Claims
- 1. A method for forming a bundle of hay bales, wherein each of said hay bales is formed by applying a compressive force to the hay bale along a first direction followed by positioning bindings around the hay bale in a tight-fitting manner, said method comprising the steps of:arranging a plurality of hay bales in a vertical stack and compressing the stack of hay bales in a second vertical direction; arranging a plurality of vertical stacks of hay bales in closely spaced, side-by-side alignment in forming a bundle of hay bales; compressing said bundle of hay bales in a third horizontal direction, wherein said third horizontal direction is aligned with said first direction in which the individual bales are compressed when formed; and tightly wrapping banding around said bundle of hay bales while said hay bales are being compressed vertically and horizontally without damaging the hay in said bales or severing the bindings disposed about said hay bales.
- 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of compressing a stack of hay bales includes forming upper and lower recessed compression zones respectively disposed in a respective upper and lower surface of top and bottom hay bales in said stack of hay bales.
- 3. The method of claim 2 wherein said compression zones are linear and parallel and are arranged in spaced relation on the upper and lower surfaces of the top and bottom hay bales.
- 4. The method of claim 3 wherein said banding is placed in said upper and lower recessed compression zones during wrapping of the banding around said bundle.
- 5. The method of claim 4 further comprising the step of engaging the banding in said recessed compression zones for maintaining the banding in position in said compression zones.
- 6. The method of claim 5 wherein the steps of vertically and horizontally compressing the hay bale includes compressing hay bales along their respective lengths.
- 7. The method of claim 6 further comprising the step of severing said banding and securely splicing opposed ends of the severed banding together as said banding is tightly wrapped around said bundle of hay bales.
- 8. The method of claim 7 further comprising the step of bending opposed edges of said banding prior to tightly wrapping said banding around said bundle of hay bales to avoid cutting and shredding of the hay bales and the bindings disposed about the hay bales.
- 9. The method of claim 8 further comprising the step of providing slack in said banding prior to tightly wrapping the banding around said bundle of hay bales to prevent cutting and shredding of the hay and the bindings disposed about the hay bales.
- 10. The method of claim 9 further comprising the step of removing a predetermined length of banding from a banding dispenser prior to wrapping the banding around said bundle, wherein said predetermined length is adjustable.
- 11. The method of claim 10 further comprising the step of selectively adjusting a horizontal compression force used to horizontally compress said bundle of hay bales.
- 12. The method of claim 11 further comprising the step of discharging said bundle of hay bales into a field following formation of said bundle.
- 13. The method of claim 12 wherein said bundle of hay bales is formed from seven closely spaced, side-by-side stacks of hay bales, and wherein each of said stacks is comprised of three hay bales in vertical alignment.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/203,707, filed Dec. 2, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,182,563, which application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application serial number 60/067,510, filed Dec. 4, 1997.
US Referenced Citations (19)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
876143 |
Aug 1961 |
GB |
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60/067510 |
Dec 1997 |
US |