Patent ID: 6363844
Filing Date: 2002-04-02
Classification: B65B

Abstract:
A device for inserting or replacing bale ties without repetitive shifting of the bale within the device, said device comprising:a base frame structure; a single reciprocally driven upper platen transversely movable upon said base frame structure along a line perpendicular to the planes of said ties for paired contraposition with a lower platen; a lower platen base attached to said base frame structure containing a plurality of lower platens; each platen being provided with elongated, generally longitudinally extending bale contacting and compressing surfaces having a longitudinally extending major axis, with said upper platen being mounted on said structure for reversible translation toward and away from an opposable lower platen within a common plane of action, with said platen compression surfaces being disposed in substantial parallelism to one another and with said surfaces located in substantial alignment and positioned for compressing a bale of material therebetween, as the upper platen moves toward an opposed lower platen, said surfaces each having a dimension in a direction perpendicular to the major axis thereof, which is sufficiently small so as to compress a bale of material only in close proximity to a location where a single bale tie is to be placed; a drive mechanism for moving said upper platen perpendicular to the planes of said ties and for positioning said upper platen in substantial alignment with any single one of said lower platens; and a reciprocating drive mechanism that is coupled to the upper platen, to move the upper platen toward said single one of said lower platens to thereby compress a bale of material between said surfaces.