Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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TITLE
[0001] Round Baler
FIELD
[0002] The present disclosure relates to the field of round balers.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Round balers are used in the agricultural industry to bale hay, straw,
silage and
other agricultural products into compact shapes for easier storage and
movement. The size of
bale that may be created using a round baler is dependent upon the ability of
the baler to move
the bale once formed.
[0004] Different types of round balers have used the ground to support the
bale being
formed. A round baler sold under the HESSTONTM brand utilized a small rotating
belt and
formed a bale by tumbling loose crop material forward between the belt and the
ground until
enough material was present to begin formation of a bale. A second type of
round baler uses
rollers as opposed to belts to form a bale by driving forward and rolling the
bale. These balers
have had several disadvantages including collecting debris, which is compacted
into the bale
and losing leaves as the bale is being formed.
SUMMARY
[0005] There is provided a round baler that forms a bale within an inner
circumference
of an endless belt. The endless belt is rotated within a bale chamber of a
housing and may be
tensioned by a belt tension assembly to alter the dimensions of the inner
circumference. A
feed conduit is provided for feeding crop material into the inner
circumference of the endless
belt. The endless belt protrudes through the lower opening of the housing when
a size and
weight of the bale being formed exceeds a predetermined threshold setting for
the belt
tensioning assembly, such that the belt is supported by the ground.
[0006] The housing may have a door that provides access to the bale chamber.
The door
has at least one spike to aid in removal of the formed bale from the inner
circumference. A
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ram may also be provided to push the formed bale out of the bale chamber.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] These and other features will become more apparent from the following
description in which reference is made to the appended drawings, the drawings
are for the
purpose of illustration only and are not intended to be in any way limiting,
wherein:
FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a round baler.
FIG. 2 is a left side elevation view, partially in section, of the round baler
shown
in FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a right side elevation view of the round baler shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 4 is a front elevation view, partially in section, of the round baler
shown in
FIG.1.
FIG. 5 is a simplified left side elevation view of the endless belt of the
round baler
shown in FIG. 1 with a round bale partially formed.
FIG. 6 is a simplified left side elevation view of the endless belt of the
round baler
shown in FIG. 1 with a round bale half formed.
FIG. 7 is a simplified left side elevation view of the endless belt of the
round baler
shown in FIG. 1 with a formed round bale.
FIG. 8 is a front elevation view, partially in section, of the round baler
with a
tying apparatus.
FIG. 9 is a top plan view, partially in section, an alternative structure for
removing a fully formed bale from the bale chamber of the round baler.
FIG. 10 is a top plan view, partially in section, of the fully formed bale in
the bale
chamber of FIG 9, angled for removal.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0008] A round baler generally identified by reference numeral 10, will now be
described
with reference to FIG. 1 through 10.
Structure and Relationship of Parts:
[0009] Referring to FIG. 4, a round baler 10 includes a housing 12 which
defines a bale
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chamber 14 that has a lower opening through which bale 24 protrudes. Referring
to FIG. 5 -
7, an endless belt 16 rotates within housing 12, shown in FIG. 4, and defines
an inner
circumference 18. Endless belt 16 rotates on a series of rollers 17. Referring
to FIG. 1, a feed
conduit 20 feeds crop material, such as grass and legume crops into housing
12. Referring to
FIG. 2, crop material passing along feed conduit 20 visible in FIG. 1, enters
housing 12
through feed opening 21. Referring to FIG. 1, feed conduit 20 may have rollers
22 or paddles,
present to force crops into feed conduit 20. Referring to FIG. 4, a movable
shelf 23 is
positioned at the bottom of feed conduit 20 and is used to block opening 28
and may be pulled
outwards or pushed further inwards to allow crop material to fall out of feed
conduit 20 at
different locations, which allows a user to move crops entering bale chamber
24 to the far end
of the chamber to help create a bale 24 with a uniform diameter.
Alternatively, the material
may be distributed by a flail or beater. Referring to FIG. 5 - 7, rotation of
endless belt l6by
driving means, not shown results in the formation of a bale 24 within inner
circumference 18.
Grass and legumes tumble within inner circumference of endless belt 16,
forming into a bale
24. A belt tension assembly 25 is provided to alter the dimensions of inner
circumference 18
of belt 16, as the size of bale 24 grows and weight increases. This can be
seen by a
comparison of FIG 5, FIG. 6 and FIG. 7. A swing arm 27 with a hydraulic
cylinder 29 is
positioned on lower rollers 17. Rollers 17 support endless belt 16. As the
weight of bale 24
increases swing arm 27 moves lowering bale 24 onto the ground.
[0010] Referring to FIG. 8, a bearing disc 31 is positioned on either side of
bale chamber
14 which rotates as bale 24 is being formed.
[0011] Endless belt 16 protrudes through lower opening of housing 12 when a
size and
weight of bale 24 being formed exceeds a predetermined threshold determined by
the setting
for belt tensioning assembly 25 and hydraulic cylinders 29 which control swing
arms 27.
This results in endless belt 16 being supported by the ground. With endless
belt 16 supported
by the ground, the weight of bale 24 is indirectly supported by the ground.
However, bale 24
is formed within inner circumference 18, so it does not pick up debris from
the ground and is
not so prone to loss of leaves. Endless belt 16 may also be moved vertically
within bale
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chamber 14 to lift endless belt 16 off the ground or drop endless belt 16 to
the ground.
[0012] Referring to FIG. 8, a tying arm 36 may be positioned on bearing disk
31 that
rotates with bale 24 as it is being formed. Tying arm 36 is used to tie
reusable cables 38,
twine, string or plastic onto bale 24. A cable or twine reel 44 is positioned
above formed bale
24 and travels in a linear manner back and forth along a reel guide 40. Cable
reel 44 releases a
short length of cable which is grabbed by tying arm 36. As bearing disc 31
rotates with bale
24, cable 38 is drawn off of reel 44 by tying arm 36 causing cable 38 to wrap
around the bale.
Reel 44 moves along reel guide 40 from a first end 33 to a second end 35 to
facilitate
wrapping of cable 38 around entire bale 24. Once bale 24 is wrapped in cable
38 reel 44
moves back along reel guide 40 to a position above tying arm 36 where cable 38
is tied or
hooked back on to itself to prevent unravelling of cable 38.
[0013] Referring to FIG. 4, housing 12 includes a door 26 that provides access
to bale
chamber 14 for removal of bales 24 from inner circumference 18. One of bearing
discs 31 is
rotatably mounted to door 26. A ram 30 may be used to push formed bale 24 out
of bale
chamber 14. Tying arm 36 carried by bearing disc 31 supported by door 26 may
be
positioned at bottom of bale 24 and used to lift bale up so ram 30 can push
bale onto roller 32.
Hinge 34 can be configured to swing to in such a manner as to maintain tying
arm 36 under
bale 24 and assisting with the lifting function. Since tying arm 36 is serving
a lifting function,
a pair of spaced tying arms 36 may be used. Ram 30 pushes from other side of
bale 24 and
forces bale 24 out of endless belt 16. Once one side of bale 24 is sitting on
top of roller 32,
side door 26 swings out of the way on hinge 34 and ram 30 pushes bale 24 all
of the way out
with the bale 24 rolling on roller 32. It will be understood that different
methods of removing
bale 24 from inner circumference 18 are possible. For example, a person could
use a fork lift
attached to machinery to skewer and bale 24.
[0014] Referring to FIG. 9 and FIG. 10, an additional method of removing a
completed
bale 24 from round baler 10 is facilitated with the use of wheels 46 that
apply pressure to
opposing corners of bale 24. Wheels 46 cause bale 24 to become cocked on
rollers 17 when
pressure is applied on opposed ends of bale 24. Once bale 24 is cocked, it
spirals outward
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onto roller 32 and continues to spiral out of round baler 24.
Operation:
[0015] Referring to FIG. 4 - 7, crop material is fed into bale chamber 14 as
endless belt
5 16 rotates. Crop material is fed into inner circumference 18 and altering
the position of shelf
23 causes the crop material to be evenly distributed within bale chamber 14. .
As crop
material accumulates within inner circumference 18, it is continuously rotated
to form a
compact bale 24. As the weight of bale 24 increases, belt tensioning assembly
25 and swing
arm 27 work together to lower endless belt 16 through lower opening in housing
12 to the
ground, which provides additional support. Once bale 24 is formed, baling
twine, baling
webbing, plastic, string or reusable cables 38 may be used to tie the bale and
help it maintain
its compact form. Referring to FIG. 8, formed bale 24 and bearing disc 31 of
housing rotate
with tying arm 36. Cable 38 is drawn off of reel 44 as tying arm 36 rotates
with bearing disc
31. Reel 44 moves along reel guide 40 from first end 33 of reel guide 40 to
second end of reel
guide 40 and back to first end 33 to facilitate wrapping of cable 38 around
entire bale 24.
Once bale 24 is wrapped in cable 38 and reel 44 is in position above tying arm
36, cable 38 is
tied off or hooked back on to itself to prevent unravelling of cable 38.
[0016] Referring to FIG. 4, to remove bale 24 from round baler 10, tying arms
36 carried
by bearing disk 31 on door 26 are engaged with the bottom of bale 24.Door 26
is then
partially opened with a lifting motion at the same time that ram 30 is
activated. The lifting
motion caused by the initial opening of door 26, together with momentum
supplied by ram
30, serves to lift bale 24 onto roller 32. Once bale 24 has engaged roller 32,
door 26 is fully
opened. . Ram 30 on the other side of bale 24 is then used to push completed
bale 24 clear of
belt 16 and out of bale chamber 14. . Referring to FIG. 9 and FIG. 10, bale 24
may also be
removed using wheels 46 as pressure members to apply pressure to opposed
corners of bale
24 and cause it to become cocked and spiral out of round baler 10 following a
helical path.
Advantages:
[0017] There are several advantages associated with round baler as described:
1. It is easier to begin forming and rolling the bale as the crop material is
inside a
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rotating belt.
2. There is less leaf loss during baling as the crop is enclosed within the
belt. Even if
leaves are separated from their stocks they will still be present in the bale.
3. As bale gets really heavy, it is let down onto the ground. With the weight
of the
bale supported by the ground larger bales may be formed.
4. A large bale will require less baling twine to keep it together per ton of
hay or
silage as there is less surface area per volume in comparison to the
equivalent number
of smaller bales. This translates into less spoilage due to weather.
5. A larger bale takes less time to tie per ton than the corresponding number
of
smaller bales.
6. A large bale may be used for grazing by livestock out in a field and would
last
longer. This would require fewer bales to be moved for livestock feeding.
[0018] In this patent document, the word "comprising" is used in its non-
limiting sense to
mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically
mentioned are not
excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article "a" does not
exclude the
possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context
clearly requires that
there be one and only one of the elements.
[0019] The scope of the claims should not be limited by the illustrated
embodiments set
forth as examples, but should be given the broadest interpretation consistent
with the
description as a whole.
