from their open position to their closed position. In this position, two layers of material are clamped by plates 124 and 128. The heated plates form a seal between the two layers of material which is, of course, of the same width as the plates.

The heated blade projecting from plate 124 engages the plastics material and results in the material being cut at that position. Since the blade divides the plate in two, two seals are in fact formed.

The first seal being to seal the rear end of the tubing covering the bale and the second seal to form the front seal of the tubing to wrap a subsequent bale.

Arms 102, 104 are then raised to the open position, the vehicle is pulled to the next bale to be wrapped and the wrapping process is then repeated.

Claims (19)

1. A bale wrapping system comprising at least one material dispenser, a path along which a bale having a front and a rear end is conveyed, means for holding said material across the path and operable sealing means wherein, in use, a bale to be wrapped is conveyed along said path and a front end thereof is urged against the material held across the path thereby releasing further material from the dispenser which, as the bale continues along the path and releases more material, overlaps the bale and extends beyond said rear end whereupon activation of said sealing means results in the material covering the bale being formed into a sealed bag.

2. A bale wrapping system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said system further comprises an operable cutting means whereby the material wrapped around a bale can be separated from the remaining material.

3. A bale wrapping system as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein said material dispenser takes the form of a reel upon which a sheet of said material is wound.

4. A bale wrapping system as claimed in claim 3 wherein a reel is positioned above and below said path such that a bale is conveyed there between.

5. A bale wrapping system as claimed in claim 4 wherein said reels dispense a top and bottom sheet of said material and, in use, the sealing means seals together the top and bottom sheet along both sides of the bale and along the rear end of the bale.

6. A bale wrapping system as claimed in claim 5 wherein said sealing means also provides a seal between the top and bottom sheets of the material to be used to cover a front end of a subsequent bale to be wrapped.

7. A bale wrapping system as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein the material is in the form of a tube.

8. A bale wrapping system as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 7 wherein the material dispenser is in the form of a frame through which a bale passes.

9. A bale wrapping system as claimed in claim 7 or 8 wherein the material is held concertined by said material dispenser.

10. A bale wrapping system as claimed in claim 8 or 9 wherein the frame is in the shape of a hoop.

11. A bale wrapping system as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 10 wherein, in use, the sealing means is used to seal an open mouth of the tube.

12. A bale wrapping system as claimed in claim 11 wherein the sealing means also seals an end of the tubular material forming the bag of a subsequent bale to be wrapped.

13. A bale wrapping system as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 12 wherein said sealing means takes the form of a heated pair of cooperating plates which are moveable in order to engage, on either side, two overlapping sections of said material thereby sealing the two sections together.

14. A bale wrapping system as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 13 wherein said system further comprises means for conveying a bale along at least part of said path.

15. A bale wrapping system as claimed in claims 14 wherein the conveying means is a conveyer belt.

16. A bale wrapping system as claimed in claim 14 wherein said conveying means comprises moveable arms which are adapted to lift a bale from ground level to a position adjacent said material dispenser.

17. A bale wrapping system as claimed in claim 14 wherein said conveying means comprises one or more moveable arms which are adapted to push or roll a bale up a ramp towards said material dispenser.

18. A bale wrapping system as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 17 wherein said material is formed of a flexible plastics material.

19. A bale wrapping system substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.