Bale wrapping system with proportional cycle acceleration

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11991957-B2
Application number	US-202117447741-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 15, 2021
Priority date	Sep 15, 2021
Publication date	May 28, 2024
Grant date	May 28, 2024

Abstract

A method of controlling a wrap system of a round baler includes determining a current characteristic of a supply roll of wrap material related to a current weight of the supply roll, and controlling rotation of a pair of spool rollers based on the current characteristic of the supply roll. As the current characteristic indicates a decrease in weight, the rotation of the pair of spool rollers is controlled to achieve a desired acceleration rate of the spool rollers, such that a leading edge of the wrap material is ejected from a nip formed between the pair of spool rollers at an ejection trajectory that is within an allowable angular range relative to a tangent of the nip, so that the leading edge of the wrap material passes through an access and into a baling chamber of the round baler.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A round baler comprising:
a baling system defining a baling chamber having an access into the baling chamber, wherein the baling system is operable to receive crop material into the baling chamber through the access and form the crop material into a bale within the baling chamber;
a wrap system operable to insert a wrap material through the access and into the baling chamber to wrap the bale, the wrap system including:
a pair of spool rollers forming a nip therebetween, wherein the pair of spool rollers are configured to rotate about respective axes of rotation in opposite rotational directions relative to each other and receive the wrap material from a supply roll through the nip;
a driver coupled to the pair of spool rollers and operable to transmit torque to the pair of spool rollers to rotate the pair of spool rollers about their respective axes of rotation;
a torque controller including a processor and a memory having a wrap feed control algorithm stored thereon, wherein the processor is operable to execute the wrap feed control algorithm to:
receive data related to a current characteristic of the supply roll related to a current weight of the supply roll of the wrap material from a sensor;
define a desired acceleration rate of the pair of spool rollers such that a leading edge of the wrap material is ejected from the nip at an ejection trajectory that is within an allowable angular range relative to a tangent of the nip, whereby the leading edge of the wrap material passes through the access and into the baling chamber:
control the driver to adjust torque transmitted to the pair of rollers to achieve the desired acceleration rate of the pair of rollers, wherein the torque from the driver is decreased as the characteristic of the supply roller related to the current weight of the supply roll of the wrap material indicates a decrease in the current weight of the supply roll.

2. The round baler set forth in claim 1 , wherein the pair of spool rollers includes a first roller and a second roller, with the first roller having an elastomer defining a cylindrical outer elastomer surface of the first roller.

3. The round baler set forth in claim 2 , further comprising a support structure configured to support the supply roll of the wrap material, such that the supply roll of the wrap material rests against the cylindrical outer elastomer surface of the first roller along a contact region.

4. The round baler set forth in claim 1 , further comprising a sensor operable to sense data related to the characteristic of the supply roll related to the current weight of the supply roll of the wrap material.

5. The round baler set forth in claim 4 , wherein the sensor includes one of a force sensor, a radial size sensor, a diametric size sensor, or a volume sensor.

6. The round baler set forth in claim 1 , wherein the driver includes a belt coupled to one of the pair of spool rollers and a tensioner operable to tension the belt, wherein the torque controller is configured to selectively control the tensioner to adjust the tension of the belt to vary the torque supplied to the pair of spool rollers based on the current weight of the supply roll of the wrap material.

7. The round baler set forth in claim 1 , wherein the processor is operable to execute the wrap feed control algorithm to define the desired acceleration rate of the pair of spool rollers based on a usage of the pair of spool rollers.

8. The round baler set forth in claim 7 , wherein the processor is operable to execute the wrap feed control algorithm to define the desired acceleration rate of the pair of spool rollers based on the usage of the pair of spool rollers to include a first value for an initial usage period and a second value for a subsequent usage period.

9. The round baler set forth in claim 8 , wherein the processor is operable to execute the wrap feed control algorithm to automatically re-define the desired acceleration rate from the first value to the second value after an initial usage period.

Assignees

• Deere & Co

Inventors

• Kappelman Jacob D
• Erdmann Jeremy M
• Vasquez Jonathan D

Classifications

• A01F15/071 Primary

  Wrapping devices (tying devices A01F15/141) · CPC title

• A01F15/0883

  for round balers · CPC title

• A01F2015/076

  Wrapping device incorporating sensors · CPC title

• A01F2015/0891

  Weighing the finished bale before falling to ground · CPC title

• A01F15/0715 Primary

  Wrapping the bale in the press chamber before opening said chamber · CPC title