WO2024261649A1

WO2024261649A1 - Agricultural baler for pressing two bales simultaneously with bale shape monitoring system

Info

Publication number: WO2024261649A1
Application number: PCT/IB2024/055966
Authority: WO
Inventors: Robert James Olsen; Eric Herbers; Shane Bollinger; Kelly Booton; Patrick CHERNEY
Original assignee: AGCO Corp
Current assignee: AGCO Corp
Priority date: 2023-06-19
Filing date: 2024-06-19
Publication date: 2024-12-26
Anticipated expiration: 2025-12-19
Also published as: WO2024261573A1

Abstract

An agricultural baler system (102) having a pickup assembly (122) configured to take cut crop material from the ground and move the crop material to a baling chamber (120). The baling chamber has a knife (208) such that crop material is split into left and right bale forming compartments (304, 306) to simultaneously form a first bale in the left bale-forming compartment and a second bale in the right bale-forming compartment. The baler includes a bale shape monitoring system (302) to monitor the shape of the bales being formed. The bale shape monitoring system includes a bale length measuring device (214) in the left and right bale forming compartments configured to measure changes in bale length and determine differences in the bale length measured by the bale length measuring device in the left bale forming compartment with respect to the bale length measuring device in the right bale forming compartment.

Description

AGRICULTURAL BALER FOR PRESSING TWO BALES SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH BALE SHAPE MONITORING SYSTEM

BACKGROUND

Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to agricultural baler that simultaneously forms multiple bales of crop material and, more particularly, to a bale shape monitoring system that determines differences in bale length of the simultaneously formed bales.

Description of Related Art

[0002] It is known to collect cut crop, such as hay, straw, or silage crop into a windrow on a field where the cut crop may subsequently be collected by an agricultural baler and processed into bales of cut crop. In a square baler, charges of cut crop are delivered by the pick-up apparatus from the ground to a precompression chamber. The charges of cut crop are then transferred from the precompression chamber to a baling chamber where the charges are compressed into flakes by the action of a reciprocating piston plunger. Successive flakes are created and form a generally parallelepiped bale within the baling chamber. “Square” bales are often preferred in that the square-shouldered bales facilitate stacking, delivery and use and, as used herein, square bales means bales having squared shoulders.

[0003] Once the forming bale has reached a predetermined length a tying mechanism is operated to encircle the bale with strands of binding material and to knot the strands to form a finished bound or formed bale which is subsequently ejected from the agricultural baler. Once such bale binding mechanism is known from WO 2021/136989 (AGCO).

[0004] Larger balers can process larger amounts of crop material but result in larger bales that are heavy and impossible to move by hand, making them unsuitable for use by a small hobby farmer. To address this, it has become known to use such larger balers to produce bales of a reduced size in pairs, for example as disclosed US 10,869,428 (Grady) in which bales are formed to each side of a vertical cutting knife within the baling chamber.

[0005] Nevertheless, problems remain. It is desirable to produce bales that are uniform in size and that have uniform flakes. In the event of uneven loading of the baling chamber, the bales may have ununiform flakes and a bale on a first side of the dividing partition may be of a different size than that of a bale on a second side of the divider. BRIEF SUMMARY

[0006] In one aspect the invention is directed to an agricultural baler system having a pickup assembly configured to take cut crop material from the ground and move the crop material to a baling chamber and compress the crop material in the baling chamber with a reciprocating plunger into a growing bale. The baling chamber is formed with a knife such that crop material moved into the baling chamber is split by movement of the plunger relative to the knife and pushed into left and right bale forming compartments to simultaneously form a first bale in the left bale-forming compartment and a second bale in the right bale-forming compartment. The baler includes a bale shape monitoring system to monitor the shape of the bales being formed in the left bale forming compartment and the right bale forming compartment. The bale shape monitoring system includes a bale length measuring device in each of the left and right bale forming compartments configured to measure changes in bale length, and determine differences in the bale length measured by the bale length measuring device in the left bale forming compartment with respect to the bale length measuring device in the right bale forming compartment indicating that crop material is not being fed into the pickup assembly evenly across a transverse width of the baler thereby causing a flake formed in the left bale forming compartment to be uneven with a flake formed in the right bale forming compartment.

[0007] This summary is provided to introduce concepts in simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the disclosed or claimed subject matter and is not intended to describe each disclosed embodiment or every implementation of the disclosed or claimed subject matter. Specifically, features disclosed herein with respect to one embodiment may be equally applicable to another. Further, this summary is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. Many other novel advantages, features, and relationships will become apparent as this description proceeds. The figures and the description that follow more particularly exemplify illustrative embodiment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] To easily identify the discussion of any particular element or act, the most significant digit or digits in a reference number refer to the figure number in which that element is first introduced. [0009] FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of an example baler system configured to receive loose crop material and shape and secure the material into bales;

[0010] FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view of the baling chamber of the baling system including a bale shape monitoring system; and

[0011] FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic of the bale shape monitoring system 302 of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0012] The following detailed description of embodiments of the invention references the accompanying figures. The embodiments are intended to describe aspects of the invention in sufficient detail to enable those with ordinary skill in the art to practice the invention. Other embodiments may be utilized, and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the claims. The following description is, therefore, not limiting. The scope of the present invention is defined only by the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

[0013] In this description, references to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” or “embodiments” mean that the feature or features referred to are included in at least one embodiment of the invention. Separate references to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” or “embodiments” in this description do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment and are not mutually exclusive unless so stated. Specifically, a feature, component, action, step, etc. described in one embodiment may also be included in other embodiments but is not necessarily included. Thus, particular implementations of the present invention can include a variety of combinations and/or integrations of the embodiments described herein.

[0014] With reference to FIG. 1, a semi-schematic diagram of an agricultural baler system 102 is shown in which the invention may be employed while baling loose crop material 104 from the ground 106 into formed bales 108. The baler system 102 includes a towing vehicle 110 and a baler 112. The towing vehicle 110 may include a cab 114 wherein an operator may be located, an engine 116 operable to move the towing vehicle, and a power take-off (PTO) 118 operable to transfer mechanical power from the engine 116 to the baler 112. The baler is hitched to the towing vehicle in any suitable manner, and power for operating the various mechanisms of the baler 112 may be supplied by the PTO 118 of the towing vehicle 110. One having ordinary skill in the art should appreciate in the context of the present disclosure that the example baler 112 is merely illustrative.

[0015] The baler has a baling chamber 120 within which bales of crop material 104 are formed. The baler 112 is depicted as an “in-line” type of baler wherein the loose crop material 104 is picked up by a pickup assembly 122 and then loaded up into the baling chamber 120 by way of a stuffer chute assembly 124 including a charge forming stuffer chamber.

[0016] In the illustrated embodiment, the baler 112 is an “extrusion” type baler in which the bale discharge orifice at the rear of the baler 112 is generally smaller than upstream portions of the baling chamber 120 such that the orifice restricts the freedom of movement of a previous charge and provides back pressure against which a reciprocating plunger 126 can act within the baling chamber 120 to compress charges of crop materials to form the next bale. The dimensions of the discharge orifice and the squeeze pressure on the bales at the orifice are controlled by a compression mechanism as is understood by one skilled in the art.

[0017] The reciprocating plunger 126 presses newly introduced charges of crop material against a previously formed and tied bale to form a new bale. This action also causes both bales to intermittently advance toward a rear discharge orifice of the baler 112. The completed bales 108 are tied with binding material, for example twine. Once tied, the bales may be discharged from the rear end of the baling chamber 120 onto a discharge platform in the form of a chute 128.

[0018] A user terminal 130 communicates with an electronic control unit (ECU) 132. The ECU 132 may also be in electronic or other communication with various components and devices of the baler 112 (and/or the towing vehicle 110). Conveniently such communication may be enabled by way of a suitable data communication network such as one compliant with the ISOBUS standard (a network in conformance to ISO 11783). For example, the electronic control unit may be in electronic communication with various actuators, sensors, and other devices within (or outside of) the baler. The ECU 132 may communicate with various other components (including other controllers) in various known ways, including wirelessly. Various alternative locations for the ECU 132 may be utilized, including locations on the towing vehicle 110. It will be understood that one or more electronic control units may be employed, and that the ECU 132 may be mounted at various locations on the towing vehicle, baler, or elsewhere. The electronic control unit(s) may be a hardware, software, or hardware and software computing device, and may be configured to execute various computational and control functionality with respect to the baler (or towing vehicle).

[0019] The piston plunger 126 moves in a reciprocating manner within the baling chamber 120 from a front-dead-center position in which a plunger face of the piston plunger 126 is furthest from the forming bale 108 to a rear-dead-center position in which the plunger face is compressing the forming bale. More specifically, the piston plunger 126 repeatedly extends into the baling chamber 120 such that the plunger face contacts and compresses the charge of cut crop material 104 and the flakes that are already present therein and retracts to allow the next charge of cut crop material 104 to enter the baling chamber 120 from the stuffer chute assembly 124.

[0020] FIG. 2 shows the baling chamber 120 is formed with a chamber roof 202, left and right side walls 204 and a floor 206. The plunger 126 pushes the crop material 104 against and past a stationary splitting knife 208 which extends vertically in the baling chamber 120 between the floor 206 and the roof in a plane parallel with the side walls 204. The compressed crop material split by movement of the plunger 126 relative to the knife 208 is pushed into two separate baleforming compartments, a left bale-forming compartment and right bale-forming compartment, effectively splitting the baling chamber 120 into two smaller baling chambers. Desirably, the plunger 126 comes close to contacting the knife 208 but, preferably, does not contact the knife 208.

[0021] The two bale-forming compartments are desirably separated by a dividing partition 210 that extends rearward from the splitting knife 208 and is generally in a plane parallel with the side walls 204 of the baling chamber 120. The compressed crop material pushed into the left and right bale forming compartments is simultaneously formed into first and second bales 108, with the first bale formed in the left bale-forming compartment on one side of the dividing partition 210 and the second bale formed in the right bale-forming compartment on the other side of the dividing partition 210.

[0022] Once a predetermined bale size has been achieved, an appropriate bale binding mechanisms 212 is actuated to encircle the formed bale 108 with strands of binding material and to knot the strands of binding material to form a finished bale which is subsequently ejected from the agricultural baler 112 by way of the chute 128 at a rear end of the baling chamber 120. Desirably, the baler 112 is provided with a first bale binding mechanism 212 to the first side of the dividing partition 210 and a second bale binding mechanism to the second side of the dividing partition 210. After the first and second bales 108 reach a desired bale size, a respective bale length measuring device 214 causes the appropriate bale binding mechanism 212 to be actuated to encircle the formed bale 108 with strands of binding material and to knot the strands of binding material to form a finished bale which is subsequently ejected from the agricultural baler 112 as would be understood by one skilled in the art and expelled out of the baler 112.

[0023] Each of the left and right bale binding mechanisms 212 comprises a clutch 216, a knotter bale binding mechanism 212 and an associated needle pickup assembly 122, each knotter bale binding mechanism 212 comprising a plurality of knotter head assemblies 218 powered by a drive shaft 220, and each needle pickup assembly 122 comprising a pivot 222, a crank arm 224, a rod 226, a needle frame 228 and a plurality of needles 230, each needle 230 being associated with a corresponding knotter head assembly 218. The needles 230 are mounted on the needle frame 228 and are each associated with a respective strand of twine. Each needle 230 is configured to advance twine vertically along an end of the bale 108. A first end of the rod 226 is pivotally connected to the crank arm 224 and a second end of the rod 226 is pivotally connected to the needle frame 228.

[0024] The crank arm 224 is attached to and rotates with the drive shaft 220 of the knotter bale binding mechanism 212 during a bale tie cycle. In particular, each of the crank arms 224 is configured to rotate a single revolution with the respective drive shaft 220 during a bale tie cycle. When rotated, the crank arm 224 causes, by way of the rod 226, the needle frame 228 to pivot about the pivot 222. The respective bale binding mechanism 212 and associated needles 230 are configured to be driven by a drive sprocket 232. The drive sprocket 232 is powered by a chain drive and is operable to be engaged by the clutch 216. The bale tie cycle is initiated when the clutch 216 is engaged.

[0025] The needles 230 are shiftable relative to the baling chamber 120 during a bale tie cycle to bind a bale 108. In the depicted embodiment, the needles 230 are shiftable upwardly into the baling chamber 120 during an advancement stroke of the bale tie cycle to advance strands of twine upwardly along an end of the bale 108. The needles 230 position the strands of twine so that the bale binding mechanism 212 can secure the twine around the bale 108. The needles 230 are also shiftable downwardly out of the baling chamber 120 during a return stroke of the bale tie cycle to permit formation of the next bale 108. [0026] The knotter head assemblies 218 are powered by the drive shaft 220 and cooperate with the associated needles 230 to form at least one knot in the respective strands of twine during a bale tie cycle. The drive sprocket 232 is journaled on the drive shaft 220 and is configured to spin relative to the drive shaft 220 when the baler is not performing a bale tie cycle. The clutch 216 is operable to initiate a bale tie cycle and transmit driving power from the drive shaft 220 to the needle 230. The clutch 216 may be rotated between an engaged condition, in which the clutch 216 drivingly interconnects the drive shaft 220 and the needle 230, and a disengaged condition, in which the clutch 216 prevents the drive shaft from driving the needle 230.

[0027] In the illustrated embodiment, the bale length measuring device 214 may take the form of a star wheel apparatus 234. At least one star wheel apparatus 234 is provided to each side of the dividing partition 210. Each star wheel apparatus 234 includes a wheel 236 having teeth extending into the baling chamber 120. The teeth dig into the forming bales 108 and as the bales grow and advance within the baling chamber 120, the wheel 236 is caused to be rotated about an axis 238. The bale length measuring device 214 may take the form of the kind described in WO 2021/136989 and may be operable to control the size of the bale 108 produced by actuation of the bale tie cycle by causing the clutch 216 to adopt the engaged condition.

[0028] Turning also now to the schematic view in FIG. 3, the baler system 102 includes a bale shape monitoring system 302 to monitor the shape of the bales 108 being formed in a left bale forming compartment 304 and a right bale forming compartment 306 of the baling chamber 120. The left bale forming compartment 304 and right bale forming compartment 306 are each provided with respective bale length measuring devices 214. A sensor 308 is mounted adjacent the wheel 236 to detect and provide a signal relative to the rotation of the wheel 236. The sensor 308 can be any known sensor used to measure rotation understood by one skilled in the art. The sensors 308 generating the rotational signal in the left and right bale length measuring devices 214 are connected via connections 310 to the ECU 132 which, in turn, is connected to the user terminal 130.

[0029] Differences in the bale length measured by the bale length measuring device 214 in the left bale forming compartment 304 of the baler 112 with respect to the bale length measuring device 214 on the right bale forming compartment 306 are determined by the ECU 132 and indicate that crop material is not being fed into the pickup assembly 122 evenly across the transverse width of the baler 112 thereby causing the flake formed in the left bale forming compartment 304 to be uneven with the flake formed in the right bale forming compartment 306.

[0030] The bale shape monitoring system 302 provides information to the operator on the user terminal 130 related to the shape of the bales 108 so that corrective actions may be taken if the difference in bale length is determined to be unsatisfactory. The information provided on the user terminal 130 may take a number of forms, including the use of shapes, colors, warning lights and other suitable indicia apparent to those skilled in the art that can be used to guide the operator. Corrective action may be in the form of making adjustments to baler components in the pickup assembly 122 or the stuffer chute assemblies 124 or by steering the towing vehicle 110 to alter the inflow of crop material into the baler 112. These corrective actions may include making changes to the stuffer trip set point, changing stuffer chute assembly 124 dimensions by altering the wrapper geometry with manual changes performed by the operator or through automatic adjustments such as taught in U.S. Patent 11,044,851 entitled “Adjustable Stuffer Chute.” Adjustments may also include changing settings for operation of the baler 112 such as flake count targets or changing the travel speed.

[0031] The foregoing has broadly outlined some of the more pertinent aspects and features of the present invention. These should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the invention. Other beneficial results can be obtained by applying the disclosed information in a different manner or by modifying the disclosed embodiments. Accordingly, other aspects and a more comprehensive understanding of the invention may be obtained by referring to the detailed description of the exemplary embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. An agricultural baler system 102 having a pickup assembly 108 configured to take cut crop material 104 from the ground 106 and move the crop material to a baling chamber 120 and compress the crop material in the baling chamber with a reciprocating plunger 112 into a growing bale, the baling chamber being formed with a knife 208 such that crop material moved into the baling chamber is split by movement of the plunger relative to the knife and pushed into left and right bale forming compartments 304, 306 to simultaneously form a first bale in the left bale-forming compartment and a second bale in the right bale-forming compartment, the baler comprising: a bale shape monitoring system 302 to monitor the shape of the bales being formed in the left bale forming compartment and the right bale forming compartment including a bale length measuring device 214 in each of the left and right bale forming compartments configured to measure changes in bale length, and determine differences in bale length measured by the bale length measuring device in the left bale forming compartment with respect to the bale length measuring device in the right bale forming compartment and indicate that crop material is not being fed into the pickup assembly evenly across a transverse width of the baler thereby causing a flake formed in the left bale forming compartment to be uneven with a flake formed in the right bale forming compartment.

2. The agricultural baler system of claim 1 wherein the bale length measuring device comprises a star wheel apparatus 234 having a wheel 236 with teeth extending into the baling chamber and a sensor 308 adjacent the wheel 236 to provide a signal relative to rotation of the wheel.

3. The agricultural baler system of claim 2 further comprising an ECU 132 and the differences in the bale length measured by the bale length measuring device in the left bale forming compartment with respect to the bale length measuring device in the right bale forming compartment are determined by the ECU.

4. The agricultural baler system of claim 3 wherein the sensors generating the rotational signal in the left and right bale length measuring devices are connected via connections 310 to the ECU and a user terminal 130.

5. The agricultural baler system of claim 4 wherein the bale shape monitoring system provides information to an operator on the user terminal related to the shape of the bales so that corrective actions may be taken.