Non-stop round baler

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11096332-B2
Application number	US-201916414876-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 17, 2019
Priority date	Jun 15, 2018
Publication date	Aug 24, 2021
Grant date	Aug 24, 2021

Abstract

A non-stop round baler is towed by a towing vehicle and is divided into a collection chamber and a baling chamber. The collection chamber is disposed between a pick-up unit and the baling chamber. The collection chamber momentarily stores the crop material before being transferred to the baling chamber. A feed control gate is functionally disposed between the collection chamber and the baling chamber. The feed control gate is selectively switchable between a flow restricting configuration during a bale binding cycle and a bale ejection cycle, and a flow facilitating configuration during a bale forming cycle. When in the flow restricting configuration, the feed control gate blocks crop movement into the baling chamber. When in the flow facilitating configuration, the feed control gate facilitates crop movement into the baling chamber.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A round baler comprising:
a support frame;
a pickup unit attached to the support frame and operable to pick crop material from the ground;
a baling chamber attached to the support frame and operable to receive the crop material from the pickup unit and form the crop material into a bale;
a collection chamber attached to the support frame and disposed between the pickup unit and the baling chamber;
a feed control gate functionally disposed between the collection chamber and the baling chamber, the feed control gate being selectively switchable between a flow restricting configuration and a flow facilitating configuration dependent upon an operational cycle of the baling chamber; and
a motion altering mechanism functionally associated with the feed control gate, the motion altering mechanism operable to switch the operation of the feed control gate between the flow restricting configuration and the flow facilitating configuration;
wherein the motion altering mechanism is moveable between a first position and a second position to move the feed control gate between the flow restricting configuration and the flow facilitating configuration;
wherein the motion altering mechanism includes a link including a first connection location having a motion transmitting roller rotatably attached to the link at the first connection location, and wherein the link includes a second connection location having a braking element attached to the link at the second connection location;
wherein the link is pivotally coupled to the support frame at a third connection location, with the third connection location positioned between the first connection location and the third connection location;
wherein the motion transmitting roller is configured to communicate motion from a baler drive arrangement to the feed control gate when the motion altering mechanism is disposed in the first position;
wherein the braking element is configured to halt motion of the feed control gate when the motion altering mechanism is disposed in the second position; and
an actuator interconnecting the support frame and the link and selectively controllable to rotate the link about the third connection location to actuate the motion altering mechanism between the first position and the second position.

2. The baler as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the operational cycle of the baling chamber includes a bale formation cycle, a bale binding cycle and a bale ejection cycle.

3. The baler as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the collection chamber includes a conveyer belt operable to facilitate transfer of the crop material to the baling chamber.

4. The baler as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising a feeder unit mounted in the collection chamber, the feeder unit including a plurality of fingers extending from an operative top side of the collection chamber, the plurality of fingers configured to move the crop material towards the baling chamber.

5. The baler as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the feed control gate is disposed in the flow facilitating configuration during a bale formation cycle, and wherein the feed control gate is configured to transfer the crop material from the collection chamber to the baling chamber when disposed in the flow facilitating configuration.

6. The baler as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the feed control gate is disposed in the flow restricting configuration during a bale binding cycle and a bale ejection cycle, and wherein the feed control gate is configured to restrict flow of the crop material from the collection chamber to the baling chamber when disposed in the flow restricting configuration.

7. The baler as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the feed control gate includes a plurality of slats mounted along a length of a shaft, the feed control gate having a rotational axis orthogonal to the direction of flow of crop material moving from the collection chamber to the baling chamber.

8. The baler as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the feed control gate is powered to rotate about a rotational axis Y in the flow facilitating configuration via a baler drive arrangement, and wherein the feed control gate is brought to a halt in the flow restricting configuration.

9. The baler as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the motion altering mechanism is moveable between a first position and a second position to move the feed control gate between the flow restricting configuration and the flow facilitating configuration.

10. The baler as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the link comprises one of an arcuate shape profile, a curved shape profile, or a V-shaped profile.

11. The baler as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the actuator is attached to the link at a fourth connection location.

12. The baler as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the fourth connection location is positioned between the first connection location and the third connection location.

Assignees

• Deere & Co

Inventors

• Anaparti Phani
• Siddheshwaran Rajasekar

Classifications

• A01F15/106

  for round balers · CPC title

• B30B9/301

  Feed means · CPC title

• A01F15/0705 Primary

  Arrangements for continuous operation · CPC title