Patent ID: 9526213
Filing Date: 2016-12-27
CPC Classification: A01F

Claim Text:
1. An agricultural square baler comprising a baling chamber configured for compressing crop material forming a bale; a bale chute disposed at an outlet of said baling chamber for receiving said bale and lowering the completed bale onto the field; and wherein the bale chute has a leading end connected to the outlet of the baling chamber for pivoting movement about an axis transverse to a direction of travel of the baler between a first position in which bales from the baling chamber are received onto the bale chute and a lowered second position which is inclined to the horizontal such that a trailing end is lowered to prevent a completed bale from toppling or being damaged; an actuator configured to pivot the bale chute between the first and the second position; a sensor configured and positioned to sense movement on the bale chute of a completed bale and generating a signal indicative of said movement, an electric controller configured for controlling the pivoting of the bale chute between the first and the second position by the actuator, wherein the controller, the sensor and the actuator are interconnected, wherein the controller is configured to control the actuator such that the bale chute is pivoted from the first position to the second position after receiving the signal indicative of movement from the sensor; wherein the bale chute in the first position slopes with respect to the horizontal such that the leading end is higher than the trailing end.