IE20060278A1 - Self loading round bale trailer - Google Patents

Abstract

The object of this invention is to provide a device for loading, transporting and unloading cylindrical bales for the farm industry. This new invention is a trailer type, which has a single or double axle and is coupled to a tractor. The trailer is made of steel, its chassis is made of heavy-duty channel tuype steel, and a frame with tow cradles is made of round section steel pipes and square box section steel quilders connecting these pipes. these cradles tip up allowing the bales to slide off. The trailer has a loading arm towards the front on one side, a pushing gate to push the bales back to the rear, a leg located near the loading arm to stabilise the trailer, and a adjustable drawbar. m The driver operates five hydraulic rams which are individually linked into a tractors hydraulic system by hydraulic pipes.

Description

This Invention relates to transporting round cylindrical bales. A round bale can be made of either hay or silage. These bales are used as feed for farm animals during the winter months. A round bale is made with a baler, by rolling a quantity of silage/hay about a central axis to form a solid cylindrical shaped roll. The bale is tied on its circumference with string or net, this helps the bale holds its shape. A round bale has two flat faces which are 1.2-1.8 metres in diameter and one cylindrical side of 1.2 1.3 in length.

Over the past few decades, the farming industry has changed a lot. Years ago the process of gathering hay from the field was very different. Firstly the hay was gathered into stacks, once this was done, the hay would then be loaded on to carts which would be pulled by the farm animals. This was all done manually. Years later the hay would be baled by a small baler, similar to a round baler but put the bales into rectangular shapes. These would be then loaded onto a trailer manually which was pulled by a tractor. Even though this was a great improvement, it was still very labour intensive. After this the round bale became more popular.

In response to the bale size increasing in weight from 20kgs to 500kgs the bales could no longer be handled manually. Therefore machinery had to be developed not only for transporting but also for picking them up off the ground and placing them on a trailer. Sometimes bales needed to be transported up to three or five kilometres. The current practice of gathering bales from the field and bringing them to the farmyard, usually involves two tractors. The first tractor pulls a trailer and the other tractor loads the trailer by means of a 3 point hitch spike which is on the rear of a tractor, or a spike mounted on a loader on the front of a tractor. Another process is to bring each bale individually into the yard on either the 3 point hitch or the front loader. This process can take a lot of time and energy as only one bale is brought at a time. Even though iOTT,' ' Ε 0^0278 trailers increase the efficiency of transporting the bales, at least two tractors are required to do the task. A major disadvantage of trailers is there are multiple movements in transporting each bale.

There are some self loading trailers, but these have some disadvantages as the bales may have to be spiked or gripped. Spiking or gripping a bale can damage the bale and the least amount of movement that is done with a bale gives a better quality feed for the animal.

Therefore a need exists for a self loading trailer.

Brief Description of Drawings The invention will be more fully understood in the light of the following description and the accompanying referenced drawings: Fig. 1 is a front elevation with a full load of bales Fig. 2 is an end elevation loading bales on to the cradle Fig. 3 is a front elevation tipping bales Fig. 4 is an end elevation showing loading arm and supporting leg Fig. 5 is an end elevation showing rollers on pushing gate Fig. 6 is a plan view loading first and second bales Fig. 7 is a plan view showing the first and second bales loaded Fig. 8 is a plan view pushing back the first and second bales Fig. 9 is a plan view loading third and fourth bales Fig. 10 is a plan view showing the third and fourth bales loaded Fig. 11 is a plan view pushing back the third and fourth bales Fig. 12 is a plan view loading fifth and sixth bales Fig. 13 is a plan view showing the fifth and sixth bales loaded Fig. 14 is a plan view pushing back the fifth and sixth bales Fig. 15 is a plan view loading seventh and eighth bales Fig. 16 is a plan view showing the seventh and eighth bales loaded Fig. 17 is a plan view showing all the bales fully loaded and ready for transporting IE 0^0 27 8 Detailed Description of the Illustrated Embodiments This apparatus comprises of a trailer having a main chassis (1) with a drawbar (24) at 5 its front end (as seen in fig. 1). Onto this drawbar is a towing eye (2) that attaches the device to a tractor. The drawbar can be lengthened and shortened by means of a hydraulic ram, which is enclosed inside two square box section steel guilders. These guilders can slide up and down in each other. By lengthening the drawbar makes it easier to load the bales, (15) because this gives the operator better visibility, and by shortening the drawbar makes it easier to transport the load and easier to manoeuvre the apparatus into tight areas. The approx length of the trailer is six metres long and the approx width is 2.5 metres. All five hydraulic rams are linked into the tractor by means of hydraulic pipes. The operator controls all these hydraulic rams using the tractors hydraulic system. Towards the rear of the chassis is at least one set of supporting wheels (3), even though a second set of wheels in tandem relationship can be added under the chassis, this reduces the weight on the tractor. On to this main chassis (1) is a frame (6) that is made up of two cradles. The first cradle (22) and the second cradle (23) are directly beside and in line with each other; they also hold the bales (15) in place while being transported. Each cradle can hold a minimum of four bales giving the apparatus a minimum capability of carrying eight bales. Each cradle is made up of four pipes, which are the full length of four bales. Two of the pipes (9) are lower down which the bales rest and two higher pipes (8) which hold the bales in place and stop the bales from rolling off. The two cradles are connected together with square box section steel guilders. This whole frame and the two cradles can tip up (as seen in fig. 3) by means of a hydraulic ram (5) around a pin (7), this allows the bales to slide off. Towards the front end of the chassis at one side only is a lifting arm (12) (as seen in fig. 2). This arm is made up of a frame (13) and onto this frame are two pipes (14). These pipes hold the bale in place while been loaded up onto the cradle. Only one bale can be loaded at any one time. The lifting arm is raised and lowered by means of a hydraulic ram (18) which pivots around a pin (16). Due to the fact that some round bales can weigh up to 750kgs, when loading up the first bale onto the trailer, the trailer may start tilting over to its side. So to eliminate this problem a supporting leg (4) is jacked down to the ground by means of a hydraulic ram (21). This leg is located towards the front of the chassis beside the lifting arm (as seen in Ο#Θ278 fig. 4). The leg only needs to be used when the first bale is been load up on the cradle because as soon as the first bale is on the trailer, the first bales weight acts as a counter weight against lifting all the following bales. Towards the front end of the frame (6) is a pushing gate (11). This pushing gate is connected to a hydraulic ram (10), which lies just between the two cradles, the pushing gate has four steel rollers (19)(as seen in fig. 5), these rollers rest on and roll back and forward in the roller frame (20). The pushing gate moves one and a half times the length of a bale. This pushing gate is used to push the bales back towards the rear of the trailer leaving room to load up two more bales. When eight bales are loaded up onto the self loading trailer, the trailer is transported to the place where the bales will be held in storage. At this area the lifting arm (12) is lowered to a horizontal position and the two cradles are tipped up around a pin (7) by raising a ram (5). When tipping up the cradles the bales begin to slide down the pipes (8)(9), when this happens the operator moves the tractor forward pulling the trailer. By doing this the bales are left on the ground in two even rows in line with each ready for stacking.

Description of Operating the self loading trailer: 1. Extend the drawbar (24) out to its maximum length 2. Extend the pushing gate (11) out to its maximum length towards the front of the trailer 3. Drive up towards the bale (15). 4. Drop the lifting loading arm (12) down having it just touching the ground.

. Align each prong (14) of the lifting arm with each side of the bale as it lies on its cylindrical side, (as seen in figure 6). 6. Drive right into the bale until the frame of the lifting arm (13) meets the flat side of the bale. Lower the leg (4) to the ground. (This is only necessary for the first bale) 7. Raise the lifting arm up on the trailer resulting in the bale being lifted on to the second cradle (23); the bale will then roll over into the first cradle (22), (raise the leg into its horizontal position again, only done for the first bale). 8. Repeat steps 3 to 7 to load the second bale into the second cradle (23). 0&0278 9. Activate and extend the pushing gate back towards the rear of the trailer. This has the effect of pushing the two bales back one length of a bale towards the rear of the trailer, (as seen in figure 7).

. Return the pushing gate to the front of the trailer, (as seen in figure 8). 11. Repeat steps 3 to 10 to load the third and fourth bales (as seen in figures 9, 10 and 11). When the third and fourth bales are been pushed back, the first and second bales are also being pushed back even further. 12. Repeat steps 3 to 10 to load the fifth and sixth bales (as seen in figure 12, 13 and 14). When the fifth and sixth bales are in position the first and second bale will be at the rear of the trailer. 13. Repeat steps 3 to 8 to load the seventh and eighth bales, (as seen in figure 15, 16 and 17). At this stage the trailer is fully loaded with eight bales. 14. The lifting arm is then raised into its upright position.

. The pushing gate is extended back to its travelling position; this is when the gate just touches the front faces of the last two bales that were loaded up. 16. The drawbar is reduced back into its minimum position. 17. This allows the self-loading bale trailer to transport the bales quickly and safely to the unloading area. 18. When arrived at the unloading area the lifting arm is lowered to the ground. 19. The platform is tipped, resulting in the eight bales sliding off the cradles in two even rows (as seen in figure 3).

. The platform is returned down to its horizontal position and the lifting arm raised into its upright vertical position. The trailer is now ready to be reloaded.

Claims (8)

1. We Claim: 1) A self loading round bale trailer for towing by a tractor for loading, transporting and unloading cylindrical bales comprising of: (a) A trailer frame (b) At least one set of wheels carrying the frame (c) A cradle mounted on the left hand side of the frame extending the entire length of the frame (d) A second cradle mounted on the right hand side of the frame extending the entire length of the frame (e) A hitch attached to the front end of the frame to be used for towing by a vehicle (f) A lifting arm attached to the frame used for raising a bale from the ground and positioning the bale on the left hand cradle (g) A pushing gate which lies on two cradles used for moving the bales from the front to the back of each cradle

2. ) A self loading round bale trailer as in claim 1 further comprising of: A support frame to carry cylindrical bales horizontally, this support frame is made up of two cradles, these cradles lie parallel and inline with each other; they are supported together by connecting steel beams, this support frame can tip up by a hydraulic ram, around a pivoting pin towards its rear, which is operated from a vehicle, when it tips up the bales slide off from the two cradles into two parallel rows at the rear of the trailer.

3. ) A self loading round bale trailer as in claim 1 further comprising of: An adjustable drawbar, which extends and retracts by means of a hydraulic ram which, is powered and operated from a tractor, onto this drawbar the hitch is attached which is used for towing by a tractor.

4. ) A self loading round bale trailer as in claim 1 further comprising of: At least one set of wheels or two sets of wheels mounted in tandem relationship carrying the frame.

5. ) A self loading round bale trailer as in claim 1 further comprising of: A pushing gate, which lies on the two cradles used, for moving the bales that rest horizontally from the front to the back of each cradle, the pushing gate is mounted on four steel rollers that move back and forward on a rail track, it is powered by means of a hydraulic ram that is operated from a tractor.

6. ) A self loading round bale trailer as in claim 1 further comprising of: Being able to load, transport and unload at least eight round cylindrical bales.

7. ) A self loading round bale trailer as in claim 1 further comprising of: A lifting arm attached to the front end of the frame used for raising a bale from the ground and positioning the bale on the left hand cradle, it is powered by means of a hydraulic ram that is operated from a tractor.

8. ) A self loading round bale trailer as in claim 1 further comprising of: A leg that is positioned beside the lifting arm, the leg need be only used while lifting the first bale on to the left hand cradle, this is to balance the trailer and prevent the trailer tilting over onto its side, it is powered by means of a hydraulic ram, which is operated from a