Agricultural baler with mechanism to limit bale roll after ejection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12477996-B2
Application number	US-202217841350-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 15, 2022
Priority date	Jun 15, 2022
Publication date	Nov 25, 2025
Grant date	Nov 25, 2025

Abstract

A wrapping assembly for an agricultural baler includes: a supply of wrapping material; a wrapping mechanism configured to wrap the wrapping material around a formed round bale; a protrusion inserter configured to insert a roll-reducing protrusion on a surface of the formed round bale; and a controller operably coupled to the wrapping mechanism and the protrusion inserter. The controller is configured to: output a wrap initiation signal to the wrapping mechanism so the wrapping mechanism begins wrapping the formed round bale; and output a protrusion insertion signal to the protrusion inserter so the roll-reducing protrusion is inserted on a surface of the formed round bale and is subsequently wrapped by wrapping material wrapped around the formed round bale by the wrapping mechanism.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1 . A wrapping assembly for an agricultural baler, comprising:
a supply of wrapping material; a wrapping mechanism configured to wrap the wrapping material around a formed round bale; a protrusion inserter configured to insert a roll-reducing protrusion on a surface of the formed round bale, the roll-reducing protrusion being positioned on the surface of the formed round bale and sized to inhibit rolling of the formed round bale on a ground surface after ejection from the baler; and a controller operably coupled to the wrapping mechanism and the protrusion inserter, the controller being configured to:
output a wrap initiation signal to the wrapping mechanism so the wrapping mechanism begins wrapping the formed round bale; and
output a protrusion insertion signal to the protrusion inserter so the roll-reducing protrusion is inserted on a surface of the formed round bale and is subsequently wrapped by wrapping material wrapped around the formed round bale by the wrapping mechanism.

2 . The wrapping assembly of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to output the protrusion insertion signal prior to outputting the wrap initiation signal.

3 . The wrapping assembly of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to determine at least some wrapping material has been wrapped around the formed round bale and output the protrusion insertion signal after determining at least some wrapping material has been wrapped around the formed round bale.

4 . The wrapping assembly of claim 1 , wherein the supply of wrapping material comprises a roll of wrapping material.

5 . The wrapping assembly of claim 4 , further comprising a protrusion conveyor configured to convey a spent roll of wrapping material to the protrusion inserter.

6 . The wrapping assembly of claim 5 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
determine a defined amount of wrapping material has been pulled from the roll of wrapping material to become the spent roll of wrapping material; and output a protrusion conveyance signal to the protrusion conveyor to convey the spent roll of wrapping material to the protrusion inserter.

7 . The wrapping assembly of claim 1 , wherein the protrusion inserter comprises a reservoir configured to hold a plurality of roll-reducing protrusions.

8 . An agricultural baler, comprising:
a chassis; a pickup carried by the chassis and configured to pick up crop material; a baling chamber carried by the chassis and configured to receive picked up crop material, the baling chamber comprising a roll assembly configured to form a round bale from picked up crop material; and a wrapping assembly carried by the chassis and comprising:
a supply of wrapping material;
a wrapping mechanism configured to wrap the wrapping material around a round bale formed by the baling chamber;
a protrusion inserter configured to insert a roll-reducing protrusion on a surface of the formed round bale, the roll-reducing protrusion being positioned on the surface of the formed round bale and sized to inhibit rolling of the formed round bale on a ground surface after ejection from the baling chamber; and
a controller operably coupled to the wrapping mechanism and the protrusion inserter, the controller being configured to:
output a wrap initiation signal to the wrapping mechanism so the wrapping mechanism begins wrapping the formed round bale; and
output a protrusion insertion signal to the protrusion inserter so the roll-reducing protrusion is inserted on a surface of the formed round bale and is subsequently wrapped by wrapping material wrapped around the formed round bale by the wrapping mechanism.

9 . The agricultural baler of claim 8 , wherein the controller is configured to output the protrusion insertion signal prior to outputting the wrap initiation signal.

10 . The agricultural baler of claim 8 , wherein the controller is further configured to determine at least some wrapping material has been wrapped around the formed round bale and output the protrusion insertion signal after determining at least some wrapping material has been wrapped around the formed round bale.

11 . The agricultural baler of claim 8 , wherein the supply of wrapping material comprises a roll of wrapping material.

12 . The agricultural baler of claim 11 , wherein the wrapping assembly further comprises a protrusion conveyor configured to convey a spent roll of wrapping material to the protrusion inserter.

13 . The agricultural baler of claim 12 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
determine a defined amount of wrapping material has been pulled from the roll of wrapping material to become the spent roll of wrapping material; and output a protrusion conveyance signal to the protrusion conveyor to convey the spent roll of wrapping material to the protrusion inserter.

14 . The agricultural baler of claim 8 , wherein the protrusion inserter comprises a reservoir configured to hold a plurality of roll-reducing protrusions.

15 . The agricultural baler of claim 8 , wherein the protrusion inserter is configured to insert the roll-reducing protrusion on a circumferential surface of the formed round bale.

16 . A method of forming a round bale with an agricultural baler, the method comprising:
forming the round bale from crop material in a baling chamber; inserting a roll-reducing protrusion on a surface of the formed round bale; and wrapping the formed round bale and the roll-reducing protrusion with wrapping material from a supply of wrapping material to produce a wrapped round bale with the roll-reducing protrusion wrapped in the wrapping material and extending from the wrapped round bale in a manner that inhibits rolling of the wrapped round bale after ejection from the baling chamber.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the roll-reducing protrusion is inserted on the surface of the formed round bale prior to wrapping the formed round bale and the roll-reducing protrusion.

18 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the wrapping comprises wrapping at least some wrapping material to the formed round bale and the inserting comprises inserting the roll-reducing protrusion after wrapping at least some wrapping material to the formed round bale.

19 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the roll-reducing protrusion is a spent roll of wrapping material.

20 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the roll-reducing protrusion extends axially across a circumferential surface of the formed round bale upon being inserted.

Assignees

• Cnh Ind America Llc

Inventors

• Geesey Daniel M

Classifications

• A01F2015/076

  Wrapping device incorporating sensors · CPC title

• A01F15/07

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

• A01F15/141

  for round balers (wrapping devices A01F15/071) · CPC title

• A01F15/0715 Primary

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