Agricultural baler with variable speed plunger

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10588263-B2
Application number	US-201615291393-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 12, 2016
Priority date	Oct 12, 2016
Publication date	Mar 17, 2020
Grant date	Mar 17, 2020

Abstract

An agricultural harvesting machine for crop material including a crank arm connected to a rotational power source, a plunger having an extended position which is located further rearward in a compression chamber than a retracted position, and a connecting link connected between the plunger and the crank arm. One of the connecting link and the crank arm has a variable length. The plunger moves between the retracted and extended positions during a run mode as the crank arm rotates. The plunger changes speeds during an event phase based upon one of the connecting link and the crank arm varying lengths.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An agricultural harvesting machine for baling crop material, the agricultural harvesting machine comprising:
a crank arm connected to a rotational power source for rotational movement;
a plunger moveable within a compression chamber in a reciprocating motion along a z-axis between an extended position and a retracted position;
a connecting link interconnecting the crank arm and the plunger for moving the plunger in the reciprocating motion along the z-axis in response to the rotational movement of the crank arm;
wherein at least one of the crank arm and the connecting link is controllable to exhibit a variable length;
a binding system operable to bind compressed crop material within the compression chamber into a bale;
a crank sensor operable to sense data related to at least one of a rotational speed of the crank arm or a position of the crank arm;
a plunger sensor operable to sense data related to at least one of a position of the plunger, a direction of the plunger, or a speed of the plunger;
a controller in communication with the crank sensor and the plunger sensor and operable to control the variable length of the at least one of the crank arm and the connecting link based on data received from the crank sensor and the plunger sensor, wherein the controller is operable to:
operate the plunger in an operation mode when the binding system is not activated, wherein the operation mode operates the crank arm and the connecting link in a synchronized state such that movement of the crank arm along the z-axis simultaneously moves the plunger a corresponding distance along the z-axis, and a speed of the crank arm relative to the z-axis is the same as a speed of the plunger relative to the z-axis;
change the variable length of the at least one of the crank arm and the connecting link upon activation of the binding system such that the plunger remains substantially stationary in the extended position while the crank arm continues to rotate to maintain compression on the compressed crop material in the compression chamber while the binding system binds the compressed crop material into the bale;
change the variable length of the at least one of the crank arm and the connecting link upon deactivation of the binding system such that the crank arm and the connecting link are returned to the synchronized state in which movement of the crank arm along the z-axis simultaneously moves the plunger a corresponding distance along the z-axis, and the speed of the crank arm relative to the z-axis is the same as the speed of the plunger relative to the z-axis; and
maintain operation of the plunger in the operating mode with the crank arm and the connecting link in the synchronized state until the binding system is activated for a subsequent binding phase event.

2. The agricultural harvesting machine set forth in claim 1 , further comprising a measuring device operable to measure a length of the compressed crop material within the compression chamber and communicate the measured length to the controller.

3. The agricultural harvesting machine set forth in claim 2 , wherein the controller is operable to identify the activation and the deactivation of the binding system using the measured length of the compressed crop material in the compression chamber from the measuring device.

4. The agricultural harvesting machine set forth in claim 1 , further comprising a binding sensor operable to sense when the binding system is activated.

5. The agricultural harvesting machine set forth in claim 4 , wherein the controller is operable to identify the activation and the deactivation of the binding system using the sensed data from the binding sensor related to the activation of the binding system.

Assignees

• Deere & Co

Inventors

• Kraus Timothy J

Classifications

• A01F15/042 Primary

  Plungers · CPC title

• B30B9/3057

  Fluid-driven presses · CPC title

• B30B9/306

  Mechanically-driven presses · CPC title

• A01F15/0841 Primary

  Drives for balers · CPC title