Mounting device for mounting a hand tying device to a bale of compressed material

A mounting device for use with a hand tying device to tie a bale of compressed material comprises a pair of elongated members positioned generally parallel to each other to form a generally planar body and legs extending from an end of the body, generally perpendicular to said body. Mounting feet depend from the legs and are configured to engage a generally horizontal surface of a bale to secure the body along a vertical surface of the bale. At least one standoff element extends from another end of the body and is configured for coupling to a hand tying device and orienting the hand tying device against the vertical surface of the bale when the body is secured to the bale.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
 The present invention relates to tying or binding bales of compressed
 material. Specifically, the invention relates to an assembly for mounting
 a hand tying device to a bale of compressed material for assistance in
 tying wires or other binding devices wrapped around such a bale.
 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
 Various types of bulk materials are shipped, stored, and otherwise
 processed and distributed in the form of compressed bales. For example,
 recyclable paper products are processed into compressed bales so that the
 paper may be more easily handled, and a greater amount of such products
 may be stored and shipped in a smaller space than would be possible with
 loose bulk material. As is appreciated, bales are substantially easier and
 more efficient to handle than the loose bulk material.
 To form a bale, it is generally known to wrap such bales of compressible
 material with wire or other elongated binding devices to keep the bales in
 a compressed form, such as for shipping and storage. Wire is often most
 preferable as a binding material for its low cost and the ease with which
 it is handled. To bind a bale, the wire is wrapped in strands around the
 bale. The ends of the wire strands are overlapped and then twisted or tied
 together to form a continuous wire strand around the bales to keep the
 bales together.
 One method of forming a bale automatically ties the bale. The compressible
 material is directed into an automatic baler where it is pressed into a
 bale by a ram and then moved by the ram through the baler. Continuous wire
 strands extend automatically across the bale path at different heights on
 the bale, and as the bale moves through the baler, the wire strands are
 wrapped around the front end and sides of the bale. An automatic tying
 system then engages the bale and wire strands and ties the wire strands
 around the bale, such as by twisting together the overlapped ends of the
 wire strands. Examples of various automatic balers and tying methods are
 illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,120,238; 4,155,296; 4,167,902, and
 4,459,904. While automatic tying apparatuses have proven suitable for
 baling and tying compressed bales in rapid succession in certain
 applications, they generally require complex and expensive machinery which
 has to automatically manipulate and twist the wires together to form the
 bale.
 Alternatively, certain baling applications require hand or manual tying of
 the wires wrapped around a bale. Hand tying devices reduce the
 complexities and costs associated with automatic balers and tying systems,
 and are often utilized to supplement automatic balers. For example, when
 an automatic baler malfunctions, the bales cannot be properly wrapped and
 tied. This creates a slowdown in bale production and will usually mean a
 work stoppage until the automatic baler is repaired. Repairs are often not
 immediately made due to the necessity of scheduling a repair person. To
 ensure that bale production is not altogether stopped during repair
 situations and, to reduce the bale slowdown, hand tying devices are used.
 The wire is wrapped around the bale and tied manually with such a device.
 Still further, the particular material being baled may dictate that hand
 tying is required, because of the complexities involved in trying to
 design an automatic tying apparatus for the material.
 Various different hand tying or splicing mechanisms are commercially
 available and have provided a means for manually twisting and tying two
 wires together, such as to bind a bale. However, such devices usually
 require two people to operate because of the tasks of manually wrapping
 the wire and tying the ends of the wrapped wire. For example, the wire
 ends will usually be tied on the sides of the bale. Therefore, one person
 must wrap the wire around the bale and hold the overlapped wire ends in
 position while another person actually twists and ties the wire ends
 together. As a result, use of existing hand tyers may be relatively
 inefficient and expensive due to increased labor costs.
 Furthermore, it may take a relatively substantial amount of time to wrap
 and tie a single strand of wire around a bale. For example, in the
 inventor's experience, it will usually require 2-4 minutes for two people
 to wrap and tie one strand. A single bale may require 4-6 strands. As may
 be appreciated, manually wrapping and tying a bale with the available hand
 tying devices is inefficient.
 Therefore, there is a need for a method and apparatus to rapidly and
 adequately tie and secure a wire or other similar binding device around a
 bale of compressed material.
 It is an objective of the present invention to provide a simple and
 inexpensive apparatus for assisting a person in manually tying a wire
 around a bale.
 It is another objective of the present invention to reduce the number of
 people required to manually wrap and tie a bale.
 It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a more
 efficient and cost effective means to manually tie bales.
 These and other objectives will become more readily apparent from the
 Summary of the Invention and Detailed Description set forth hereinbelow.
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
 The above objectives and other objectives are addressed by use of a novel
 and unique mounting device in combination with a hand tying device to tie
 a bale of compressed material. The mounting device comprises a pair of
 elongated members positioned generally parallel to each other and spaced
 from each other to form a generally planar body. One or more spacer
 elements are coupled between the pair of elongated members to secure the
 members together. A pair of legs extends from one end of the body, one leg
 coupled to each of said elongated members. The legs extend generally
 perpendicular to the body. Each of the legs includes a pointed mounting
 foot which depends from the leg and extends generally perpendicular to the
 leg and, therefore, generally parallel to the body. The mounting feet are
 configured to engage a generally horizontal surface of the bale to secure
 the body along a generally vertical side surface of the bale. That is, the
 mounting feet engage the top surface of a bale and preferably dig into the
 top surface, and thereby position the body along a side surface of the
 bale.
 The mounting device includes stand-off elements extending from the other
 end of the body opposite the legs. The stand-off elements are generally
 perpendicular to the body and are configured for coupling to a hand tying
 device. To that end, the stand-off elements comprise mounting flanges
 which are configured for being coupled to a hand tying device, such as
 with bolts. The stand-off elements orient the hand tying device against
 the vertical side surface of the bale when the mounting device is placed
 on the bale. In that way, the hand tying device is secured to the side of
 the bale while the wire strand to be tied can be wrapped around the bale
 by a single person. The invention eliminates the need for a second person
 to maintain the wire tying device against the side of a bale while the
 wire is wrapped therearound. Therefore, the invention eliminates the need
 for having two people to efficiently tie a bale and thus reduces labor
 costs. Furthermore, because the hand tying device is maintained on the
 side of the bale, the time for wrapping a bale can be reduced from 2-4
 minutes per strand to approximately 1-2 minutes, thus resulting in a
 substantial labor cost savings, and increasing the efficiency of the
 baling and tying process.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
 FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the invention shown coupled with a
 commercially available hand tying device. One particular hand tying device
 suitable for use with the present invention, is the Model LK available
 from United States Steel. The inventive mounting device 10 comprises a
 pair of elongated members indicated individually as 12a and 12b in the
 figures. The elongated members may be made of bar stock and are oriented
 generally parallel to each other and laterally spaced from each other to
 define the generally planar body 12. A spacer element 13 is positioned
 between the elements 12a and 12b and is appropriately attached thereto,
 such as by welding. The planar body 12 is positioned to lie flat against
 the side of a bale when the mounting device is mounted to the bale, as
 discussed further hereinbelow.
 Extending from the body are legs 14a, 14b which are coupled to the end of
 the body by being coupled to appropriate ends of the respective elongated
 members 12a, 12b such as by welding. The legs 14a, 14b may also be made of
 bar stock. A spacer element 15 is appropriately fastened between the legs
 to maintain their position, similar to the way in which the spacer element
 13 maintains the position of the elongated members 12a, 12b. The legs 14a,
 14b extend generally perpendicular to the body 12 and define a mounting
 platform 14 for the device which is positioned at the top horizontal
 surface of the bale when the mounting device is mounted thereto (see FIGS.
 3A and 3B). Depending from each of the legs 14a, 14b is a mounting foot
 16a, 16b (collectively 16). Each mounting foot 16a, 16b is configured to
 engage a generally horizontal surface 17 of the bale 19 to secure the
 mounting platform formed by the legs 14a, 14b generally adjacent to the
 horizontal bale surface 17. As illustrated in FIGS. 3A and 3B, when the
 legs 14a, 14b are positioned as such, the body 12 is operably positioned
 along a vertical side surface 27 of the bale 19. Each of the legs 16a, 16b
 preferably includes a pointed end 18a, 18b. The pointed ends 18a, 18b are
 operable for digging into or otherwise engaging the horizontal surface 17
 of the bale for further securing the mounting device 10 to the bale. As
 may be appreciated, bales of compressed material are generally somewhat
 pliable, and thus the mounting feet 16a, 16b can be driven into the
 horizontal bale surface 17 to secure the mounting device 10 at a desired
 position on the bale. (See FIG. 3A.)
 On an end of the body 12, opposite the legs 14a, 14b and mounting feet 16a,
 16b, stand-off elements 20a, 20b (collectively 20) extend from the body
 12, generally perpendicular thereto. In the embodiment illustrated in the
 figures, the stand-off elements are also formed of bar stock and are
 appropriately fastened to the end of the elongated elements 12a, 12b, such
 as by welding The stand-off elements 20a, 20b extend generally
 perpendicular to the body and thus when the mounting device is positioned
 on the bale, the stand-off elements will extend in the direction of the
 vertical side surface of the bale (see FIGS. 3A, 3B). The stand-off
 elements include mounting flanges 22a, 22b, which are configured for
 coupling to a hand tying device 24. The mounting flanges may be fastened
 or otherwise coupled to a portion of the hand tying device 24 such as by
 bolts 30.
 For example, if a Model LK tyer is used as discussed above, appropriate
 fastener apertures 25 might be formed in a plate-like portion 26 of the
 hand tyer 24. Similar fastener apertures 28 are formed in the mounting
 flanges 22a, 22b. Appropriate fasteners, such as bolts 30, engage the
 plate-like portion 26 and mounting flanges 22a, 22b for coupling the
 mounting device 10 with the hand tying device 24. The stand-off elements
 20a, 20b are coupled to the hand tying device 24 such that they orient the
 hand tying device against the vertical surface 27 of the bale for
 receiving overlapped ends of a strand of wire wrapped around the bale as
 illustrated in FIG. 3A. The hand tying device 24 will generally include a
 twister pinion 32, and a handle or crank 33 for turning the twister pinion
 to twist the wires 34 and thus form a knot 35. Hand tying device 24 might
 also include a tensioning structure 36 which is used to tension the wire
 strands 34 around the bale before it is twisted in the pinion 32. As
 mentioned above, any number of a variety of different commercially
 available hand tying devices might be utilized with the mounting device 10
 of the invention. Therefore, the operation of such tying devices will
 differ.
 The mounting device eliminates the need for a person to position and hold
 the hand tying device 24 against the side 27 of the bale 19, thus allowing
 the bale 19 to be wrapped and tied by a single person to reduce labor
 costs. Furthermore, utilizing the mounting device 10 of the invention in
 combination with the hand tying device 24, a strand of wire 34 may be
 wrapped and tied around the bale by a single person in 1-2 minutes,
 substantially less than the 2-4 minutes required even with two people to
 wrap and tie the bale. Accordingly, the inventive device yields an
 increase in efficiency and a reduction of costs in the baling process.
 When a wire strand 34 is wrapped around bale 17, the loose ends of the
 wire are brought together and overlapped. The overlapped ends are then
 positioned in a slot (not shown) in the twister pinion 32. Cranking handle
 33 turns pinion 32 and forms knot 35 as is known in the art. (See FIG.
 3B.)
 FIG. 2 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the invention wherein the
 elongated members 40a, 40b comprise first sections 42a, 42b respectively,
 and second sections 44a, 44b, respectively. The first and second sections,
 for example 42a and 44a of elongated element 40a, are operably coupled
 together for varying the length of the elongated member 40a, and therefore
 the length of the body 40. The sections 42b and 44b of the elongated
 element 40b operate in a similar fashion. In that way, the length of the
 body 40 of the mounting device may be varied to vary the position of the
 hand tying device on the side of the bale 19. One method of operably
 coupling the sections 42a, 42b, and 44a, 44b together is to make one of
 the sections, such as first section 42a, smaller than the other of the
 coupled sections such as second section 44a. In that way, sections 42a,
 42b telescopically move within sections 44a, 44b. The sections 44a, 44b
 have appropriate apertures 46 formed therein to receive the respective
 sections 42a, 42b for telescopic coupling. As will be appreciated, other
 coupling might be achieved, such as by having the two sections 42a, 44a
 move within an intermediate element (not shown). Accordingly, the term
 operably coupling does not refer only to the embodiments illustrated in
 the Figures, but may encompass other embodiments as well. The alternative
 of the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG. 2 allows for
 variable positioning of the hand tying device 48 along the side surface of
 the bale 19 as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B.
 Turning now to FIG. 3A, the invention is illustrated for use with a
 commercially available hand-tying device on the side of a bale 19. The
 mounting device 12 is positioned for tying wire strand 34 around bale 19
 at a predetermined position along the height of bale 19. When wrapping and
 tying a bale, it is generally necessary to wrap and tie several strands of
 wire 34 around the bale. To that end, as illustrated in FIG. 3B, the
 embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG. 2 may be operably
 lengthened to tie another strand of wire on the bale vertically below the
 first strand of wire. The adjustable embodiment of the invention
 illustrated in FIG. 2 includes a locking mechanism such as a set screw 50
 which is coupled to an appropriate manually manipulateable knob 52 for
 tightening the set screw 50 against the first sections 42a, 42b of the
 elongated members 40a, 40b. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the set screw 50
 would extend through an appropriately formed aperture 53 and the section
 44a, 44b. As will be recognized by a person of ordinary skill in the art,
 other locking mechanisms might be utilized consistent with the invention
 and the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2.
 While the present invention has been illustrated by the description of the
 embodiments thereof, and while the embodiments have been described in
 considerable detail, it is not the intention of the applicant to restrict
 or in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to such detail.
 Additional advantages and modifications will readily appear to those
 skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not
 limited to the specific details representative apparatus and method, and
 illustrative examples shown and described. Accordingly, departures may be
 made from such details without departure from the spirit or scope of
 applicant's general inventive concept.