SELF-LOADING CARRIAGE FOR ROUND BALES

Abstract: The self-loading round bale carriage has at least one section element (1) extending along the longitudinal centre line of the carriage, said section element providing a supporting sliding surface for bales loaded on the carriage by means of a rocker bale loading arm device (6 - 9) located at the forward end and at one side of the carriage. One or a plurality of reciprocating section element (3) convey(s) the bales forwardly on the carriage. At their forward ends said reciprocating section elements are associated with a pusher (4a) and are provided with bale drivers adapted to act on the bales with a delay with respect to the actuation of the bales by the pusher.

Description: Self-Loading Carriage for Round Bales. It has lately become common practice to pack hay, straw etc. in the form of round, or cylindrical/ bale≤ since these, as is known to the expert, offer many advantages. A critical stage in the handling of round bales is the collection thereof from the field for conveying them to a place of storage or use. Special implements have been designed for such collection and conveyance. All hitherto known implements of this kind above all are characterized in that they are very heavy, complicated, unwieldy and costly. The invention there¬ for has for its purpose a self-loading round bale carriage which is of low weight, of simple design and hence inexpensive and which also shall permit of a manaeuvr bility simplified to such extent that the carriage can be completely controlled by a person sitting on the tractor. These purposes are attai¬ ned through the round bale carriage according to the claims. An embodiment of the invention is described in detail below with reference to the attached drawing, wherein Fig. 1 is a view from above of a round bale carriage according to the invention, and Fig. 2 is a rear view of the carriage. The round bale carriage according to the invention shown has two wheels and, as indicated in Fig. 1, devices for coup¬ ling it to a tractor. When the carriage is coupled to a trac- tor it is also connected to the hydraulic take-off. The carriage essentially consists of a frame the main member of which is a channel element 1 extending generally along the longitudinal centre line of the carriage and the flanges of which extend downwardly, the web thereof constitu- ting a substantial portion of the bottom of the carriage. The frame is completed by lateral section elements 2 and end mem¬ bers only sketchily indicated in the Figures and which may consist of section elements or plates. Between lateral sec¬ tion elements 2 and centre channel element.1 there are pro- vided two- section elements 3, for instance in the form of tubes of preferably square cross-section and mounted so as to be resiprocatingly drivable by means of pistons driven by the hydraulic system of the tractor. ' The travel preferably is OMPI about one meter. They are provided with apertures 4 distribu- - ted along their length. Inside each one of these apertures a wedge (not shown) is movably mounted such that adjacent its inner end it is pivoted and so as to project somewhat with its outer end from the aperture, the wedge also adjacent its outer end resting with its rear side against the rear edge of aperture 4. The wedge consists of an elongated rectangular metal rod the outer end of which is bevelled on the side facing the rear end of the carriage such that it terminates in a rather narrow edge. The top surface of centre channel element 1 is a few centimeters above the level of the two movable elements 3 and is to support the round bales to be conveyed by the carri¬ age. Furthermore, movable section elements 3 are joined at their forward ends by a transverse member 4a, preferably of plate steel and having a portion which is somewhat above movable section elements 3 and which is upwardly inclined at an.angle of preferably about 45 . Member 4a hence reciprocates with the movable section elements. Upon a round bale, by means of a mechanism to be described below, having been hoisted up on the carriage and positioned thereon with one of its ends adjacent member 4a the operator causes movable section ele¬ ments 3 and consequently member 4a to make one to one and a half stroke. If there already are bales loaded on the carria- age, which in such case have been moved backwards on the carriage to make room for the added bale, these lie with their sides projecting over movable section elements 3 the wedges of which in this situation have their outer ends adjacent the surfaces of the bales. When the bale just loaded is fed rear- wordly on the carriage by member 4a the rear end thereof will push the adjacent bale rearwardly. However, this bale and bales behind it exert a certain resistance to the pushing on account of the friction between the bale material and centre channel element 1 so that the bales when pushed will be com- pressed somewhat which results in- the whole load of bales be¬ ing considerably compressed in the longitudinal direction of the carriage. However, during the stroke the bale material is catched by the bevelled free edges of the wedges so that when the movable section members are moved forwardly the wedges are forced to rise out of apertures 4 until with their forward sides in contact with the forward edges of apertures 4 they have been risen to and stopped in a more or less vertical position. They now have their outer ends rather deep within the bale material and obviously they now act as drivers which together with member 4a convey the bales rearwardly on the carriage. Evidently, the location of the wedges below the le¬ vel of the top surface of centre channel element 1 and the course of events described above result in the wedges acting as drivers of the bales with a certain delay offering member 4a a considerably improved possibility of compressing the bales in the manner described above. This is an important fea¬ ture of the invention since the compression of the bales has the consequence that the carriage can be made substantially shorter than would otherwise have been required. This is an advantage per se but also means that the carriage can be made from section elements of standard lengths and still have a length sufficient for a suitable number of bales. This, of course, means considerable cost savings. Lateral section elements 2 are dimensioned and mounted such that with their top surfaces they project somewhat above the level of the top surface of centre section element 1. They thereby keep the bales in position and guide these as they are moved rearwardly on the carriage. To additionally make sure that the bales are retained on the carriage there are preferably provided preferably detachable lateral members 5 extending along the carriage and somewhat inclined upwardly therefrom. These may also function as mud flaps and therefor preferably consist of metal plates. They are shown as plane plates in Fig. 2 but are preferably arched transversely. Late¬ ral members 5 are especially of importance during transport of a loaded carriage. The piston by means of which movable section elements 3 are caused to reciprocate preferably is placed at the rear end of and below the carriage so as to act on a member join¬ ing movable section elements 3 so that these are pulled rather than pushed whereby the guiding and reliability of the feeding motion is improved. As is evident from Fig. 1 one of members 5 does not ex¬ tend as far as to the forward end of the carriage but is shor- tended to give room for a bale loading mechanism and to per- mit loading of bales by means of the bale loading mechanism. The bale loading mechanism consists of a rocker arm 6 actuable by a hydraulically driven piston and pivoted adjacent the forward end of the carriage. Rocker arm 6 is rockable from a position wherein it is adjacent the ground and to a position wherein it is more or less vertical- Of course, and as is evi¬ dent from Fig. 1, the pivot axis is parallel with the longitu¬ dinal axis of the carriage and rocker arm 6 is substantially normal thereto. The rocker arm carries three bale catching section ele- ments, here designated spears 7, 8, 9, which project forwardly from the rocker arm. Of these, one spear 7 is located adjacent the ' outer end of the rocker arm, a second spear 8 near the middle of the arm and a third spear 9 near the inner end of the arm. The two outermost spears 7 and 8 are curved outward- ly and inwardly, respectively at their out ends in a plane which is substantially horizontal when rocker arm 6 is in the down position. Thereby these spears are prevented from digging into theground when the carriage is moved forwardly. Also, the two outermost spears are preferably adjustable along rocker arm 6 to permit adaption to different bale sizes. Third spear 9, in the position of the rocker arm just mentioned, is angled somewhat upwardly and inwardly which facilitates roll off from the bale loading mechanism of a bale catched by the spears when rocker arm 6 during hoisting the bale approaches its ver- tical position. Also, thereby the bale is inclined such that the placement thereof forwardly of an already loaded bale is facilitated when the latter bale is located such that it does not leave space between pusher member 4a and its forward end completely corresponding to a bale length. In this situation the forwardly-upwardly inclined portion of member 4a descri¬ bed above facilitates placing the bale being loaded on centre channel element 1 since obviously it can now function as a sliding surface for the forward edge of the bale. OMPI A possible variation of the embodiment described above is constituted by a replacement of the two reciprocating sec¬ tion elements 3 by a single such element, in such case prefer¬ ably recessed in centre channel element 1 or located between two channel elements 1 extending on either side of the longi- tudinal centre line of the carriage. The piston by means of which the rocker arm is actuated preferably is of the single-acting type so as not to counter¬ act the minor movements upwardly and downwardly that the rocker arm has to carry out as the carriage is moved over more or less uneven ground. Preferably a detachable counterweight 10 is placed oppo¬ site rocker arm 6, preferably inside the carriage wheel on the counterweight side. Obviously, the carriage may be unloaded by the bale feeding movements described above. OMPI

Claims: Claims : 1. A self-loading carriage for round bales adapted to be coupled to a tractor and to be operated via the .power take¬ off thereof, characterized in that the carriage frameconstruc¬ ted from section elements comprises at least one section ele¬ ment (1) extending along the longitudinal centre line of the carriage, said section element or elements offering a support¬ ing surface for round bales hoisted from the ground and loaded on the carriage, with their axes substantially parallel with the longitudinal axis of the carriage, by a hoisting device (6 - 9) located at the forward end of the carriage with res¬ pect to the intended driving-direction thereof and at one side of the carriage and operated from the power take-off thereof, said section element or elements providing a supporting sur- face for round bales upon which the latter are slideable, and that adjacent said supporting surface at least one section element (3) reciprocatable in the longitudinal direction of the carriage is adapted, by means of a pusher (4a) associated with the forward end or ends of the last-mentioned section element or elements and by means of drivers, to convey the round bales rearwardly on the carriage, the drivers being adapted to actuate the bales with a delay with respect to the actuation of the bales by the pusher. 2. The round bale carriage of claim 1, characterized in that said supporting surface for bales loaded on the carriage is provided by the web of a channel element (1) extending along the longitudinal centre line of the carriage, the flang¬ es of the channel element extending downwardly. 3. The round bale carriage of claim 2, characterized by two reciprocating section elements (3) provided on each its side of the section- element (1) extending along the longitu¬ dinal centre line of the carriage. 4. The round bale carriage of any preceding claim, charac¬ terized in that each reciprocating section element (3) has its top s-urface somewhat below the level of said bale support¬ ing surface, and that the bale drivers consist of self-rising wedges which adjacent one end thereof are pivoted at pivot points located at the bottom of the reciprocating section ele- ments and which with the free ends thereof project to such extent from elongated apertures (4) in the reciprocating sec¬ tion elements that said free ends are in contact with bales resting on said supporting surfaces, said apertures having a rearward edge against which the wedges proximate the rear ends thereof rest in an initial position, and a forward edge providing a stop for the wedges in a more or less vertical position thereof after they have been risen from an initial position during the rearward stroke of the reciprocating section element and as a consequence of the engagement of the wedges with bales resting on said supporting surface. 5. The round bale carriage of any preceding claim, charac¬ terized in that the pusher (4a) consists of a transverse plate having a top portion inclined upwardly-forwardly, preferably at an angle of about 45 to the horizontal plane. 6. The round bale carriage of any one of claims 1, 2, 4 and 5, characterized by a single reciprocating section ele¬ ment (3) which is either provided between two section ele¬ ments (1) providing said supporting surface for the bales, or which is recessed in one such element. 7. The round bale carriage of any preceding claim, charac¬ terized in that the carriage frame comprises two longitudinal lateral section elements (2) extending the length of each carriage side with the top faces thereof at such level as to provide support for and guide bales conveyed along the carriage. 8. The round bale carriage of any preceding claim, charac¬ terized by upwardly-outwardly angled, plane or transversely arched, detachable lateral members (5) extending along the sides of the carriage and preferably made of plate steel, one of said lateral members being .shortened at the forward end thereof to make room for the hoisting device (6 - 9) andto permit loading of bales. 9. The round bale carriage of any preceding claim, charac- terized in that the hoisting device consists of a rocker arm (6) mounted proximate the forward end of the carriage and at one side thereof and operated preferably by means of a single- acting piston, said rocker arm being rockable from a posi- tion adjacent the ground and to a substantially vertical po¬ sition and projecting substantially at right angles from the side of the carriage and attached to the latter, by a pivot shaft parallel with the longitudinal direction of the carria- ge, said rocker arm carr ingat least three long and narrow bale-catching members projectingforwardly, viz. an inner bale- catching member (9) which in the horizontal position of the rocker arm preferably is inclined somewhat inwardly towards the carriage and upwardly, and two outer bale-catching mem- bers (7, 8) , which preferably are movable along the rocker arm and lockable in optional positions therealong, the outer ends of the outer bale-catching members preferably being cur¬ ved in a plane which in the horizontal position of the rocker arm is substantially parallel with the horizontal plane, said outer bale-catching member outer ends also preferably being somewhat curved upwardly from this plane. 10. -The round bale carriage of any preceding claim, charac¬ terized in that the hoisting device (6 - 9) is counter-balan¬ ced by means of a preferably detachable counterweight (10) preferably located inside the carriage wheel on the counter¬ weight side.

Inventors: ANSBJER JAN, ANSBJER, JAN
Applicants: ANSBJER JAN, ANSBJER, JAN
Application year: 1983
Main classification: A01D90
IPC codes: A01D90