Patent Application
20120240795
The present invention relates generally to crop baling machines of the type that pick up crop materials as the machine travels along the ground and then successively discharges formed bales onto the ground via a downwardly inclined bale discharge chute. More particularly, the invention relates to a way of controlling the drop of the bale from the chute so that the bale may be placed at a desired location in the field.
When a roller bale chute is attached to a large square baler, the placement of the bales in the field is determined by the exit of the bale from the baler. Generally, after a bale is formed in a baling chamber, it is discharged through a discharge opening onto a bale chute so that it moves down the chute and drops to the ground. Such an arrangement tends to scatter the bales throughout the field in a manner that is inefficient for processing. It would be desirable to control the placement of the bale in the field to allow an operator to place bales at desired locations for efficient bale gathering. Although prior art bale accumulators have been constructed that attach in place of a roller bale chute, such arrangements are costly and do not work well in muddy fields.
As required, example embodiments of the present invention are disclosed. The various embodiments are meant to be non-limiting examples of various ways of implementing the invention and it will be understood that the invention may be embodied in alternative forms. The present invention will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings in which like numerals represent like elements throughout the several figures, and in which exemplary embodiments are shown. The figures are not necessarily to scale and some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular elements, while related elements may have been eliminated to prevent obscuring novel aspects. The specific structural and functional details disclosed herein should not be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention. For example, although the example embodiments are discussed in the context of a large square baler, the present invention may be used in other contexts as will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.
In an example embodiment, a bale chute accumulator with drop control mechanism allows an operator to change the bale chute between a drop condition and a non-drop condition to allow on operator to place the bale in a desired location in the field. In one example embodiment, a roller chute accumulator includes a roller bale chute having one or more rollers and a brake configured to control the rotation of the one or more rollers in response to an operator input. For example, the operator may apply the brake to prevent a roller from rotating and thereby prevent a bale presently on the roller bale chute from dropping from the chute to the field. The operator may release the brake to allow the bale to drop from the roller bale chute at a desired field location.
In another example embodiment, a roller bale chute accumulator with drop control mechanism comprises a roller bale chute and a foldable roller portion that may be manipulated by an operator to move between a drop and a non-drop condition. For example, a foldable roller extension portion may be raised to a non-drop position to prevent a bale on the bale chute from dropping off the chute, and lowered to a drop position to allow the bale to drop from the chute.
Referring initially to
The baler 10 has a wheeled chassis 12 that is provided with a tongue 14 at its front end for use in hitching the baler 10 to a towing tractor or the like (not shown). As the baler 10 advances across a field with windrowed crop materials lying thereon, a pickup 16 lifts the crop materials off the ground and delivers them rearwardly for compaction within an upwardly and rearwardly curved duct 18 leading upwardly to a fore-and-aft, slightly downwardly and rearwardly inclined baling chamber (not visible). A reciprocating plunger (not shown) within the baling chamber compresses charges of crop material from the duct 18 rearwardly within the baling chamber against previously compacted materials to progressively form a bale that incrementally moves rearwardly through the machine during each compaction stroke. In the illustrated embodiment, the baler 10 is an extrusion type baler, having a rear discharge opening 20 that has a reduced cross-sectional dimension relative to the upstream baling chamber so as to cause resistance to the rearward advance of bales within the machine, thus providing a type of moving backstop against which the plunger can operate to compress the materials. Before issuing from and through discharge opening 20, the bales may be wrapped by an appropriate mechanism (not shown) with a binding material to maintain the integrity of the bale after it has left the baler.
A generally downwardly and rearwardly inclined bale chute 22 of a bale discharge chute assembly 23 at the rear of the baler 10 accepts bales as they successively issue from the discharge opening 20 and guides them by gravity toward the ground. Preferably, the chute 22 is a roller type chute that minimizes the resistance to movement of the bales along and down the chute. A bale drop control mechanism 30 may be used to control the movement of the bale 40 from the chute 22 to the ground.
The chute 22 may be formed by a pair of laterally spaced apart, fore-and-aft extending side rails 82 and 84 (
The rollers 86 may rotatably mounted in bearing assemblies 91 so that a bale 40 may move over the rollers 86 to drop off an end 93 of the chute to the ground. The bale drop mechanism 30 may comprise one or more brakes 95 configured to manipulate the rotation of the rollers 86. In an example embodiment, the brakes 95 may comprise an expandable mandrel type brake commonly used for braking a roller and configured for contacting and applying friction to the inner core 97 of the roller. A user interface 99, such as a control lever, input display, or the like, may be provided in the cab of a tow vehicle (not shown) and used by the operator to apply or release the brake 95. Thus, an operator can apply resistance to the roller and slow or stop movement of the bale along the chute 22 by applying the brake 95. The operator can then drop the bale in a desired location in the field. For example, the operator could apply increased resistance at a center of the field and apply little or no resistance near the ends of the field so that bales are held on the chute at the field center and drop off the chute near the ends of the field. This allows for easier pickup of the bales.
The brake 95 may be a mechanical and hydraulic system or an electromechanical system as known in the art and operable by an operator in a cab of a two vehicle. For example, in an mechanical system a lever (not shown) may be provided in a tow vehicle for actuation of a hydraulic brake such as a operating a brake caliper to make contact with a rotor associated with a roller 86 or to expand a mandrel to contact an inner surface of a roller core. In an electromechanical system, a button, switch or the like may be provided in the cab of a tow vehicle and configured to actuate an actuator via a CAN bus or other communications link. For example, a button may be provided to actuate a solenoid on an expandable mandrel brake. Other arrangements could also be provided as will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.
The structure of the foldable portion 115 may be similar to the stationary portion and serve as an extension thereof when in the down position. The stationary portion 113 can be similar to that of a standard bale chute 22 discussed above and include side rails 108, 110 and rollers 86 rotatably mounted thereon by bearing assemblies 91. The side rails 108, 110 of the foldable portion 115 generally align with the side rails 82, 84 of the stationary portion 113. The foldable portion 115 may be coupled to the stationary portion 113 at a pivot point 120, such as pivot bolts 142, about which the foldable portion 115 rotates.
An extendable member may extend between the stationary portion 113 and the foldable portion 115 so that extension and retraction of the extendable member can lower and raise the foldable portion 115. Any suitable extendable member could be used such as a hydraulic cylinder or linear actuator as know in the art that may be powered by hydraulic, electro-mechanical or other means. In an example embodiment, a linear actuator 200 and a spring 202 may extend between a mount 208 on the stationary portion 113 and a mounting flange 130 extending upward from the foldable portion. This arrangement allows the foldable portion to be moved between an up non-drop position and a down drop position. For example, as seen in
The spring 202 may have a spring constant to provide a sufficient resilient force to keep a bale sitting on the bale chute from dropping to the ground but allowing the foldable portion 115 to be pushed downward to a drop position if needed. For example, the spring constant should be such that if the operator leaves the foldable portion 115 in an up position and another bale 40 is extruding from the baling chamber contacts and pushes against the first bale, then this force is sufficient to move the foldable portion 115 downward to a drop condition and allow the first bale to drop from the chute.
Under provisions of 35 U.S.C. §119(e), Applicant claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application No. 61/427,579, filed Dec. 28, 2010, which is incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61427579 | Dec 2010 | US |
