823,656. Twisting wires together. INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER CO. Oct. 21, 1957 [Nov. 2, 1956], No. 32772/57. Class 83 (4). [Also in Group XVII] A wire binding mechanism for a baling machine of the kind where a wire passes round the bale, and the wire ends, one of which is bent to form a loop, are joined to produce a twist consisting of three strands, comprises wire holding means, wire twisting means, and a rotatable hook element which holds the loop during twisting and acts to prevent the inclusion of the return wire strand, leading to the wire inserting needle in the twist. The invention is described as mounted on a baler of the type in which oscillating fingers such as 16 sweep the hay into the bale forming chamber. The wire applying mechanism is duplicated so that each bale has two bands. Each binding mechanism comprises a needle 65 pivoted at 61 and swung by crank means 55-60 across the baling chamber to carry a loop of wire 73 to the twisting mechanism. Each twisting mechanism includes a wire holding device comprising slotted discs 130, 131, which rotate in unison relative to a fixed member 143, whereby a wire passing across notches 135 is carried down by the discs, Fig. 7, and jammed against the member 143, being thus deformed and held pending further rotation of the discs in the same direction. The twisting devices are of known form and consist each of a slotted spur wheel 160 driven by a further spur wheel 157, Fig. 17, the latter having mounted on it a member 167 which pushes the wire down into the slot 162. Each hook element 77 has adjacent it a hook guard 182 to prevent slipping off of the loop. The twisting mechanism and needle are set into operation by release for rotation of a clutch 36 in the common drive 30, Fig. 1. A clutch holding stop 37 is held in operative position by a lever 46 passing over a pulley 51 on the shaft of a star wheel 48. When the wheel 48 has been rotated by the formation of a bale, the arm 52 of the lever 46 has slipped off the pulley 51, permitting a spring 39 to withdraw the stop 37 and allow driving of the binding mechanism through interrupted gears 83, 84, 109. The lever 46 is reset by cam means (not shown). At the end of formation of a bale, one end 75 of the wire is gripped by the members 130, 131, 143 and the wire passes round the hook 77 through the twister slot 162 along a channel 127 in the top of the baling chamber, Fig. 13, round three sides of the bale 79 at 78, 80, 81 and between rollers 192, 193 at the end of the needle 65 to the source of supply. The needle then sways upwards to carry the wire round the fourth bale side at 82, behind the hook 77 and into the notches 135 in the discs 130, 131. The latter rotate to cause gripping of the wire portion 197 extending from the needle, and the twister spur wheel 165 is rotated to present its slot to receive the portion 197, pressed into it by the member 167, Fig. 15. The needle withdraws leaving a wire strand 200 passing round the discs 130, 131 and through a deep notch 138 therein, and over the hook shank, the latter keeping it clear of the twister. Meanwhile the twist has been made, the originally held wire end 75 released by the members 130, 131, 143 and the wire portion 197 severed from the twist by being carried past a knife 142 by the discs, Figs. 7, 17. Further rotation of the hook 77 from the position of Fig. 17 (in the direction of the arrow 203) releases the twist loop 201; the twister slot is again directed downwards and a bound bale moves on. The severed end of the wire portion 197 remains held by the members 130, 131, 143 with the portion 200 extending from it round the bale as at the commencement of the operation.