1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device for handling, viz., retrieving, loading, transporting, unloading, and feeding, bales of agricultural material, especially large, round bales of hay.
2. Description of the Related Art
Numerous patents and patent publications exist for bale handlers; and there is are several patents for cranes that, although not specifically intended to lift bales, are capable of doing so.
Such bale handlers use one of two devices for retrieving hay bales from the ground. The first is a traditional crane—varying from a very basic model to industrial versions. The second is known by a variety of names in the art but herein will be termed a lifting arm mechanism. It has two arms, one of which goes on one side of a bale and the other of which goes on another side of the bale. Each arm rotates about an upper portion of the arm, just as a human arm rotates about a person's shoulder, to lift the bale from the ground and onto a wheeled carrier.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,091,943; 4,363,583; 4,498,829; 4,552,501; 5,607,274; 5,725,346; 5,975,832; and 6,220,811 all involve bale handlers which utilize some form of crane but have no lifting arm mechanism and no tubs to accommodate individual bales.
On the contrary, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,329,101; 4,952,111; 5,340,259; 5,405,229; 5,618,146; 6,312,205; 7,004,706; 7,241,098; 7,419,345; 7,481,612; 8,112,202; and 8,152,429 as well as United States patent publication nos. 20110014014 and 20110271647 employ lifting arm mechanisms but have neither cranes nor tubs to accommodate individual bales. Only the lifting arm of U.S. Pat. No. 5,618,146 is stated to be capable of unloading the bales; and none of these patents have a motorized rotatable bale gripper for unrolling a round bale or an auger to receive hay from an unrolled bale and break the hay into smaller pieces to facilitate the eating of such hay by animals.
Several cranes, however, have a cargo holding device which can rotate in both the pitch (parallel to the last segment of the boom on the crane) place and the yaw (perpendicular to the pitch plane) plane, but none of the cargo holding devices are specifically intended to hold a hay bale.
The device of international publication number WO 87/01684 has, mounted to the bed of a truck, a fully functional crane, i.e., the boom 13 of the crane 10 can rotate in both the pitch (the plane containing the boom of the crane) and yaw (a plane that is perpendicular to the pitch plane and that contains the last segment of the boom of the crane) planes and can also be extended. Moreover, the lifting fork 29, consisting of “two parallel supporting arms 35 . . . rigidly secured to a transversal back portion 36 of the lifting fork at their rear ends,” can independently be moved in the pitch and yaw planes. This device has, however, no curved tubs for securely accommodating round hay bales, no lifting arm mechanism, and no programmed computer for automating its operation.
For the crane of U.S. Pat. No. 3,554,395, the patent states, in lines 19 through 20 of column 3, “A hydraulic cylinder 39 on the hoisting fork 21 is retracted to tilt the arms 40 of the hoisting fork 21.” And the patent also indicates, in lines 39 through 40 of column 3, “The hydraulic ‘wrist’ 36 . . . is used for rotating the hoisting fork 21 . . . . ” As with the patent discussed in the preceding paragraph, this crane has no curved tubs for securely accommodating round hay bales, no lifting arm mechanism, and no programmed computer for automating its operation. And the hoisting fork 21, which U.S. Pat. No. 3,554,395 states “ . . . is described in greater detail in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,239,072,” is rotatably suspended from the boom (Actually, in the case of U.S. Pat. No. 3,554,395, as opposed to U.S. Pat. No. 3,239,072, a wrist 36 to which the fork is attached is rotatably suspended from the boom.) so that the forks 40 would rotate backward rather than piercing and entering a hay bale. Such suspension and its resultant effect is, moreover, also true for the crane of U.S. Pat. No. 4,552,501.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,280,785 a “multi-directional lifting and handling device is mounted on the end of a standard telescoping crane boom.” Such device can rotate in both the pitch and yaw planes. Again, though, the crane has no curved tubs for securely accommodating round hale bales, no lifting arm mechanism, and no programmed computer for automating its operation.
And U.S. Pat. No. 6,478,427 explains how a camera at the end of a boom may rotate in the yaw plane but, for rotation in the pitch plane, simply states, “According to an additional feature of the invention, the camera 32 may further rotate about a horizontal tilt axis 252. As illustrated in
Cargo holding devices for cranes and lifting arm mechanisms are known to be of four types suitable for holding a bale of hay, including a large, round bale.
The first type will herein be termed a pincher claw. This is illustrated, for a crane, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,552,501 and involves a first set of hooks which are able to penetrate the bale on a first side of the highest point of the bale while an opposing set of hooks penetrate the bale on the opposite side of the highest point of the bale.
The term herein for the second will be grappling arms. An illustration of this, for a crane, is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 4,363,583 and involve a set of arms and an opposing set of arms which together are capable of encircling the top and more than fifty percent of each side of a bale, thereby extending below the elevation of the center of the bale.
Third is one or more forks which embodiment is illustrated, for a lifting arm mechanism, in United States patent publication no. 20110271647 and utilizes one or more forks to pierce a bale, preferably from the end of the bale.
Finally, a cradle which holds a bale by supporting a lower portion of such bale is illustrated, for a lifting arm mechanism, in United States patent publication no. 20110271647.
For bale loaders with lifting arm mechanisms those of U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,952,111; 7,419,345; 7,481,612; and 8,112,202 all provide for automated loading.
And the Summary of the Invention for U.S. Pat. No. 4,091,943, which utilizes a crane (termed a “gripping device”) to load and unload bales on and from a vehicle, explains:
“Any suitable known type of programmable control means may be used in connection with the method and loading apparatus of the present invention and may be of a mechanical, electrical, or electronic type, and preferably of a type making it possible to select one of a number of possible movement programs. For example, the automatic control means may be programmed in such a manner that the bales are loaded onto the vehicle in superposed layers which are mutually bonded. The substantially improved bond between the bales in each layer and between adjacent layers substantially reduces the risk that a stack formed by tilting a number of truck loads in the manner previously described overturns.
“The method according to the invention also makes it possible to obtain other types of automatic unloading of the bales. Thus, the gripping device may successively unload the bales from the vehicle if the automatic control means is programmed so as to unload the bales in the inverse order in relation to the loading operation. The unloading position or bale releasing position may for example be fixed under the unloading operations. Thus, the automatic control means may for example be programmed in such a manner that all of the bales are unloaded and released at the same position on a conveyor which may then convey the bales to a storing site. However, it is also possible to program the automatic control means in such a manner that the gripping device will unload the bales and arrange them in superposed and preferably mutually bonded layers.”
Although directed toward using overhead cranes handling and stacking pressed bales in a bale storage facility, one of ordinary skill the art would be able to utilize the computers and software of U.S. Pat. No. 6,074,155 for automatically loading and unloading a bale loader. That patent states:
“To further optimize the facility, it is recommended that a control covering the entire facility be provided for the stacking device(s), the intermediate storage areas and possibly the delivery station(s). As a result, the bale storage facility can be operated and managed, for the most part, automatically.
“The control may contain a computer with a storage facility management software and with a data bank for the virtual storage or stacking places. The location in the storage facility and the relevant, product-related data, such as the identity of the bale, the type of bale or fiber, the size of the bale, the fiber grade, the date of manufacture, etc., are stored in it. Due to the absence of a fixed subdivision of the storage facility, as it is present in a shelf-type storage facility with permanent storage places, the locations within the storage facility are determined and stored in relation to one another in the bale storage facility management system.
“For the storage facility management, the control has a computer with a storage facility management program and a data bank for the virtual stacking or storage places of the bales 2 and possibly with a sorting program. Data on the storage location of the pressed bale 2, the identity of the bales, the type of the bale or fiber, the fiber grade, the bale size, the type of packaging, the date of manufacture, and other desired product-related or other relevant properties of the bale are stored in the data bank in suitable data records.”
The Bale Handler of the present invention utilizes a crane to load round bales onto a bed of a truck or trailer. Preferably, such bed comprises an individual tub for each bale with the bottom of the tub sloped so as to cause a bale placed in such tub to move to the longitudinal and transverse center of the tub. This facilitates automating loading and unloading of the bed since the precise location of each bale will be known.
Preferably, the Bale Handler also comprises a lifting arm mechanism for retrieving a bale from the ground and placing it on a transitional platform for movement by the crane to its ultimate intended location on the bed.
Also preferably, the lifting arm mechanism has on each of two arms a bale gripper. Each bale gripper has projections for securely holding an end of the bale, with the projections of a first bale gripper entering, when the first bale gripper is used, a first end of a bale and with the projections of the second bale gripper entering, when the second bale gripper is used, a second end of the bale. Both bale grippers are preferably rotatable, and at least one of the bale grippers is preferably motorized. The lifting arm mechanism can grasp a round bale on the transitional platform, lower it toward the ground, and unroll such round bale.
Even more preferably, an auger, preferably twin adjacent augers, is located in an auger assembly attached to the lifting arm mechanism in such a position as to receive the hay as it is unrolled from a round bale. Such auger breaks the hay into smaller pieces to facilitate the eating of such hay by animals, particularly livestock. (As used herein the term “auger” covers a traditional single auger but also and, preferably, includes twin adjacent augers.)
Another preferred option is, in order to facilitate placement of a bale on the bed, to have the cargo holding device for the crane be attached to the distal end of the crane and be rotatable in both the pitch plane, i.e., the plane containing the boom of the crane, and the yaw plane, i.e., a plane that is perpendicular to the pitch plane and that contains the last segment of the crane. And even more preferably, such cargo holding device comprises a base from which one or more forks project in order to pierce an end of a bale, although the cargo holding device can be any of those discussed above.
And, lastly, using any technique known to one of ordinary skill in the art, the process of loading and unloading is preferably automated.
Three primary embodiments exist of the Bale Handler for round bales 1: a self-propelled bale handler 2, shown primarily in
The semi-trailer bale handler 5 comprises any crane 6 known in the art which can rotate about its base 7 and extend its boom 8 to at least one storage tub 9 and, preferably, two laterally adjacent storage tubs 9. Each storage tub 9 has sloped sides 10, 11 (being either an angled plane or a curve) and, preferably, in a first embodiment, illustrated in part in
The dimensions of each storage tub 9 are selected so as to accommodate the bales 15 intended to be carried by the tubs 9. Preferably, the sloped sides 10, 11 are portions of a curve 17 running continuously transversely across each storage tub 9. And, preferably, the lowest point 18 of such curve 17 is substantially at the transverse center 19 of the tub 9, especially when such lowest point 18 provides some of the support for a bale 15 or bales 15. The critical feature of the sloped sides 10, 11 is that the slope and dimensions of such sloped sides 10, 11 are such that the lowest point of a bale 15 placed between and supported by such sloped sides 10, 11 will be substantially at the transverse center 19 of the tub 9.
For individual storage tubs 14 both the forward end 20 and the rear end 21 are sloped, preferably curved. Moreover, preferably, the individual storage tubs 14 are of such dimensions that the distance between the bottom 22 of the front curve 23 and the bottom 24 of the rear curve 25 is substantially equal to the length of the bales 15 intended to be carried by the individual storage tubs 14. This causes the location of a bale 15 to be precisely known even if the initial placement of the bale 15 was not so accurate. Such precision facilitates, as discussed below, automation of the loading and unloading process.
The bed 13 can be either a traditional truck bed or a traditional framework for supporting the storage tubs 9 or individual storage tubs 14.
Of the embodiments for the Bale Handler 1 the semi-trailer bale handler 5 employs a crane 6 while the self-propelled bale handler 2 and the tractor-pulled bale handler 3 preferably utilize a crane 6. The semi-trailer bale handler 5 has one or more storage tubs 9 or, preferably, one or more individual storage tubs 14, such storage tubs 9 or individual storage tubs 14 being optional but preferred for the self-propelled bale handler 2 and the tractor-pulled bale handler 3; but only the self-propelled bale handler 2 and the tractor-pulled bale handler 3 have a lifting arm mechanism 26.
The lifting arm mechanism 26, shown with the greatest detail in
Preferably, an individual storage tub 14 is located on the transitional platform 27 where the lifting arm mechanism 26 deposits a bale 15.
To facilitate storage for movement over roads, the lifting arm mechanism 26 is preferably rotatably attached to the bale handler 2, 3—on either the left side 28 or the right side 29 of the bale handler 2, 3.
The preferred embodiment for the lifting arm mechanism 26 comprises a mechanism support structure 30. The top 31 of the mechanism support structure 30 preferably comprises the transitional platform 27.
Near the top 31 of the mechanism support structure 30 and one of the sides 32 (left 33 or right 34) of the mechanism support structure 30, the mechanism support structure 30 is rotatably connected to the bed 13 of the bale handler 2, 3. To raise the lifting arm mechanism 26 for storage or to lower the lifting arm mechanism 26 for operation, a first end 35 of one or more hydraulic cylinders 36, designated the mechanism lifting cylinder or cylinders 36, is rotatably attached to the side 32 of the mechanism support structure 30 that is nearer the bale hander 2, 3; and a second end 37 of the one or more mechanism lifting cylinders 36 is rotatably attached to the bale handler 2, 3 below the position 38 at which the mechanism support structure 30 is rotatably connected to the bed 13 of the bale handler 2, 3.
Near the bottom 39 and the front 40 of the mechanism support structure 30 a lower axle 41 is attached to the mechanism support structure 30. Near a first end 42 of the lower axle 41 a lower end 43 of a right vertical support member 44 is rotatably attached to the lower axle 41; and near a second end 45 of the lower axle 41 a lower end 46 of a left vertical support member 47 is rotatably attached to the lower axle 41. A first end 51 of an upper axle 52 is rotatably connected to and extends through the right vertical support member 44 near an upper end 53 of the right vertical support member 44. A second end 54 of the upper axle 52 is rotatably connected to and preferably extends through the left vertical support member 47 near an upper end 55 of the left vertical support member 47.
A first end 56 of a first main lifting arm 57 is slidably attached to the upper axle 52 near the first end 51 of the upper axle 52 but farther from the first end 51 of the upper axle 52 than the right vertical support member 44. Similarly, a first end 58 of a second main lifting arm 59 is slidably attached to the upper axle 52 near the second end 54 of the upper axle 52 but farther from the second end 54 of the upper axle 52 than the left vertical support member 47.
A first end 60 of a primary hydraulic cylinder 61, designated the right primary hydraulic cylinder 61, is rotatably attached to the mechanism support structure 30 near the bottom 39 and on the right side 34 of the mechanism support structure 30. The second end 62 of the right primary hydraulic cylinder 61 is rotatably connected to the first end 51 of the upper axle 52. Preferably, a first end 63 of a second primary hydraulic cylinder 64, designated the left primary hydraulic cylinder 64, is similarly rotatably connected to the mechanism support structure 30 near the bottom 39 and on the left side 33 of the mechanism support structure 30. Also preferably, the second end 65 of the left primary hydraulic cylinder 64 is rotatably attached to the second end 54 of the upper axle 52.
A first end 66 of a secondary hydraulic cylinder 67, designated the right secondary hydraulic cylinder 67, is rotatably and slidably attached to the lower axle 41. The second end 68 of the right secondary hydraulic cylinder 67 is rotatably connected to the first main lifting arm 57. Preferably, a first end 69 of a second secondary hydraulic cylinder 70, designated the left secondary hydraulic cylinder 70 is similarly rotatably and slidably connected to the lower axle 41. Also preferably, the second end 71 of the left secondary hydraulic cylinder 70 is rotatably attached to the second main lifting arm 59.
A housing 72 of a first spreader hydraulic cylinder 73, designated the right spreader hydraulic cylinder 73, is attached to the upper axle 52 between the first main lifting arm 57 and the second main lifting arm 59. A free end 74 of the piston rod 75 of the right spreader hydraulic cylinder 73 is connected to the first main lifting arm 57. Similarly, a housing 76 of a second spreader hydraulic cylinder 77, designated the left spreader hydraulic cylinder 77, is connected to the upper axle 52 between the right spreader hydraulic cylinder 73 and the second main lifting arm 59. A free end 78 of the piston rod 79, of the left spreader hydraulic cylinder 77 is connected to the second main lifting arm 59.
A first end 80 of a first bale gripper 81 is attached to the left side 82 of the first main lifting arm 57 near the second end 48 of the first main lifting arm 57. Similarly, a first end 83 of a second bale gripper 84 is attached to the right side 85 of the second main lifting arm 59 near the second end 49 of the second main lifting arm 59. Projections 86 are located on the second end 87 of the first bale gripper 81, and projections 88 are also located on the second end 89 of the second bale gripper 84. Both bale grippers 81, 84 are preferably rotatable; and at least one of the bale grippers 81, 84 is, using any technology known in the art, preferably motorized.
Optionally, rather than having the attachment of the main lifting arms 57, 59 to the upper axle 52 be slidable and requiring the spreader hydraulic cylinders 73, 77, at least one, and preferably both, of the bale grippers 81, 84 can be, as illustrated in
In operation, when either an operator observes or a proximity indicator 90 (which can be any such device that is known by one of ordinary skill in the art, such as—but not necessarily limited to—a contact switch or an ultrasonic detector) attached to the front 40, preferably on either side 33, 34 or between such sides 33, 34 of, the mechanism support structure 30, indicates that a bale 15 is in position to be grasped and raised by the lifting arm mechanism 26, the operator, using any technology known in the art, causes the spreader hydraulic cylinders 73, 77 to force the main lifting arms 57, 59 to move closer to each other, pulling the bale grippers 81, 84 closer together and their projections 86, 88 into the first end 91 and the second end 92, respectively, of the bale 15 (or, optionally, activates the telescoping of the bale grippers 81, 84 toward one another in lieu of using spreader hydraulic cylinders 73, 77 in order to accomplish the preceding).
Then the piston rod 93 of the right secondary hydraulic cylinder 67 is extended from the housing 94 of the right secondary hydraulic cylinder (and when the preferable left secondary hydraulic cylinder 70 is present, the piston rod 95 of the left secondary hydraulic cylinder 70 is extended from the housing 96 of the left secondary hydraulic cylinder 70) to raise the main lifting arms 57, 59 and thereby, the bale 15, as portrayed in
Also, as further shown in
These combined operations place the bale 15 on the transitional platform 27 (and when the individual storage tub 14 is preferably located on the transitional platform 27, into the individual storage tub 14).
Reversing these operations enables a bale 15 of hay to be retrieved from the transitional platform 27 (and, preferably, the individual storage tub 14 on the transitional platform 27) and either lowered to the ground or suspended above the ground for unrolling, preferably by rotating the bale grippers 81, 84. Of course when the bale 15 touches the ground, lateral movement of the bale handler 2, 3 will unroll a bale 15 because such lateral movement will cause the bale grippers 81, 84 to rotate when such bale grippers 81, 84 are, indeed, rotatable.
Of course, the crane 6, when it is preferably employed on the self-propelled bale handler 2 and the tractor-pulled bale handler 3, moves bales 15 to and from locations (preferably, storage tubs 9 and, even more preferably individual storage tubs 14) on the bed 13, including the transitional platform 27, of the self-propelled bale handler 2 and the tractor-pulled bale handler 3 and, when there are two or more laterally adjacent storage tubs 9 or two or more laterally adjacent columns 16 of individual storage tubs 14, on (as well as between, creating a triangular shape of bales 15 when there are two laterally adjacent storage tubs 9 or two laterally adjacent columns 16 of individual storage tubs 14, which triangular shape is most clearly evident in FIG. 17) and from previously placed laterally adjacent bales 15, as seen in
The preceding can be automated using technology that is well known in the art, such as that of U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,952,111; 7,419,345; 7,481,612; and 8,112,202, for grasping a bale 15 on the ground, moving the bale 15 to the transitional platform 27, and releasing the bale 15 on the transitional platform 27 and such as that of U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,091,943 and 6,074,155 for using the crane 6 to move a bale 15 from the transitional platform 27 to a storage tub 9 (preferably, an individual storage tub 14) or on top of bales 15 already in the storage tubs 9 (preferably, individual storage tubs 14), to return such a bale 15 to the transitional platform 27, to remove a bale 15 from a storage tub 9 (preferably, an individual storage tub 14) and place such bale 15 on the ground or an other intended storage place away from the bale handler 1, and to take a bale 15 from the ground or other intended storage place and move the bale 15 to a storage tub 9 (preferably, an individual storage tub 14) or on top of bales 15 already in the storage tubs 9 (preferably, individual storage tubs 14). One of ordinary skill in the art should, moreover, be capable of adapting the automation technology of U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,952,111; 7,419,345; 7,481,612; and 8,112,202 to enable the lifting arm mechanism 26 of the present invention to grasp a bale 15 located on the transitional platform 27; lift such bale 15 away from the transitional platform 27 until it is suspended over, or touching, the ground; and, preferably, unroll the bale 15.
As mentioned above, the cargo holding device 103 is preferably attached to the distal end 104 of the crane 6 and is rotatable in both the pitch plane, i.e., the plane containing the boom 8 of the crane 6, and the yaw plane, i.e., a plane that is perpendicular to the pitch plane and that contains the last segment 107 of the boom 8 of the crane 6, in a manner that is well known in the art, such as the cargo holding devices of the cranes of international publication number WO 87/01684 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,552,501. And even more preferably, such cargo holding device 103 comprises a base 108 from which one or more forks 109 project in order to pierce an end 91, 92 of a bale 15.
Using any memory and communication system known in the art, the location of the bales 15 can be stored on the bale handler 1 or at the storage location so that the location can be automatically provided to another bale handler 1 to facilitate the automatic removal of one or more bales 15 and the loading of such bales 15 on the other bale handler 1.
Optionally, an auger assembly 110, illustrated in
The feeder box 111 has an open top 114 and bottom 115 to receive hay 116 unrolling from a bale 15 and to provide access for such unrolled hay 116 to the auger 113 within the auger housing 112 that is located below the feeder box 111. The auger housing 112 has an open top 117, a closed bottom 118, and sides 119 attached to the sides 120 of the feeder box 111. Preferably, a channel 121 leads from the auger 113 to an aperture 122, on the side 123 of the auger housing 112 opposite to the bale handler 2, 3 for discharging the particles of hay 124 produced by the auger 113 to the ground or a feed bunk 125.
Because the semi-trailer bale handler 5 may be required to load and unload bales 15 in the absence of a road tractor, the semi-trailer handler 5 has equipment not found on the self-propelled bale handler 2 and the tractor-pulled bale handler 3. A control panel 126 for the crane 6 is located on the bed 13 of the semi-trailer bale handler 5 along with a combined hydraulic fuel tank and hydraulic pump 127 to power the crane 6 and a combined diesel fuel tank and diesel engine 128 to power the hydraulic pump of the combined hydraulic fuel tank and hydraulic pump 127. And a ladder 129 attached to a side 28, 29 of the semi-trailer bale handler 5 to provide an operator access to the bed 13 of the semi-trailer bale handler 5.
And in addition to the preceding embodiments of the bale handler 1, there is a specialized semi-trailer bale handler 130 termed a “drop-bed semi-trailer bale handler”, which is portrayed in
As its name implies, the bale-carrying portion 131 of the bed 13 for the drop-bed semi-trailer bale handler 130 is lower than the remainder 132 of such bed 13 in order to accommodate an additional level 133 of bales 15.
Furthermore, for the drop-bed semi-trailer bale handler 130 the bales 15 are stacked directly on top of one another, rather than in the pyramid fashion of the other embodiments, when such other embodiments have laterally adjacent storage tubs 9 or individual storage tubs 14. To stabilize bales 15 stacked in this fashion a front brace post 134 is placed in front of each of the two columns 135 of bales 15, a side brace post 136 is placed at each side of each row 137 of individual storage tubs 14, and a middle brace post 138 is placed between laterally adjacent individual storage tubs 14. The two front brace posts 134, all the side brace posts 136, and all the middle brace posts 138 comprise an upper post element 139 removably attached utilizing any technique known in the art, preferably with a traditional pin in traditional apertures, to a lower post element 140. The lower end 141 of each lower post element 140 fits removably into an aperture 142 in the bed 13 of the drop-bed semi-trailer bale handler 130.
Because of the proximity to the ground for the bale-carrying portion 131 of the bed 13 for the drop-bed semi-trailer bale handler 130 and the distance between that portion 131 and the portion 143 of the bed 13 having the control panel 126, the ladder 129 on the drop-bed semi-trailer bale handler 130 provides access from the bale-carrying portion 131 of the bed 13 to the portion 143 of the bed 13 having the control panel 126, rather than from the ground to the bed 13 as is the case for the semi-trailer bale handler 5.
Similarly, because of the different shapes for the stacks of bales 15, the rear post frame 144 for the drop-bed semi-trailer bale handler 130 has, as seen in
And the rear portion 146 of the bed 13 for the drop-bed semi-trailer bale handler 130 holds a container 147 for the posts 134, 136, 138 and the traditional pins or other traditional connectors for the upper post elements 139 and the lower post elements 140.
Optionally, the semi-trailer bale handler 5 can for increased stability, when loading or unloading bales 15, extend, as illustrated in
As used herein, the term “substantially” indicates that one skilled in the art would consider the value modified by such terms to be within acceptable limits for the stated value. Also as used herein the term “preferable” or “preferably” means that a specified element or technique is more acceptable than another but not that such specified element or technique is a necessity.