BE1020280A3 - SQUARE BALL PRESS WITH FRONT COMPRESSION ROLLS. - Google Patents

Abstract

Improved baler containing a pre-compression assembly with at least one pair of opposed pre-compression rollers configured to generate pressure on crop material passing therethrough, with the at least one pair of opposed pre-compression rolls defining an adjustable gap between them, the pre-compression assembly is configured to crushing eye material passing therethrough and a pre-compression drive assembly configured to integrate the at least one pair of opposed pre-compression rolls and the drive system so that the drive system provides driving power for the at least one pair of opposed pre-compression rolls.

Description

SQUARE BALL PRESS WITH FRONT COMPRESSION ROLLS

TcruMAi orTr-o rpmpm A 1 / Vyl II1 V ^ UVyVjAUV ^ i A VJiJAlUJA /

This disclosure generally relates to improved square balers and methods for forming high density bales of harvesting material.

BACKGROUND

For many years, balers have been used to consolidate and package harvest material to facilitate the storage and handling of harvest material for later use. Usually a mower-conditioner cuts off the harvest material and prepares it to dry in windrows. When the cut harvest material is well dried, a baler drives past the windrows to pick up the harvest material and turn it into bales.

More specifically, a picker assembly of the baler picks up the cut harvest material and laid it in swaths from the ground and then transports the cut harvest material to a bale forming chamber (or bale chamber) in the baler. A drive mechanism drives the pick-up assembly, jacks, and a rotor of the feed mechanism. In a conventional square baler, "slices" are formed which, when pressed further together, form a rectangular or "square" bale.

In this context, it is also desirable to improve the current square balers to form high density bales.

High density bales are desirable thereby reducing the number of bales to be treated by humans. This invention is directed to this and has other important objectives.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of this invention provide an improved square baler and methods for forming high density bales. In some embodiments of this invention, a baler includes a pick-up assembly, a drive system for driving various parts of the baler, a pre-compression assembly, and a bale chamber in which the crushed crop forms a bale. The pre-compression assembly includes at least one pair of opposed pre-compression rollers configured to generate pressure on harvesting material passing therethrough, with the at least one pair of opposed pre-compression rollers defining an adjustable gap between them, the pre-compression assembly being configured to harvest the crop material passing between them and a pre-compression drive assembly is configured to integrate the at least one pair of opposed pre-compression rolls and the drive system so that the drive system provides power for the at least one pair of opposed pre-compression rolls, the pre-compression drive assembly additionally including a first chain is configured to be connected to the drive system and to drive a first pre-compression roll and a first sprocket on a common shaft and a second chain configured to to be connected to a second sprocket on the common axis and a second pre-compression roll, wherein movement of the first chain via the drive system is transferred to the second chain via the first sprocket and the second sprocket on the common axis and wherein the second pre-compression roll is mounted on a frame of the baler on a pair of movable arms and the movable arms are configured to be attached to and rotate about the common axis.

In some embodiments of the baler, the first pre-compression roll is attached to the baler frame.

In some embodiments of the baler, a torsion bar connects the pair of movable arms and the torsion bar is configured to synchronize lateral movement of the pair of movable arms.

In some embodiments of the baler, a tension spring applies a compression force to at least one pair of pre-compression rollers.

In some embodiments of the baler, the pre-compression assembly furthermore comprises at least one reinforcement profile which contains at least one opening for the crop to overflow.

Additional features and advantages of the invention will be made apparent from the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments, which thereby draws upon the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The aforementioned and other aspects of this invention can best be understood from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. To illustrate the invention, the drawings show presently preferred embodiments, but it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific means disclosed. Included in the drawings are the following figures:

FIG. 1 illustrates a cut-away side view of an exemplary square baler;

FIG. 2 illustrates a side view of an alternative square baler that includes pre-compression rolls according to an embodiment;

FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective view of the square baler as illustrated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary drive system for the pre-compression rolls of the square baler as shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary method for forming a high density bale.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In some embodiments, the present invention provides an improved baler for forming high-density square bales of harvesting material. FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary square baler. When baling harvest material (such as hay) in a square baler, a baler (or bale forming device) can be equipped with a pre-chamber 11 that forms a slice of bale material. The preformed slab can be introduced into the main bale chamber where a bale is formed.

As shown in FIG. 1, the front chamber 11 of the square baler can be placed between a pick-up assembly and a bale chamber 19. The pick-up assembly can contain pick-up teeth 16, optional baffle plates 17, and one or more centering jacks 15. The pick-up teeth 16, baffle plates 17 and centering jacks 15 can work in a coordinated manner to pick up crop material 60 and align it to transport it to the front chamber 11. From the pick-up assembly, the harvest material 60 can pass through a gap between one pair of opposed compression rollers, the pair comprising a lower roll 100a and an upper roll 100b. Depending on the mounting and arrangement of the lower roll 100a and the upper roll 100b

Itqm / A £> cnloAt fnoOOt> / Ία huâû A * t τ ο * Τ · ** »ηΛ * Μνηκτα« η ΛΑ «νι ivuu uv opiwi luobvii uv iww iuuvu vvioivu / utu ZjjJu. The compression roller of the pair of opposite compression rollers (e.g., the lower roll 100a) is attached to a frame of the baler, and the other compression roll of the pair of opposed compression rollers (e.g., the upper roll 100b) is floating. mounted (eg adjustable support on the baler frame). In some embodiments, each compression roll of the pair of opposed compression rollers is floatingly mounted (adjustably supported on the baler frame).

The lower roller 100a and the upper roller 100b can be connected to each other, for example by a hydraulic cylinder 105, a spring or the like, to exert a predetermined pressure on the harvesting material 60 passing through. the harvest material 60, the lower roll 100a and the upper roll 100b can have a flattening effect on the harvest material. In some embodiments, a hydraulic cylinder (such as the hydraulic cylinder 105 in FIG. 1) may be used to effect a reading of the pressure generated by the pair of opposed compression rollers on the crop material 60 passing therethrough. The lower roller 100a and the upper roller 100b can be driven by a motor to rotate toward each other so that the harvest material 60 can be supplied to the gap between the pair of rollers and can be crushed by the pair of rollers as the rollers rotate.

In this description, the word crush is used to reduce / destroy the structural integrity of each individual stem of the crop material so that it does not spring back.

The predetermined pressure generated by the pair of opposed compression rollers to crush crop material passing therethrough depends on the nature of the crop material. In some embodiments, the predetermined pressure generated by the lower roll 100a and the upper roll 100b to crush crop material passing therebetween is greater than 345kPa (50 psi, 1 psi or pound per square inch = 6 894.75729 Pa), about 414kPa (60 psi), approximately 483 kPa (70 psi), approximately 552 kPa (80 psi), approximately 621 kPa (90 psi) or approximately 689 kPa (100 psi).

Note that the pressures described herein are given by way of example only. Extra pressures can be applied during the operation of the compression rollers. For example, if a mat crop is fed between the compression rollers, a pressure of about 2758 kPa (400 psi) may be applied to the compression rollers to crush a high percentage of crop nodes. Different pressures can be determined based on the type of crop to be crushed and the amount of harvesting material to be crushed at the same time and can vary during the operation of the compression rollers.

In order to maintain the predetermined pressure generated by the lower roller 100a and the upper roller 100b on the crop material 60 passing therethrough, the gap between the lower roller and the upper roller can be adjusted, for example depending on the nature and the thickness of the crop material that will have to pass through the gap (eg the thickness of the crop mat). In some embodiments, there may be a pressure sensor 110 that detects the pressure generated by the pair of opposed compression rollers on the crop material passing through; and the gap between the pair of opposed compression rollers of the compression assembly is adjustable to maintain the predetermined pressure generated by the pair of opposed compression rollers on the crop material passing therethrough. In some other embodiments, a controller 115 may be coupled to the pressure sensor 110, and the gap adjustment between a pair of opposed compression rollers is automatically controlled by the controller. In other further embodiments, the adjustment of the gap between the pair of opposed compression rollers is manually controlled by a baler operator.

Because of the high pressure generated by the lower roller 100a and the upper roller 100b, it is preferable that the lower roller and the upper roller do not touch each other at any time during operation. For example, the gap between the lower roll 100a and the upper roll 100b may have a minimum value or threshold that is always retained. The minimum value or threshold can be, for example, approximately 1.0 mm, 1.2 mm, 1.3 mm, 1.4 mm, 1.5 mm, etc. up to an upper limit of approximately 1.0 cm.

Note that the gaps discussed above are only shown by way of example. The actual gap between the compression rollers during operation may change accordingly based on a number of factors, including but not limited to the amount of crop being compressed, the forward speed of the baler, the type of crop being compressed and other similar factors .

It may be advantageous to locate the reduction in structural integrity (crushing) of crop sizes in the gap between the lower roll 100a and the upper roll 100b. The location of crushing the harvest material will reduce the demands placed on the other parts of the baler such as the bale chamber where bales are formed, for example by a plunger. When the harvesting material is locally crushed, for example, harvesting material with a higher density is supplied to the bale chamber. The dimensions and associated crushing / stacking force required for the bale forming device can be limited if the harvest material is already crushed. As a result, the hydraulic requirements imposed on the bale chamber can also be limited, since the force exerted on the harvest material is reduced as a result of the local crushing between the compression rollers.

The person skilled in the art should be able to select suitable rolls for the compression rolls that crush the crop material (i.e., the lower roll 100a and the upper roll 100b). Based on the application and intended use, the material and / or shape of the surface of the rollers can be used as parameters for the choice of rollers. For example, a metal roll (made of steel or stainless steel) is able to meet the high pressure requirement required to crush the knots of certain types of crop material. As another example, a spiral roller or a roller with a large contact surface may be suitable in that the small protrusions on the surface of the spiral roller or the roller with a large contact can be capable of exerting tensile force on the harvest material, and the wide flat parts can of the surface are suitable for crushing the crop under high pressures. The choice of suitable rollers also partly depends on the harvesting material to be crushed.

The speed of the lower roll 100a and the upper roll 100b can be synchronized with the other parts of the baler. For example, the pick-up assembly and the bale chamber 19 can be synchronized with the lower roll 100a and the upper roll 100b. In this regard, the capacity of the lower roller 100a and the upper roller 100b corresponds to the capacity of the pick-up unit and the capacity of the bale chamber 19, and thus the entire baler operates efficiently with a minimal risk of overfilling / clogging.

In some embodiments, the thickness of the crop material to pass between the lower roll 100a and the upper roll 100b may be determined by factors such as the speed of the pick-up unit and the distance between the pick-up unit and the pair of opposed compression lines. In some embodiments, an optional array of packer forks, an optional rotary feed mechanism, or a pair of rotary feed and cutting tools may be used, for example, to control the thickness of the crop material passing through the pair of opposed compression rows.

After the harvest material 60 has been crushed by the lower roll 100a and the upper roll 100b, the harvest material may pass through an optional element 14 which may be in the form of forks or a rotor fork configured and placed to the crushed harvest material into the front chamber 11 where it is partially compressed. The pre-chamber 11 can be used to determine how much crushed crop material 60 is in each slice. A baler operator can control the amount of material in one slice by changing the parameters related to the pre-chamber 11. Once this amount has been reached, the material can be introduced into the pre-chamber 11 into the bale chamber 19 through a crop holding finger, filler fork and / or arm 12.

Once a slice has been formed and ejected from the pre-chamber 11, a plunger that can move continuously, such as a piston in a combustion engine, compresses the bale, and compresses a slice, in FIG. 1 from left to right in the bale chamber 19. In this way, slices are pressed to the right as shown in FIG. 1, and compressed during bale formation.

Square balers are well known in industrial agriculture, and the pick-up unit, pre-chamber and bale chamber of such machines can be used in the square-baler of this invention. Examples of square balers can be found in patent application U.S. Pat. 12 / 871,439, filed August 30, 2010 and entitled "Method of Tagging Square Baies" [method of tagging square bales], the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Similarly, examples of balers containing compression cuts can be found in patent application U.S. Pat. 13 / 175,285, filed July 1, 2011 and entitled "Improved Balers and Methods for Forming High Density Baies" [Improved balers and method for forming high density bales], the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary embodiment of the present invention as a cut-away side view of a square baler 200 with a pair of pre-compression rolls. As shown in FIG. 2, a pre-compression assembly 205 can receive harvesting material from a cutting and picking assembly. When the harvest material is received, the harvest material can pass through a gap between a pair of opposed pre-compressing rollers, more particularly roll 210a and roll 210b, which are configured and positioned to exert a predetermined pressure on the harvest material passing through to crush the harvest material. The roller 210a may be positioned such that it is stationary with respect to the pre-compression assembly 205. Conversely, the roller 210b may be mounted on a movable arm 215 so that the pressure exerted on crop material passing through the pre-compression rolls 210a and 210b is adjusted in accordance with the volume of harvest material. Note that only one movable arm 215 is shown in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 3, however, a pair of movable arms 215 can be provided. An adjustable stop 220 can be provided to limit the movement of the arm 215 and thus of the roller 210b. The adjustable stop 220 can be adjusted to achieve a minimum clearance between the rollers 210a and 210b, and to prevent the roller 210b from contacting the roller 210a so as to prevent any possible damage to the rollers.

The pre-compression roll 210b can also be placed in the vicinity of a torsion bar 225 configured to provide limited left-right movement to the roll 210b and the arms 215, while still ensuring good alignment between the rollers 210a and 210b. In addition, a tension spring 230 can be positioned so that the arms 215 are preloaded with a compression force and thereby exert a compression force on all the crop material passing between rollers 210a and 210b. The pre-compression assembly 205 may also include a transport roll 235 that is configured to direct crop material away from the pre-compression rolls 210a and 210b and direct it to the bale chamber.

Note that the pre-compression assembly 205, together with the pre-compression rolls 210a and 210b as illustrated in FIG. 2, can be installed in a modular system to be applied to existing balers afterwards. The pre-compression rollers 210a and 210b can be packaged, for example, in a kit, together with mounting material to fit them in an existing baler between an existing cutting and pick-up unit and the frame of the baler. In an alternative embodiment, the pre-compression assembly 205 may be built to replace an existing packer mechanism and may be positioned at the location where the packer mechanism is currently mounted, so that the existing pickup assembly can remain in its current location. In another embodiment, the pre-compression assembly 205 may further include a set of blades configured to fit on an existing pick-up assembly to improve crop flow to and between the pre-compression rolls 210a and 210b.

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the pre-compression assembly 205 shown in FIG. 2. This view shows the pair of movable arms 215, in which the torsion bar 225 is shown between the two movable arms, thereby providing limited lateral movement of the roller 210b and the arms, while the proper alignment between the rollers 210a and 210b keeps existing. In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, the torsion bar may be constructed such that it is not round at both ends, but that the cross-section is in the form of a tear or other shape such as a square, rectangle or other suitable cross-section to allow it to cooperate with fasteners that can accommodate couples that arise during operation as a torsion bar. This shape limits the possible rotation of the torsion bar 225, the rotational movement of the arms 215 relative to each other being determined by the torsion bar's torsional coefficient. In addition, FIG. 3 better the position of the transport roller 235 with respect to the pre-compression rollers 210a and 210b.

As shown in FIG. 3, the pre-compression assembly 205 may further include one or more reinforcement profiles 240 to add strength and rigidity. Openings may be provided between the one or more reinforcement profiles 240 so that overflowing harvesting material may pass through the openings instead of clogging the pre-compression assembly 205 or otherwise adversely affecting its operation.

FIG. 4 illustrates a side view of the pre-compression assembly 205 as shown in FIG. 2 with the addition of the pre-compression drive assembly 400. The drive assembly 400 can be configured to provide drive power to the pre-compression rollers 210a and 210b. The drive assembly 400 can be directly integrated into the baler 405 drive system, i.e., the mechanical drive system to provide power to various baler components such as the jack, rollers, and other various baler components as shown in FIG. 1. The drive assembly 400 may include a first chain 410 that is configured to integrate into the drive system 405 and apply power to the roller 210a. Similarly, the drive assembly may include a second chain 415 configured to provide power to the roller 210b.

riMumi u Αηηοΐ / Ί 1 / /n / la aarnla «rr / 11 λ oainfaλtr ^ r / jar» i «V \ af [υυτν] ινινυχ uvpauiu ivuu wiotv ivwuuig itau wuiuwn onion uvt aaiiuiijihjbpers- via a chain of the briars 40 420. The movement of the sprocket 420, as it is driven by the baler 405 drive system, causes the movement of the first chain 410, which in turn moves the sprocket 425, which is functionally connected to roller 210a and thus the movement of that role. The first chain 410 can also make contact with a chain wheel 435 and thus make it turn. The sprocket 435 may be located in the vicinity of a sprocket 440 on a common shaft 445. The rotation of sprocket 435 due to the movement of the first sprocket 410 thus causes the rotation of sprocket 440. The second sprocket 415 makes contact with sprocket 440 and due to the rotation of sprocket 440, it causes sprocket 430 to rotate. Sprocket 430 is functionally connected to roller 210b so that the rotation of sprocket 430 turns roller 210b. The movable arms 215 can also be attached to and configured to pivot about the common axis so that the roller 210b has a limited range of movement on the common axis. As such, the baler 405 drive system can, based on the arrangement of the components as shown in FIG. 4, operate in a coordinated manner with the integrated drive assembly of the pre-compression assembly 400 to drive both pre-compression rolls 210a and 210b.

Note that the type and arrangement of the components as shown in FIG. 4 only to be able to explain the principle. Alternative embodiments may include alternative arrangements of components, such as the sprockets and chains. Similarly, alternative embodiments may include alternative drive assemblies. For example, the pre-compression drive may comprise one or more belts and pulleys arranged in a manner similar to the chain and the sprockets as shown in FIG. 4. In addition, the pre-compression drive may be a gearbox configured to be integrated into the baler drive system to provide drive power to the pre-compression rollers.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary process for forming a high density bale according to an embodiment of the present invention. Harvest material is initially picked up 500 by a pick-up assembly (e.g., the pick-up assembly shown in FIG. 1). Once picked up 500, the harvest material can be crushed 502 by means of. a pre-compression unit. Exemplary compression units are discussed above with regard to the lower roll 210a and the upper roll 210b. As discussed above, the pre-compression assembly exerts a crushing pressure on the crop material, resulting in crushed crop material. Once the harvest material has been crushed 502, it is 504 d.m.v. a bale chamber formed into a bale.

The balers of this invention can be configured to form high density bales. Compared to prior art balers (or conventional balers), a baler of this invention can reduce the density of a baler by at least 15%, 30%, 50%, 80%, 100%, 150%, or 200 % improve. Improved density is advantageous since more bale material can be bundled together per bale, thereby reducing various costs in connection with bales with too low a density.

Although the invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is not limited thereto. For example, two pairs of opposed compression rollers can be used to ensure that the crop material is completely crushed. A person skilled in the art will recognize that numerous changes and modifications can be made to the preferred embodiments of the invention and that such changes and modifications can be made without departing from the true spirit of the invention. It is therefore intended that the appended claims be interpreted so as to cover all such equivalent variations that fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims (5)

A square baler comprising: a pick-up unit; a drive system for driving various baler components, a pre-compression assembly (205), comprising: at least one pair of opposed pre-compression rollers (210a, 210b) configured to generate a pressure on harvesting material passing through, the at least one pair of opposed pre-compression rollers (210a, 210b) define an adjustable gap between them, the pre-compression unit (205) is configured to flatten the crop material passing between them, and a pre-compression drive unit (400) is configured to accommodate the at least one pair of opposed units integrating pre-compression rollers (210a, 210b) and the drive system such that the drive system provides drive power for the at least one pair of opposed pre-compression rollers (210a, 210b), characterized in that the pre-compression drive assembly (400) further comprises: a first chain (410) which configured is to be connected to the drive system and to drive a first pre-compression roll (210a) and a first sprocket (435) on a common shaft (445); and a second chain (415) configured to be connected to a second sprocket (440) on the common (445) axis and a second pre-compression roll (210b), movement of the first chain (410) being transmitted via the drive system on the second chain (415) via the first sprocket (435) and the second sprocket (440) on the common shaft (445), and wherein the second pre-compression roller (210b) is mounted on a frame of the baler on a pair of movable arms (215) and the movable arms (215) are configured to be attached to and rotate about the common axis (415). Square baler according to claim 1, characterized in that the first pre-compression roller (210b) is attached to the frame of the baler The square baler according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a torsion bar (225) connecting the pair of movable arms (215), the torsion bar (225) being configured to synchronize lateral movement of the pair of movable arms (215). The square baler according to one or more of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a tension spring (230) for applying a compressive force to at least one pair of pre-compression rollers. Square baler according to one or more of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the pre-compression assembly furthermore comprises at least one reinforcement profile (240) which has at least one opening for the crop to overflow.