568,647. Bale - tying mechanism. INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER CO., OF GREAT BRITAIN, Ltd.- (International Harvester Co.). Sept. 9, 1943, No. 14806. [Class 6 (iii)] [Also in Group VII] Relates to bale-tying mechanism for hay, of the kind comprising means for passing a strand of tying material around the bale in the form of a loop and means for tying the ends of the loop together. According to the invention, the tying mechanism is disposed adjacent the baling chamber and is adapted to move towardssaid chamber during the tying operation. The machine shown is mounted on wheels 15, 16 and comprises a baling unit 12, Fig. 1, a pickup device 10 and a conveyer 11, the latter by means of an auger 14 serving to transfer the hay from device 10 through an opening in one vertical wall of the baling chamber. The material in the chamber is compressed by a reciprocating plunger 21, the connecting rod 22 of which is connected by a crank-pin extending between two rotating gear-wheels 24. The driving mechanism for the wheels 24 also drives a shaft 30 carrying a crank structure 29 which drives packing fingers for carrying the material from the auger through the opening in the wall of the baling chamber. Shaft 30 drives a shaft 34 which is in axial alignment with a further shaft 35 to which it is' connected by-a clutch 36 which is normally disengaged. As seen in end elevation in Fig. 3 and in side elevation in Fig. 5, the shaft 35 is journalled in a casting 48 secured to the top 19 of the baling chamber and drives, through chain-andsprocket gearing, a shaft 50 also journalled in the casting. Shaft 35 carries a cam 58 adapted, through links, to raise and lower a pair of interconnected needles 54, and a cam 80 adapted to rock the tying mechanism which is pivotally mounted on the shaft 50. Such rocking motion is imparted through the medium of a pair of plates 76 pivoted at 77 to two brackets 78 secured to casting 48 and carrying a cam follower 79, the plates being connected by an adjustable rod 74 to a sleeve 72 spanning two brackets 70 carried by the tying or knotting devices. In operation, the plunger 21 reciprocates in the baling chamber to compress the hay 37<1>, Fig. 5, such compression producing an anticlockwise rotation of a toothed wheel 37. A crank 38 on the wheel acts on a pin 41 on a spring-controlled bracket 42 carrying a rod which is in engagement with the clutch 36. Thus, when material 37<1> is packed. sufficiently, clutch 36 is so conditioned that upon the arrival of the driving shaft 34 to a predetermined position it will drive shaft 35. The cam 58 thereby brings the two needles 54 from their lowermost position, Fig. 5, to a raised position, Fig. 13, each needle carrying with it a strand of the tying material 117. The latter is fed from containers 117a, Fig. 1, and pass through the interior of each needle along the bottom, one end, and the top of the bale and thence to notched clamping discs 88 carried by the tying mechanism. Each needle in moving upwardly passes through a slot 116, Fig. 1, in the baling plunger and carries the strand over a bill hook 94 and into a notch of the clamping discs 88. In the meantime, shaft 50 has been rotated by chain 51 sufficiently to bring toothed segments 82, 83, carried by members 81 on the shaft into engagement with gear-wheels 84 and 93. Wheel 84 is mounted on a shaft 85 suitably geared to the discs 88 to rotate the latter to clamp the introduced portion of the tying strand. The other wheel 93 rotates the bill hook to form a bight in the strand, and during such rotation a fixed cam device causes the two parts 95, 96 of the bill hook first to open and then to close, so as to hold a portion of the tying material above the bight. During the rotation of the bill hook, the frame 67 of the knotting device is moved downwardly towards the baling chamber by the cam 80 on shaft 35, thus preventing undue tension on the strands during the tying operation. After the bight is formed, a knife 104 carried by a pivoted arm 102 is moved by a cam track 100 on member 81 to sever the strand and to pull the bight off the hook. The knotter frame and the tying mechanism carried thereby then return to their initial uppermost positions. A cam- 122 on shaft 35 tilts a plate 124 during the final stages; the plate being connected to the arm 38 and serving to swing the latter clear of the bracket 42 and thus disengaging the clutch. Means are also provided on the top of the baling chamber for pulling the tying material to the right, Fig. 5, before the formation of the bight, such means being actuated by a pivoted arm 110 under the action of a cam 114 on shaft 50.