Agricultural baler with bale formation control based on power requirements and usage

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11026371-B2
Application number	US-201916380346-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 10, 2019
Priority date	Apr 10, 2019
Publication date	Jun 8, 2021
Grant date	Jun 8, 2021

Abstract

An agricultural baler includes: a chassis; a coupler configured for connecting to a power source; a bale forming chamber including an apron assembly; an apron tensioning system that controls a baling pressure exerted on a bale forming in the bale forming chamber; a bale release that releases a fully formed bale; and a controller operatively coupled to the apron tensioning system and the bale release. The controller is configured to: set a release size of the fully formed bale; receive a PTO power consumption signal or an available power signal from a tractor controller; determine a maximum available power based on the received signal; compare the maximum available power to a threshold power; and output a control signal to the apron tensioning system to decrease the baling pressure without changing the release size when the maximum available power is at a predetermined power value, relative to the threshold power.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An agricultural baler, comprising:
a chassis;
a power take-off (PTO) coupler carried by the chassis and configured for connecting to a power source;
a bale forming chamber carried by the chassis and comprising an apron assembly comprising at least one chain and a drive roll coupled to the at least one chain and the coupler;
an apron tensioning system comprising an actuator and coupled to the at least one chain and configured to control a baling pressure exerted on a bale forming in the bale forming chamber;
and
a controller operatively coupled to the apron tensioning system, the controller being configured to:
set a completed bale size of the fully formed bale defining when the fully formed bale is completed released;
receive a PTO power consumption signal or an available power signal;
determine a maximum available power based on the received signal;
compare the maximum available power to a threshold power; and
output a control signal to the apron tensioning system to decrease the baling pressure without changing the completed bale size when the maximum available power is at a predetermined power value, relative to the threshold power, wherein the predetermined power value is less than the threshold power.

2. The agricultural baler of claim 1 , wherein the completed bale size is at least one of a diameter or a mass of the fully formed bale.

3. An agricultural baler, comprising:
a chassis;
a power take-off (PTO) coupler carried by the chassis and configured for connecting to a power source;
a bale forming chamber carried by the chassis and comprising an apron assembly comprising at least one chain and a drive roll coupled to the at least one chain and the coupler;
an apron tensioning system comprising an actuator and coupled to the at least one chain and configured to control a baling pressure exerted on a bale forming in the bale forming chamber; and
a controller operatively coupled to the apron tensioning system, the controller being configured to:
set a completed bale size of the fully formed bale defining when the fully formed bale is completed;
receive a PTO power consumption signal or an available power signal;
determine a maximum available power based on the received signal;
compare the maximum available power to a threshold power; and
output a control signal to the apron tensioning system to decrease the baling pressure without changing the completed bale size when the maximum available power is at a predetermined power value, relative to the threshold power;

wherein the controller is configured to output another control signal to the apron tensioning system to increase the baling pressure when the maximum available power is greater than the threshold power.

4. The agricultural baler of claim 1 , wherein the threshold power is a currently needed power of the apron assembly to maintain a density of the bale forming in the bale forming chamber.

5. An agricultural baler, comprising:
a chassis;
a power take-off (PTO) coupler carried by the chassis and configured for connecting to a power source;
a bale forming chamber carried by the chassis and comprising an apron assembly comprising at least one chain and a drive roll coupled to the at least one chain and the coupler;
an apron tensioning system comprising an actuator and coupled to the at least one chain and configured to control a baling pressure exerted on a bale forming in the bale forming chamber; and
a controller operatively coupled to the apron tensioning system, the controller being configured to:
set a completed bale size of the fully formed bale defining when the fully formed bale is completed;
receive a PTO power consumption signal or an available power signal;
determine a maximum available power based on the received signal;
compare the maximum available power to a threshold power; and
output a control signal to the apron tensioning system to decrease the baling pressure without changing the completed bale size when the maximum available power is at a predetermined power value, relative to the threshold power;

determine a PTO power consumption from the received PTO power consumption signal; and
subtract the PTO power consumption from a maximum tractor power value to determine the maximum available power.

6. The agricultural baler of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to:
determine if the maximum available power is at least equal to a set power requirement for the apron assembly to exert a set baling pressure on the bale forming in the bale forming chamber; and
output a signal to the apron tensioning system so the set baling pressure is exerted on the bale forming in the bale forming chamber if the maximum available power is at least equal to the set power requirement.

7. An agricultural baling system, comprising:
a tractor comprising a frame, an engine carried by the frame, and a tractor controller; and
a baler coupled to the tractor, the baler comprising:
a chassis;
a power take-off (PTO) coupler carried by the chassis and coupled to the engine;
a bale forming chamber carried by the chassis and comprising an apron assembly comprising at least one chain and a drive roll coupled to the at least one chain and the coupler;
an apron tensioning system comprising an actuator and coupled to the at least one chain and configured to control a baling pressure exerted on a bale forming in the bale forming chamber;
a bale release actuator coupled to the bale forming chamber and configured upon activation to move a rear portion of the bale forming chamber to create an opening to release a fully formed bale from the bale forming chamber; and
a controller operatively coupled to the apron tensioning system, the bale release actuator, and the tractor controller, the controller being configured to:
set a release size of the fully formed bale defining when the fully formed bale is released;
receive a PTO power take off (PTO) power consumption signal or an available power signal from the tractor controller;
determine a maximum available power based on the received signal;
compare the maximum available power to a threshold power; and
output a control signal to the apron tensioning system to decrease the baling pressure without changing the release size when the maximum available power is at a predetermined power value, relative to the threshold power, wherein the predetermined power value is less than the threshold power.

8. The agricultural baling system of claim 7 , wherein the release size is at least one of a diameter or a mass of the fully formed bale.

9. The agricultural baling system of claim 7 , wherein the controller is configured to output another control signal to the apron tensioning system to increase the baling pressure when the maximum available power is greater than the threshold power.

10. The agricultural baling system of claim 7 , wherein the threshold power is a currently needed power of the apron assembly to maintain a density of the bale forming in the bale forming chamber.

11. The agricultural baling system of claim 7 , wherein the controller is configured to:
receive the PTO power consumption signal;
determine a PTO power consumption from the received PTO power consumption signal; and
subtract the PTO power consumption from a maximum tractor power value to determine the maximum available power.

12. The agricultural baling system of claim 7 , wherein the controller is configured to:
determine if the maximum available power is at least equal to a set power requirement for the apron assembly to exert a set baling pressure on the bale forming in the bale forming chamber; and
output a signal to the

Assignees

• Cnh Ind America Llc

Inventors

• Mcclure John R

Classifications

• A01F2015/077

  Pressing chamber formed by belts and rollers · CPC title

• A01F2015/0795

  Pressing chamber with variable volume · CPC title

• A01F15/0833 Primary

  for round balers · CPC title

• A01F15/07

  Rotobalers, i.e. machines for forming cylindrical bales by winding and pressing · CPC title