BALING PRESS

Abstract: A baling press for wool or other fibrous material comprising a frame (4) to support a cuboidal bale pack with its open mouth (5) uppermost and a hopper (6) positioned above the mouth of the bale pack to receive fibrous material. Pressing arms (15) pivot about points (13) and protrude inwardly through vertical slots in the hopper to secondary arm portions (19) which sweep downwardly through the hopper and into the upper part of the bale pack under the influence of hydraulic cylinders (16). When the pressing arms are in a lower position, holding pins are inserted through the walls of the bale pack into the material actuated by crank arms (30) and hydraulic cylinders (32). The pressing arms are then pivoted upwardly with the secondary portions (19) allowed to trail downwardly on pivots (20) before the operation is repeated.

Description: "BALING PRESS" TECHNICAL FIELD This invention relates to a baling press and has been devised particularly though not solely for the pressing of wool into bales. BACKGROUND ART There are many situations where it is desired to pack compressible material such as wool into packs for the transportation or storage of the material. A typical example is the packing of wool into bale packs which are typically formed from heavyweight hessian or equivalent synthetic woven materials. Such baling operations are presently performed by baling presses which support the open bale pack with its mouth uppermost and which have a vertically movable pressing plate arranged to move downwardly and compress lightly packed material which has been loaded into the bale. The pressing plate is then removed upwardly allowing further material to be inserted and the process repeated until the bale is full of highly compressed material. Baling presses of this type have the disadvantage that fresh material to be baled cannot be inserted into the bale pack until the pressing plate has returned to the top of its stroke and this makes the pressing operation very time consuming and costly. It is also extremely difficult to automate a pressing process using conventional baling presses leading to high labour costs for the baling operation. DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION The present invention therefore provides a baling press comprising a framework arranged to support an opened bale pack open end uppermost, a hopper located above the mouth of the bale pack in use and positioned to feed material to be baled into the bale pack, a plurality of pressing arms extending into the hopper through vertical slots in the hopper walls, actuation means arranged to move the arms downwardly from an elevated position in the hopper to a lower position adjacent the mouth of the bale pack and to return the arms to the elevated position, and a plurality of holding pins arranged to be inserted and withdrawn transversely into the bale through the sides of the bale pack at a fixed location in the vicinity of said lower position of the pressing arms. Preferably the lower position of the pressing arms is below the mouth of the bale pack in use and the holding pins are insertable into the bale above the said lower position of the pressing arms. Preferably the pressing arms comprise primary arms connected to the actuation means and extending through the vertical slots in the upper walls, and secondary arms pivotally mounted to the inner ends of the primary arms in such a manner that the secondary arms are held extending rigidly inwardly from the primary arms during downward movement, and allowed to pivot downwardly during return movemen . Preferably the holding pins are supported and driven between the inserted and withdrawn positions by drive means coupled to the actuation means such that the holding pins are withdrawn from the bale as the pressing arms move downwardly and inserted into the bale during upward movement of the pressing arms. Notwithstanding any other forms that may fall within its scope, one preferred form of the invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- ' BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic side elevation of a baling press according to the invention; and Fig. 2 is a scrap elevation to an enlarged scale of a portion of the pressing arms used in the baling press shown in Fig. 1. MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In the preferred form of the invention a baling press is constructed on a base frame (1) which may typically be mounted on transport wheels (2) and feet (3) for movement and which incorporates a framework (4) (diagrammatically shown as a simple rectangle in Fig. 1) which is adapted to support a cuboidal bale pack with its open end (5) uppermost in a position where it can be filled with wool or other material to be baled. The baling press is provided with a hopper (6) located above the mouth of the bale pack and positioned to feed material to be baled into the bale pack. The hopper comprises side doors (7) which are typically hinged at (8) and held in place in the closed position by a locking device (9). The remainder of the hopper is formed from end walls (10) which have lower arcuate portions (11) provided with vertical slots therein as will be described further below; and side cowls (12) extending between the end walls (10) and the side doors (7) . The side cowls (12) and end walls (10) are pivotally mounted to the framework at pivot point (13) so that they can be pivoted outwardly for the insertion of an empty bale pack into the framework (4) . Once a bale pack has been placed in the framework the side cowls and end walls are returned to their original position. The lower edges of the side cowls are supplied with spikes (14) which fasten the mouth of the bale pack in place in the support framework (4). Wool or other material to be baled can be loaded into the hopper either through the open top of the hopper or by opening the side doors (7) . The baling press further comprises pressing arms (15) which are pivotally mounted to the framework (4A) at the same pivot point (13) as the end portions of the hopper. The pressing arms extend inwardly into the hopper through vertical slots (not shown) in the arcuate portions (11) of the hopper end walls (10). The pressing arms are movable by actuation means in the form of hydraulic piston and cylinder assemblies (16) mounted between intermediate positions (17) on the pressing arms and mounting points (18) on the framework (4A) . The pressing arms are formed in two portions, a primary arm (15) and a secondary arm (19) pivotally mounted to the inner end of the primary arm by way of a pivot pin (20) . The pivotal mounting between the secondary arms and the primary arms is such that the secondary arms are held extending rigidly inwardly from the ends of the primary arms during downward movement, but are allowed to pivot downwardly during return movement. The pressing arms are moved between an elevated position, through the intermediate position shown in broken outline in Fig. 1 to a lower position by contraction of the hydraulic piston and cylinder assemblies (16) . In the lower position, the secondary arms (19) are located below the mouth (5) of the bale pack by virtue of hooked or downwardly extending portions (21) at the inner end of the primary pressing arms (15). The nature of the pivotal connection between the primary arms (15) and the secondary arms (19) can be more clearly seen with reference to Fig. 2. The secondary arm (19) is pivotally connected to the end of the primary arm (15) by way of a substantially horizontal pivot pin (20) and is restrained from upward movement beyond the position shown in Fig. 2 by an abutment (22) connected to the primary arm (15) . The primary arm is provided with a tensioning finger (23) pivotally connected to the arm by way of a friction clutch (24) and arranged to rotate through a limited arc. A compression spring (25) is provided between the end of the tensioning finger (23) and the secondary arm (19) at point (26) . The tensioning finger is provided with an upwardly extending contact rod (27) and a downwardly extending contact rod (28) arranged to contact abutments in the framework of the baling press (not shown) when the pressing arm is in the elevated position or the lower position respectively. During downward movement of the pressing arm under the actuation of the piston and cylinder assemblies (16), the secondary arm (19) adopts the position shown in Fig. 2 restrained from further upward movement by the abutment (22) . When the pressing arm reaches the lower reaches of its travel, the lower contact rod (28) is pushed upwardly by an abutment in the frame causing the tensioning finger (23) to rotate about the friction clutch (24) and remove pressure from the upper end of the compression spring (25). The secondary arm (19) is therefore allowed to pivot downwardly into a trailing position as the pressing arm moves upwardly through the bale pack and into the hopper. Once the pressing arm reaches the elevated position, the upper contact rod (27) strikes an abutment causing the tensioning finger to be rotated downwardly to the position shown in Fig. 2 and the compression spring (25) to be compressed causing the secondary arm to return to the shown position against the abutment (18). The baling press is further provided with holding pins (29) arranged to be inserted and withdrawn transversely into the bale through the sides of the bale pack at the fixed location shown in Fig. 1. The holding pins are supported and moved by drive means in the form of crank arm (30) pivotally mounted to the framework at (31) and rotated about that pivotal mounting by hydraulic piston and cylinder assemblies (32) connected between pivot points (33) on the crank arms and fixed mounting points (34) on the framework. In use the holding pins (29) are inserted through the fabric in the side of the pack and into the pressing chamber within the bale by the drive means formed by the piston and cylinder assemblies (32) and the crank arms (30). The pressing arms (15) are then actuated by the hydraulic piston and cylinder assemblies (16) and sweep down through the hopper taking fibrous material loaded into the hopper with them. At approximately the position shown in broken outline in Fig. 1 the pressing arms are stopped and the holding pins (29) withdrawn from the bale. The pressing arms are then actuated to continue their downward movement until the secondary arms (19) are below the holding pins (29). The holding pins (29) are then reinserted into the pressing chamber by actuation of the hydraulic cylinders (32) and the pressing arms are returned to their elevated position with the secondary arm portions (19) trailing as described above. The sequence is then repeated until the bale pack is full of compressed material. The hydraulic piston and cylinder assemblies (16) and (32) are both provided with working fluid via valves (not shown) controlled by logic controllers (not shown) arranged to effect the sequence of movements described above. The baling press may also be provided with further electronic . circuitry to sense the operation of the press at any given time allowing many safety features to be built into the operation of the press. The method of actuation and control also makes the machine highly suitable for automation particularly as the fibrous material to be pressed can be continuously fed into the hopper through the open part of the hopper or through the side doors (7) . Because the secondary pressing arms (19) pivot downwardly into a trailing position during upward movement of the pressing arms less wool is spilt from the machine or pulled back out of the bale than is the case with conventional or prior art types of baling press which use a pressing plate. The hopper feed arrangement allowing fibrous material to be fed into the bale pack through the hopper formed from the side doors (7) and end portions (10) and (12) allows a larger volume of fibrous material to be drawn into the bale per machine cycle than is possible with prior art types of baling press.

Claims: CLAIMS : - 1. A baling press comprising a frame work arranged to support an opened bale pack open end uppermost, a hopper located above the mouth of the bale pack in use and positioned to feed material to be baled into the bale pack, a plurality of pressing arms extending into the hopper through vertical slots in the hopper walls, actuation means arranged to move the arms downwardly from an elevated position in the hopper to a lower position adjacent the mouth of the bale pack and to return the arms to the elevated position, and a plurality of holding pins arranged to be inserted and withdrawn transversely into the bale through the sides of the bale pack at a fixed location in the vicinity of said lower position of the pressing arms. 2. A baling press as claimed in claim 1 wherein the lower position of the baling arms is below the mouth of the bale pack in use and wherein the holding pins are insertable into the bale above the said lower position of the pressing arms. 3. A baling press as claimed in either claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the pressing arms comprise primary arms connected to the actuation means and extending through the vertical slots in the hopper walls, and secondary arms pivotally mounted to the inner ends of the primary arms in such a manner that the secondary arms are held extending rigidly inwardly from the primary arms during downward movement, and allowed to pivot downwardly during return movement. 4. A baling press as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the holding pins are supported and driven between the inserted and withdrawn positions by drive means coupled to the actuation means such that the holding pins are withdrawn from the bale as the pressing arms move downwardly and inserted into the bale during upward movement of the pressing arms. 5. A baling press as claimed in claim 4 wherein both the actuation means and the drive means comprise hydraulic piston and cylinder assemblies provided with working fluid via valves controlled by logic controllers arranged to give the said coupling between the actuation means and the drive means. 6. A baling press as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the pressing arms are pivotally mounted to the framework. 7. A baling press as claimed in claim 3 wherein the secondary arms are pivotally connected to the primary arms by substantially horizontal pivot pins and restrained from upward rotation relative to the primary arms beyond a predetermined point by abutments on the primary arms. 8. A baling press as claimed in claim 7 wherein a return spring is provided actuable between the primary and secondary arms and arranged to return the secondary arms to their upper positions against the abutments when the pressing arms are in the elevated position.

Inventors: TRETHEWEY MARK, TRETHEWEY REGINALD, TRETHEWEY, MARK, TRETHEWEY, REGINALD
Applicants: RISODA PTY LTD, RISODA PTY. LTD.
Application year: 1989
Main classification: B30B9
IPC codes: B30B9