Abstract:
A round bale press, for baling agricultural products, includes a pressing chamber that is circumferentially surrounded by compaction elements and a tying apparatus that lays twine onto the circumferential surface of a rotating bale formed in the pressing chamber of the baler, the twine being engaged between the rotating bale and the compaction elements and wrapped about the circumference of the bale. At least one pressing device is provided which includes at least one rotating pressing tool for engaging the circumference of the bale at a location where the twine that is wrapped about the bale is to be cut off when the desired number of wraps have been applied to the bale. The pressing tool operates to form a groove in the circumference of the bale and to guide the finishing wraps or wrap of twine to the vicinity of the groove so that the tension in the twine acts to seat the finishing wraps or wrap of twine in the groove prior to the wrapped length of twine being severed from the supply roll of twine.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention pertains to a round bale press with a pressing chamber, which is surrounded by compaction elements and with a tying apparatus that wraps twine on the circumferential surface of a rotating bale made in the pressing chamber, and in particular to apparatus for securing the loose end of the wrapped twine to prevent the twine from coming loose from the bale. 
     Conventionally, round bales are tied with twine in round bale presses in order to prevent the harvested crop from falling apart after it leaves the pressing chamber. The twine is only loosely wrapped on the peripheral surface of the bale with the end of the twine lying loose and untied. Therefore, it can happen that after ejection of the bale from the pressing chamber, depending on the turning direction of the bale, the twine becomes unwrapped and the bale falls apart, or that the loose end of the twine becomes an impediment to further handling of the bale. 
     DE-A-41 32 664, discloses two devices by means of which the twine end can be secured on the bale, one device acting to pressing the twine into the bale, and the second device acting to secure the twine in place with adhesive tape. 
     A German patent application, with file number 197 05 582.6, filed Feb. 14, 1997, and a corresponding U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/014,237, filed Jan. 27, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,941,166, issued Aug. 24, 1999, show a round bale press with a slot shaper, attached to resist torsion, that, in close contact with the revolving bale, cuts a slot or groove into the circumferential surface of the bale in which the loose ends of the twine are held by a friction fit. 
     The problem with this invention consists in the fact that this method of securing the twine is relatively complicated. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     According to the present invention, there is provided a novel structure for securing twine ends to a wrapped round bale. 
     An object of the invention is to provide a twine end securing device which operates to form a groove in the circumference of a bale in a location where the twine dispensing mechanism places the final wraps of twine so that at least the last of these final wraps enters the groove so that when this wrap is severed from the supply roll of twine the loose end section enters the groove and is frictionally retained there. 
     A more specific object of the invention is to provide a grooving and pressing device including a tool defined in part by at least one rotating element having fingers or teeth arranged about its circumference and projecting radially from its axis of rotation, the tool being located for constant engagement with and rotated by the circumference of a rotating bale being formed in the baling chamber, the rotating element acting to form a groove in the circumference of the bale at a location where the twine dispensing apparatus is designed to stop for applying several wraps of twine at the end of the tying cycle. 
     Still another object of the invention is to provide a grooving and pressing device, as set forth in one or more of the immediately preceding objects, which may be adjusted to various positions so that the rotatable grooving and pressing tool is in proper groove-forming relationship to a bale being formed, such adjustment in some cases being made to accommodate for different crops or crop conditions. 
     Yet another object of the invention is to provide a grooving and pressing device which includes twine guides for orienting the final wrap(s) of twine in alignment with the groove(s) formed in the circumference of the bale being wrapped. 
     These and other objects will become apparent from a reading of the ensuing description together with the appended drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1, is a schematic left side elevational view of a lower forward portion of a round bale press equipped with a tying apparatus and a twine end securing device, in the form of a grooving and pressing device made according to the invention. 
     FIG. 2, is a perspective view of the grooving and pressing device shown in FIG.  1 . 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a partial view of a round bale press  10  having a frame  12  that contains the pressing chamber  14  and is connected to a pulling vehicle, for instance, a tractor (not shown) via a tractor hitch  16  and is supported by wheels  18  above the ground. 
     The frame  12  is bordered on both sides by vertical side walls  20  that extend in the direction of travel and between which the tractor hitch  16  is contained. 
     A multitude of rolls  22  is located between the side walls  20 , in this embodiment example, that drive compaction elements  24  by means of belts, as is customary. A crop inlet or opening  30 , is located between the compaction elements  24  and a cylinder  26  in the lower left area, at the bottom of the drawing, the cylinder serving to support a bale  28 , formed in chamber  14 . Crop material is picked up from the ground by a pick-up device (not shown), transported through the crop inlet  30  and into the chamber  14 , by means of an overshot conveyor  32 , and then rolled into a cylindrical bale  28 . 
     There is no inescapable need to configure a round ball press  10  with compaction elements  24  in the form of belts. Rather, the pressing chamber  14  can also be delimited by means of rotatable rolls with their turning axes located on the circumference of a circle. Aside from this, chain-link rod conveyors can be used as compaction elements that are moved on a preset or modifiable path. Finally, also, combinations of belts, chain-link rod conveyors, and rolls can be used. 
     Between the tractor hitch  16  and conveyor  32  located underneath it, a twine dispensing apparatus  34  is provided with the help of which twine  33 , only tentatively shown in drawing, is taken from a supply roll and brought to the circumference of the rotating bale  28 , enabling the bale to pick it up. The twine dispensing apparatus  34  contains at least one twine guide or tube  36  formed at the end of a twine dispensing arm, as is customary, that is swingable within a predominantly horizontal plane between a position distant from the bale  28  to a position close to the bale  28 . It is advantageous if, at the end of the twine wrapping cycle or process, the twine guide  36  assumes a position at an end of the bale. However, any other position, for instance, in the middle, is also possible. Twine dispensing apparatus  34  can also be installed in a different area, for instance, in the upper or rear area of the round bale press  10 , these different locations being possible with baling chambers of different designs having openings to the baling chamber sufficient for permitting twine to be introduced at the different locations. 
     With the twine dispensing apparatus  34 , a cutting device (not shown) is associated that cuts the twine  33  between the supply roll and the bale  28 , as soon as enough twine  33  has been wrapped. This cutting device is conventionally configured and positioned so that the twine strand or twine strands are routed between an anvil and a cutting blade and are cut at a certain moment toward the end of the wrapping process. The round bale press  10  preferably includes controls which determine this moment in such a manner that cutting will not happen before enough twine  33  has been wrapped on the bale  28 . 
     Here it is noted that the compacting elements  24  are a plurality of belts mounted in side-by-side relationship on the support rolls  22 , leaving only a small gap, for instance, 5-10 mm, between them. 
     In the embodiment disclosed, a twine end securing device in the form of a grooving and pressing device  38  is mounted at a level below the hitch  16  at a location forwardly of the inlet  30 . The grooving and pressing device  38  includes an arm  40  supporting a grooving and pressing tool  42  that can rotate around a horizontal axis. For practical operation, the arm  40  is held in a firm position by a bushing-shaped holder  41  in a lateral region of the round bale press  10 . 
     Referring now also to FIG. 2, it can be seen that the grooving and pressing tool  42  is here shown defined by a multi-component star-shaped wheel including two individual star-shaped wheels  46 . The individual star-shaped wheels  46  are attached, as by an axle, to a selected one of a plurality of holes provided in a circular pattern in a disk  47  that is rigidly attached to the arm  40 . The axle establishes an essentially horizontal axis about which the wheels  46  rotate. By positioning the supporting axle in different ones of the holes in the disk  47 , the position of the grooving and pressing tool  42  relative to the surface of the bale  28  is changed. 
     The individual star-shaped wheels  46  feature finger-shaped or ray-shaped spikes or protrusions  48 , and are attached, spaced apart, so as to maintain between them a groove or slot  50  for receiving a final wrap or wraps of the twine. While one might consider a rounded configuration of the spikes  48  of the star-shaped wheels and varying configuration of the wheels themselves, experience has shown that it is advantageous to configure the spikes to be as pointed as possible and to select a radius for the star-shaped wheels of 140 mm. The arm  40  extends straight into the pressing chamber  14  and features a first part  43 , that extends longitudinally beneath a starting roll  51 , and a second holding part  44  that is firmly mounted, as by welding, on and the first part  43  in an upwardly and rearwardly angled position so as to place the grooving and pressing tool  42  in a position as close as possible to the starter roll  51  of the round bale press  10 . The grooving and pressing tool  42 , in this case the star-shaped wheels  46 , are located so that they penetrate at least partially into the circumferential surface of the bale  28 . 
     The grooving and pressing tool  42  is designed to be adjustable relative to the pressing chamber  14 , to suit varying crops like silage, hay and straw. With a softer crop material such as silage, stronger pressing may be required. This can be accomplished by means of, for instance, shifting the grooving and pressing tool  42  farther in the direction of the bale  28 . With harder crop material it can suffice to press the twine against the bale with less force, for which purpose the distance between the grooving and pressing tool  42  and the bale  28  can be widened by shifting or swiveling the grooving and pressing tool  42 . 
     The desired adjustments are accomplished by the following described structure. Specifically, the first part  43  of the arm  40  is attached by means of the holding device  41  that is configured as a tube so as to allow the first part  43  to be shifted longitudinally within it, as soon as safety devices (not shown) are detached that could be configured as, for instance, shear pins or bolts that fit into matching holes in the first part  43  and the holder  41 . Due to the first part  43  being configured with a hexagonal profile and to the holding device  41  having a matching internal hexagonal profile, the first part  43  can be attached in a multitude of positions to holding device  41 , which allows variation of the position of the axis of rotation of the star wheels  46  of the grooving and pressing tool  42  from a centered position with the axis extending parallel to the axis of rotation of the bale  28  to other positions where the axis is tilted one way or the other relative to is centered position. Of course, further adjustment of the star wheels  46  relative to the surface of the bale  28  is made possible by selecting different ones of the perforations of the disk  47  for the mounting of the axle of the wheels  46 . 
     Holding device  41  exhibits twine guides  45  that have been configured as pins that between them define a gap which is generally aligned with the end of the twine tube  36  and through which the twine  33  is routed when the twine tube  36  is located in an end position of the twine dispensing cycle. 
     Although it is preferred not to complicate the structure from that of the preferred embodiment depicted in the drawings, it is feasible to configure the twine end securing device  38  in such a way that it would not extend into the pressing chamber  14  during the wrapping process and that it would be brought into the pressing chamber only in the final phase or after completion of the wrapping process, for instance, by swiveling it in or by pushing it in along a linear guiding element. The swiveling or shifting movement of the grooving and pressing device  38  could also be controlled by the diameter of the bale so that, from a certain bale size on, the grooving and pressing tool  42  would interface with the bale  28 . For this purpose an actuator can be provided that adjusts the grooving and pressing device  38  mechanically, hydraulically or pneumatically. Such an actuator is, for instance, disclosed in the above-identified German patent application 197 05 582.6. 
     In the event that several loose twine ends need to be secured in several locations along the circumference of the bale  28 , several grooving and pressing devices  38  can be used that are spaced from each other along the length of the bale  28  respectively at the several locations. 
     Operation 
     Based on the aforementioned design the following functions of the round bale press  10  result, in accordance with the invention. 
     As soon as a bale  28  has reached the desired or maximal size within pressing chamber  14 , the twine dispensing apparatus  34  is switched on automatically or manually and the twine guide  36  routes the twine end or twine ends to the rotating bale  28  that catches it/them and thus initiates the wrapping process. During the wrapping process, the twine guide  36  moves along the longitudinal axis of the bale  28 . As the bale forms and during the wrapping process, the grooving and pressing tool  42  is caused to rotate by the movement of the bale  28 , and runs over the circumferential surface of the bale, pressing a groove (not shown) into the bale by means of its protrusions  48 . Since the grooving and pressing tool  42  is configured as a multiple star-shaped wheel, the groove is formed by the individual star-shaped wheels  46 , which means, in the disclosed embodiment, that it actually consists of a pair of individual grooves that are located in close side by side relationship to each other and that have been respectively formed by the pair of star-shaped wheels  46 . Since these individual grooves are close together, it can be considered that only one groove exists since the tension in the twine will break down the crop material located between these individual grooves. The term “groove”, therefore, means a groove in the surface of the bale  28  that is not precisely defined, does not have sharp edges, and is formed by material that is depressed relative to the other material of the bale surface. 
     Upon completion of the actual wrapping process, the twine guide  36  moves in the direction of side wall  20  of the round bale press  10  into a region where the grooving and pressing device  38  is located, and stops there. 
     The twine  33  passes between the guides  45  that are attached to holding device  41 , in the direction of the grooving and pressing tool  42  so that the twine  33  is positioned on the bale  28  in fore-and-aft or longitudinal alignment with the gap between the guides  45  so that the twine is at least in the vicinity of the groove formed by the tool  42  and, after circumscribing the bale will be in the vicinity of the recess or gap  50  defined between the projections  48  of the separate star wheels  46  of the tool  42 . This is facilitated by the fact that the twine  33  is under tension. Grooving and pressing tool  42  thus acts to route the twine  33  into the groove in the circumferential surface of the bale  28 . Of course, if the final wrap or wraps of twine is/are not exactly located between the star wheels  46 , but pass instead beneath the wheels themselves, the latter will act to press the twine into the groove. The crop material pressed down by the tool  42  or by the individual star-shaped wheels  46  has the tendency to return to its original position and, accordingly, the twine  33  is held in the groove in the circumferential surface of the bale  28  by the friction between itself and the material forming the bale  28 , as well as by the stalks that are trying to return to their original position. 
     When sufficient twine  33  has been introduced onto the bale  28 , the cutting device (not shown) of the twine dispensing device  34  is actuated and the twine  33  is cut. The bale  28  is then ejected from the pressing chamber  14 . 
     In order to adjust the grooving and pressing device  38  to varying conditions or requirements of different crop material such as, for instance, silage, hay, or straw, several adjusting possibilities are provided at the grooving and pressing device  38 . The position of grooving and pressing tool  42  can be varied by selecting different ones of the holes of in the perforated disk  47  for the mounting of the supporting axle of the star wheels  46 . In addition, the pressing and grooving tool  42  can be moved by shifting arm  40  within holder  41  toward or away from the bale  28 , by which action the impression pressure of the pressing tool  42  on the bale  28  can be varied. The angular position of the grooving and pressing tool  42  can be changed by inserting arm  40  into holder  41  in differing positions, i.e., by swiveling it around its longitudinal axis. 
     Thus, it will be appreciated that the grooving and pressing device  38  is of a simple, versatile construction which operates to effectively secure twine ends in grooves formed in the circumference of the bale  28 .