Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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BALE FEEDER
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a bale feeder for breaking down
large round bales of hay, and for spreading it in rows for feeding.
s BACKGROUND
Farmers and ranchers who keep livestock often use large round
bales for mass storage of feed. Various bale feeders and bale transporting
devices have been developed which shred the bale so that the feed is in a
form for delivering as feed to livestock. Some of these devices are mobile
and allow for the transportation and spreading of the bale. These devices
however often damage the feed by removing the leaves from the stems of
the feed as the bale is shredded, and do a poor job of removing dust and
mold which can be harmful to the livestock from the feed.
A bale feeder for use with large cylindrical bales of animal feed
is needed which allows a farmer to load and transport a large cylindrical bale
of feed to a desired location, to open the bale, and to spread the opened
bale such that livestock can eat it, and which removes much of the dust and
mold which may be present on the feed as the bale is being opened.
SUMMARY
According to one aspect of the present invention there is
provided a bale feeder for opening a round bale of animal feed, said bale
feeder comprising:
a feeder body for receiving the bale, said feeder body having
spaced apart side walls;
a bale opening means including:
an opening in one of the side walls of the feeder body,
said opening having a top edge and a bottom edge;
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an elongate rotor having an axis of rotation Iying in a
horizontal plane and being arranged within said opening spaced downwards
from the top edge of the opening leaving an upper gap above said rotor and
is spaced upwards from the bottom edge of the opening leaving a lower gap~ below said rotor;
cutting means distributed around and along the rotor and
being fixed thereto for engaging the bale and cutting a portion thereof;
rotor drive means for rotating the rotor in a direction to
engage the bale with an upwards motion such that a cut portion of the bale~0 is directed upwards through the upper gap of the opening;
a bale conveyor means for feeding the bale into the
cutting means;
and feed directing means for directing the cut portion of the
bale to a location external of the bale feeder.
A feeder of this configuration is found to keep the leaves on
the stems and to remove mold and dust better than prior art feeders.
The feeder will conventionally be carried on a vehicle, either
towed or self-propelled.
The rotor is arranged such that the cutting means engage the
20 side of the bale. The cutting means preferably comprise cutting blades
mounted on the rotor. For heavy feed additional cutting blades may be fixed
to the top edge of the opening. The additional cutting blades are spaced
longitudinally along the top edge to cooperate with the cutting blades on the
rotor.
As the rotor is rotated the cutting blades engage the bale with
an upwards motion opening the bale by cutting and directing a portion of
the bale upwards through the upper gap. This, is believed to be the primary
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reason that with this feeder the feed is not damaged by excessive removal
of leaves from the stems of the feed or by shredding the feed into small
pieces. The superior removal of dust and mold from the feed is believed to
be a result of the upwards movement of the feed after cutting. The cut
s portions of the bale pass through the opening after cutting and are directed
downwards by the feed directing means to the ground forming a row as the
bale feeder moves across the ground.
According to a second aspect of the present invention there is
provided a method of opening a round bale of animal feed, said method
comprising:
providing a round bale of animal feed;
providing an elongate rotor having a substantially horizontal
axis of rotation and cutting means distributed around and along the rotor
and fixed thereto;
urging a side of the bale against the rotor and rotating the rotor
upwards along the side of the bale.
One embodiment of the invention will now be described in
conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is a side view of the bale feeder and towing vehicle.
Figure 2 is a cross section of the bale feeder through A-A.
Figure 3 is a cross section of the cutting blades.
In the drawings like characters of reference indicate
corresponding parts in the different figures.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Referring to Figures 1 and 2 the bale feeder is shown generally
at 10. The bale feeder 10 comprises a frame 12, a feeder body 14, a bale
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lifting means 16 for lifting and positioning a bale 11 of animal feed within
the feeder body 14, and a bale opening means 18. The bale feeder is
usually towed over the ground behind a vehicle 20. Power for the bale
lifting means 16 and the bale opening means 18 is provided by power take-
s offs on the vehicle 20.
The frame 12 comprises a pair of parallel frame members 22fixed to one another by cross members 24. A hitch is located at the front
end of the feeder 12 for connecting to the towing vehicle 20. Wheels 28
are located at the rear end of the feeder 12 to support the feeder 12 and to
o allow it to be moved over the ground.
The feeder body 14 is mounted on the frame 12 for receiving
the bale 11 and to hold the bale 11 in place for opening. The feeder body
14 also houses the bale opening means 18 and includes an open bottom 30
and side walls 32, 34, 36, and 38.
The side walls include a first side wall 32 which gradually
slopes upwards and outwards from the open bottom 30. A second side wall
34 is arranged substantially vertically, and lies opposite the first side wall
32. The second side wall 34 extends upwards from the open bottom 30
higher than the height of a typical bale 11. The second side wall 34
20 provides a surface up against which the bale 11 is fed thereby preventing
the feed from escaping the shredder as the bale 11 is fed into the bale
opening means 18.
A front side wall 36 extends between the first and second side
walls 32 and 34 and extends upwards from the open bottom 30. A rear side
25 wall 38 lies opposite to the front side wall 36 and likewise extends between
first and second side walls 32 and 34 and upwards from the open bottom
30.
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The bale lifting means 16 comprise a powered fork lift for
engaging the bale 11 longitudinally. The fork lift 16 engages an underside
of the bale 11 lifting it off of the ground, and is then able to either support
the bale 11 above the ground for transportation, or load the bale 11 into the
feeder body 14 for opening.
The fork lift 16 is pivotally fixed at a first end 38 along a rear
side 40 of the frame 12, and has forks 42 extending outwards from a
second end 44 Iying opposite the rear side 40 of the frame 12. Remote
actuating means allow the operator to actuate the forks 42 from within the
towing vehicle 20. The fork lift may be actuated such that the forks 42
move from a lifting position 41, to an inclined carrying position 43, and to a
vertical loading position 45 for loading the bale 11 within the feeder body
14.
The fork lift 16 is hydraulically powered having hydraulic
S cylinders 47 which take hydraulic power from the second powering means.
The second powering means usually is a hydraulic power take-off 48 on the
towing vehicle 20.
The bale opening means 18 includes an opening 50 in the
second side wall 34 of the feeder body 14. The opening 50 has a top edge
52 and a bottom edge 54 and extends through the second side wall 34 from
the interior to the exterior of said wall 34. A rotor 56 having an axis of
rotation Iying in a horizontal plane is arranged adjacent the opening 50 such
that a portion of the rotor 56 lies within the opening 50. The rotor 56 is
spaced downwards from the top edge 52 of the opening 50 leaving a upper
gap 58 above said rotor 56 and is spaced upwards from the bottom edge 54
of the opening 50 leaving a lower gap 60 below said rotor 56. The position
of the rotor 56 within the opening 50 is variable in a vertical plane allowing
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for the bale feeder 10 to be used with various sizes of bales.
The upper gap 58 is defined by a first distance from the top of
the rotor 56 to the top edge 52 of the opening 50, and the lower gap 60 is
defined by a second distance from a bottom of the rotor 56 to the bottom
5 edge 54 of the opening 50.
Referring to Figures 2 and 3 the bale opening means 18 include
cutting means for engaging the bale thereby removing a portion of the bale.
The rotor 56 is arranged such that the cutting means engage the bale at a
point above a horizontal line through a centre of the bale. The cutting
lO means comprise cutting blades 64, which are sickle knives fixed to and
spaced longitudinally along the rotor 56. The sickle knives are triangular in
shape, have a blunted point, and are oriented circumferentially on the rotor.
Additional cutting blades 66 may be fixed to the top edge 52 of the opening
50 and if so are spaced longitudinally along the top edge 52 to interleave
with the cutting blades 64 on the rotor 56. These blades are also sickle
knives like those mounted on the rotor. As the rotor 56 is rotated the
cutting blades 64 engage the bale 11 with an upwards motion opening the
bale, cutting and directing material cut from the bale 11 upwards through
the upper gap 58. Any cut material falling from the bale 11 to below the
20 cutting blades 64 falls to the bottom of the feeder body 14 and is fed
through the lower gap 60 of the opening 50 by the bale conveyor 68. The
upwards action of the cutting blades 64 causes the bale 11 to rotate slightly
thereby enhancing the opening action of the cutting blades 64.
The upwards motion of the rotor 56 and the cutting blades 64
25 cut the bale 11 such that the feed is not damaged by excessive removal of
leaves from the stems of the feed or by shredding the feed into small pieces.
The upwards movement of the feed after cutting provides for superior
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removal of dust and mold from the feed. Both the first and second cut
portions of the bale 11 pass through the opening 50 after cutting and are
directed downwards to the ground forming a row as the bale feeder 10
moves across the ground.
The bale opening means 18 include the bale conveyor 68 which
feed the bale 11 into the bale opening 18 and feed the second cut portion of
the bale 11 through the lower gap 60 of the opening 50. The bale conveyor
68 comprises a traveling bed 70 arranged adjacent the open bottom 30 of
the feeder body 14 for supporting the bale 11 and feeding the bale 11 into
the bale opening means 18.
The traveling bed 70 includes a plurality of spaced apart
elongate members 72 fixed laterally across spaced conveyor chains 73,
perpendicular to the direction to the direction of motion of the traveling bed
70. The elongate members 72 support the bale from below.
The bale feeder 10 includes feed directing means for directing
the first and second cut portions of the bale 11 to a location external of the
bale feeder. The feed directing means is a shroud 77 an upper wall 78
connected along its upper edge 80 by a hinge 81 to second wall 34
adjacent the top edge 52 of the opening 50. The upper wall 78 slopes
downwards and outwards from the first edge 80 to a second edge 82. A
substantially vertical side wall 84 extends downwards from the second edge
82 of the upper wall 78 to a free edge 86. The material removed from the
bale 11 passes through the opening 50 and is directed downwards by the
upper wall 78 and the side wall 84 to the ground forming a row as it falls to
the ground and the bale feeder 10 moves across the ground.
The hinge 81 allows for easy access to the opening 50 and
bale opening means 18, and to narrow the unit for transport.
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In an alternative embodiment the feeder may be mounted on a
vehicle in a self-propelled configuration.
In a further alternative arrangement the feeder may be mounted
on a fixed frame and have a conveyor or other suitable means of distributing
5 the feed arranged at the feed directing means.
While one embodiment of the present invention has been
described in the foregoing, it is to be understood that other embodiments
are possible within the scope of the invention. The invention is to be
considered limited solely by the scope of the appended claims.
