WO1999049721A1

WO1999049721A1 - Method of making a round bale and a pallet package, a round bale and a pallet package

Info

Publication number: WO1999049721A1
Application number: PCT/FI1999/000253
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kari Hirvonen; Heikki RYYNÄNEN
Original assignee: Piippo-Tuote Oy
Priority date: 1998-03-31
Filing date: 1999-03-26
Publication date: 1999-10-07
Also published as: AU3038099A; DE19983079T1; GB0023244D0; FI980727A0; FI980727A; GB2353020A

Abstract

The invention relates to a round bale (20) comprising a product stack (70) consisting of an agricultural crop, such as a crop of hay and green fodder, packed in a cylindrical form and intended for transport and storage, the stack being tied inside a baling net (30). In order that the round bale (20) could be manufactured economically and that it would prevent the best part of the crop from being wasted, the material bordering single meshes of the net (30) comprises no knots within the entire area defined by the mesh. The material preferably consists of thin planar plastic strips. The invention also relates to a pallet package comprising product packages piled on a pallet and tied thereto by surrounding them with a net. In order that the pallet package could be made economically, it comprises a net as described above. The invention also relates to a method of making a round bale and a pallet package.

Description

1

METHOD OF MAKING A ROUND BALE AND A PALLET PACKAGE, A ROUND BALE AND A PALLET PACKAGE

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a method of making a round bale, wherein a baling net is formed, and a product stack consisting of an agricultural crop, such as a crop of hay and green fodder, packed in a cylindrical form is tied inside the baling net, the manufacture of the baling net comprising a step where a film is formed, and the film is then provided with meshes. The invention also relates to a round bale comprising a product stack consisting of an agricultural crop, such as a crop of hay and green fodder, packed in a cylindrical form and intended for transport and storage, the stack being tied inside a baling net.

The invention also relates to a method according to the preamble of appended claim 8 of making a pallet package, and to a pallet package according to the preamble of appended claim 9.

The aforementioned round bales are used rather widely. The purpose of the net is to pack the crop relatively tightly. In order to make the round bales substantially airtight, they can also be surrounded with a plastic film. As it is known, the net for the round bales is formed mechanically by tying. A commonly used example of such nets is the Raschel net, which is a net containing knots and wound from HD polyethylene fibres with the Raschel method. The apparatus required for making a Raschel net comprises a film blowing line for making a polyethylene film, and a knitting machine which makes bonded or knotted nets from the polyethylene film. The Raschel method comprises two phases, film-making and knitting, which are carried out as separate operations. The film line and the knitting machine are separately operating units. When a net is made in such a manner, the manufacture is complicated and the costs of manufacture become rather high. The manufacturing costs depend on the investment and operating costs and the costs of raw material. Another factor affecting the costs of production is the space required by the apparatus.

The Raschel net is not so tight that it could prevent some of the loose, small-size material inside the round bale from dropping off, wherefore the best part of the crop is wasted. Product packages on pallets, attached to the pallet by means of a net, are used widely. The purpose of the net is to facilitate efficient handling of the product packages. The nets are woven nets. The costs of making such nets are rather high due to the investment and operating costs of the manufacturing apparatus. A large apparatus naturally requires a large factory.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The purpose of the invention is to provide a new type of round bale and pallet package that can be made more economically than previously, and methods for making them. Another purpose is to make a round bale which manages to store the best part of the crop.

In order to reach these objectives, the method according to the invention is characterized in that the meshes of the baling net are formed through fibrillation and stretching, wherefore the material bordering single meshes of the net comprises no knots within the entire area defined by the mesh. The round bale is characterized in that the material bordering single meshes of the net comprises no knots within the entire area defined by the mesh. Such a net can be made by fibrillation. The structure of the net meshes is preferably such that the meshes tend to diminish when the net is pulled in one direction and to open when the net is pulled in another direction which is perpendicular to the first direction. The preferred embodiments of the round bale are disclosed in appended claims 2 to 7.

The method according to the invention of making a pallet package and the pallet package according to the invention are characterized by what is disclosed in the characterizing parts of appended claims 8 and 9. The preferred embodiments of the pallet package are disclosed in appended claims 10 to 14.

The idea of the invention relating to a round bale is to employ a fibrillation technique that is known per se, wherefore there is no need for film cutting and knitting. It has been found out, surprisingly, that the lateral or transverse strength of a fibrillated net, which is significantly lower than the longitudinal strength of the net, is sufficient for the aforementioned product stack arrangement. The longitudinal strength of the net can be as high as threefold compared to a net made with the Raschel method. The lateral strength is sufficient without biaxial orientation. The round bales according to the invention have thus provided rather good results, which is due to the fact that during baling the net is not subjected to such lateral forces that would require the formation of transverse fibres in the net, as comprised in a conventional Raschel net. The investment costs of equipment required for making a fibrillated and oriented net are only about 50% of the corresponding investments for Raschel nets. The primary advantages of a round bale according to the invention include that the bale is easy to make and it prevents the best part of the crop from falling off since the net has a rather small mesh size (about 8 mm). The costs of production are about 30% lower than in the prior art methods. Also, the longitudinal strength of the net is very good. Since the mesh size of the net decreases as the net is pulled around a bale, the net grips the product stack more firmly than the Raschel net. The apparatus for making a round bale requires considerably less space than in the prior art arrangements.

The primary advantages of a pallet package according to the invention include that the package is easy to make and the longitudinal strength of the net is very good.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The invention will be described below in connection with preferred embodiments and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which

Figure 1 shows a conventional method of making a net for a product stack,

Figure 2 shows a method of making a net for a product stack according to the invention,

Figure 3 is an enlarged view of a net used in a product stack according to the invention, Figure 4 shows a round bale according to the invention, and

Figure 5 shows a pallet package according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Figure 1 shows a previously known and widely used method of making a net intended for surrounding product packages and pallet packages in order to facilitate the transport and storage of product packages and pallet packages.

A net is made such that HD polyethylene 2' is supplied to an extruder V and fed with a blow nozzle 3' in the form of a film 4' onto a film reel

6' via a deflection roll 5' and a cooling section. The film is wound onto the film reel 6' and then moved to a storage 7'. The film reel 6' is taken from the storage 7' into a film cutting and orientation machine 8', where the film is cut into strands. In the orientation machine the film is stretched so that the strands are provided with certain oriented strength properties. The strands are supplied via a deflection roll 9' to a knitting machine 10', where the strands are knitted into a net 1 V that is wound onto a reel 12' to obtain rolls 13' of net of a desired length.

Figure 2 shows a new method and in-line apparatus for making rolls of net 13a, 13b. A net is made such that polypropylene 2 is supplied to an extruder 1 and fed with a nozzle 3 in the form of a film 4 via a cooling basin and deflection rolls 5a to 5e into an orientation machine 8a. Up to this stage the manufacture corresponds rather closely to the manufacture of a film reel 6' shown in Figure 1. In the orientation machine 8a, the fibre is provided with desired oriented strength properties by stretching. The method of Figure 2 differs essentially from the method of Figure 1 in that the film 4 is not cut but it is supplied to a fibrillation machine 8b. In the fibrillation machine 8b, a porcupine (not shown in the figure) is used to provide the film 4 with closely spaced holes in order to form a fibrillated film 4a. The speed of the porcupine in the fibrillation machine is adapted to the speed of the oriented film so that the film is provided with slash-like openings that form the meshes of the net. In point 8c, the fibrillated film 4a is spread into a fixed width, which is for example about 1.2 meters. The fibrillated film of a fixed width has preferably such properties that the film maintains a certain width (e.g. 1.2 m) without the application of external forces. The fibrillated film 4a of a fixed width is wound onto two reels 12a and 12b to obtain rolls 13a, 13b of net of a desired length. The net in the rolls has been wound onto bobbins that are made of board, each comprising 2000 meters of net (width 1200 mm, weight 25 kg). Alternatively, the net can naturally be coiled onto only one reel or more than two reels.

In the method of Figure 2, the film-making and net-making by fibrillation are thus carried out as a continuous process in the same production line.

Figure 3 is an enlarged view of the net made with the method of Figure 2. The mesh size of the net is about 8 mm. The net does not comprise knots, which means that at points C, D, E, F, G and H the material is not knitted in any thicker form. The structure of the meshes 14 is such that the meshes tend to become smaller when the net is pulled from its opposite ends in the direction shown by arrows A. The diminution takes place such that measurement X is reduced and measurement Y is increased. Therefore, the net meshes 14 tend to open when the net is pulled in the direction shown by arrows B, in other words perpendicularly to the first direction. Figure 3 shows that the material bordering the mesh 14 consists of four material sections, which can be distinguished visually: 15a (between points G and C), 15b (between C and D), 15c (between D and F) and 15d (between F and G). Each mesh is surrounded by six similar meshes 14 such that the mesh shares two material sections 15b, 15d with two surrounding meshes, and the material sections 15a, 15c situated between these sections 15b, 15d form a part of the material section of the remaining four meshes.

As it is evident from the method of Figure 2, the material sections 15a to 15d surrounding the meshes 14 are formed of thin substantially planar strips. Figure 4 shows a round bale 20 according to the invention formed from a hay crop, the bale consisting of a product stack 70 that is surrounded by a net 30 shown in Figure 3.

Figure 5 shows a pallet package 40 according to the invention, comprising a pallet 50 and product packages 60 piled on the pallet. The product packages 60 are fastened to the pallet 50 by means of the net 30 of Figure 3.

The invention is described above by means of only two examples, wherefore it is noted that the details of the invention can be implemented in several manners within the scope of the appended claims. Therefore, for example the mesh size of the net can vary. Also, the plastic material of the net may vary.

Claims

1. A method of making a round bale, wherein a baling net is formed, and a product stack consisting of an agricultural crop, such as a crop of hay and green fodder, packed in a cylindrical form is tied inside the baling net, the manufacture of the baling net comprising a step where a film is formed, and the film is then provided with meshes, characterized in that the meshes are formed through fibrillation and stretching, wherefore the material bordering single meshes of the net comprises no knots within the entire area defined by the mesh.

2. A round bale comprising a product stack (70) consisting of an agricultural crop, such as a crop of hay and green fodder, packed in a cylindrical form and intended for transport and storage, the stack being tied inside a baling net (30), characterized in that the material bordering single meshes (14) of the net (30) comprises no knots within the entire area defined by the mesh (14).

3. A round bale according to claim 2, characterized in that the structure of the meshes (14) is such that the meshes tend to diminish when the net is pulled in one direction and to open when the net is pulled in another direction which is perpendicular to the first direction.

4. A round bale according to claim 2, characterized in that each mesh comprises four material sections (15a - 15d) and each mesh is surrounded by six similar meshes (14) such that the mesh shares two material sections (15b, 15d) with two surrounding meshes, and the material sections (15a, 15c) situated between these sections (15b, 15d) form a part of the material section of the remaining four meshes.

5. A round bale according to claim 3, characterized in that the material sections surrounding the meshes (14) of the net are formed of thin substantially planar strips (15a - 15d).

6. A round bale according to claim 2, characterized in that the net is made of polypropylene.

7. A round bale according to claim 2, characterized in that the structure of the net is provided through fibrillation and stretching.

8. A method of making a pallet package, wherein a net is made, and at least one product package placed on a pallet is tied thereto by means of the net, the net manufacture comprising a step where a film is made first, and the film is then provided with meshes, characterized in that the 7 meshes are formed through fibrillation and stretching, wherefore the material bordering single meshes of the net comprises no knots within the entire area defined by the mesh.

9. A pallet package comprising a pallet (50) and at least one product package (60) piled thereon and tied to the pallet by surrounding it at least partly with the net (30), characterized in that the material bordering single meshes (14) of the net comprises no knots within the entire area defined by the mesh.

10. A pallet package according to claim 9, characterized in that the structure of the meshes (14) is such that the meshes tend to diminish when the net is pulled in one direction and to open when the net is pulled in another direction which is perpendicular to the first direction.

11. A pallet package according to claim 10, characterized in that each mesh comprises four material sections (15a - 15d) and each mesh is surrounded by six similar meshes (14) such that the mesh shares two material sections (15b, 15d) with two surrounding meshes, and the sections (15a, 15c) situated between these sections (15b, 15d) form a part of the material section of the remaining four meshes.

12. A pallet package according to claim 10, characterized in that the material sections bordering the meshes (14) of the net are formed of thin substantially planar strips (15a - 15d).

13. A pallet package according to claim 9, characterized in that the net is made of polypropylene.

14. A pallet package according to claim 9, characterized in that the structure of the net is provided through fibrillation and stretching.