Abstract:
A conveyor assembly is provided on a baler between a crop take-up arrangement and a baling chamber. The conveyor assembly includes a guide member assembly having an upwardly facing guide surface defining a lower limit of a crop conveying channel having an upper limit defined by an undershot rotor positioned above the guide surface. The conveyor assembly further includes a cutting arrangement mounted to a lower side of the guide member and having knives located for projecting through slots provided in the guide member. The cutting arrangement can be lowered together with the guide member, as well as shifted transverse to the forward operating direction relative to the guide member. In this way jams can be avoided or removed, and the cutting arrangement can be brought into a position accessible for purposes of maintenance, as well.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The invention concerns a crop gathering arrangement for a baler including an assembly of a guide surface of a conveying channel, a cutting arrangement and a positioning arrangement. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    It is known practice according to DE 38 21 717 to pivot a complete cutting arrangement from a location underneath a self-loading forage box and behicd a crop take-up arrangement about a vertical axis into a position located alongside the crop take-up arrangement where the knives of the cutting arrangement are easily accessible for maintenance. 
         [0003]    Furthermore, the prospectus KRONE Big Pack—D-10/05-0510-2701 reveals a cutting arrangement with two modules that abut each other in the longitudinal center plane of a baler and that can be pushed aside for the purpose of maintenance. In addition, the entire cutting arrangement can be lowered into a non-operating positon by means of a servomotor. A similar arrangement is also known from EP 284 792 A1. 
         [0004]    Finally, according to DE 198 41 598, it is known practice that the floor of a conveying channel of a baler can be pivoted away from the conveying channel along with all its knives in order to remove jams more easily. 
         [0005]    The problem underlying the invention is seen in the fact that a solution does not exist that permits simple maintenance as well as an efficient reaction to jams. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    According to the present invention, there is provided crop gathering assembly, for delivering crop for further processing, which includes components which may be repositioned in a manner for overcoming the drawbacks of the prior art. 
         [0007]    An object of the invention is to provide a crop gathering assembly including a positioning arrangement for a guide surface of a conveying channel and for a cutting arrangement, wherein the positioning arrangement is operable for repositioning the cutting arrangement in the direction of, as well as with, the guide surface. 
         [0008]    In this way, the entire assembly, that is, the guide surface as well as the cutting arrangement can be lowered in order to prevent or to remove a jam; but this assembly can also be repositioned to the side so that the knives, in particular, are accessible for maintenance purposes. The repositioning away from a rotor is performed by means of the positioning arrangement that can be configured as a motor, for example a hydraulic motor or an electric motor. The repositioning in the plane of the extent of the guide surface represents a translational movement, for example, in or on rails—a small pivoting movement could also be performed by means of short steering arms that move the cutting arrangement at first radially away from the conveyor rotor and then axially in its direction. Although only the cutting arrangement and the guide surface have been cited as essential components of the invention, other components are also present, for example, the knife retainers and their adjusting devices. Unlike in the state of the art, here the cutting arrangement is not repositioned alone but the guide surface with it, so that the cross section of the conveying channel is enlarged much further in order to safely avoid jams in the flow of the crop. 
         [0009]    The user of guides in the form of rails on the guide surface for the adjustment of the cutting arrangement has the advantage that the cutting arrangement is guided safely during its movement and cannot be tilted or cocked. Rails with a U-shaped, Omega-shaped or T-shaped or some other profile can be used for the rails as well as simple tubes that carry or guide wheels or sliding bearings of the cutting arrangement in or on themselves. The attachment of the guide arrangement to the guide surface has the advantage that a repositioning of the guide surface simultaneously reposition the cutting arrangement. 
         [0010]    In cases in which the cutting arrangement is configured very wide, particularly as wide as a crop take-up arrangement located upstream of it, it can nevertheless be pulled to the side sufficiently, if the guide arrangement is configured so as to be telescoped. In this case, no retainer arrangement is required on an adjoining component, for example, on the crop take-up arrangement, but the guie arrangement in itself carries the cutting arrangement over the entire positioning path. 
         [0011]    If, on the one hand, the cutting arrangement can preferably be moved in or on rails, tubes or the like, then it is also possible, on the other hand, to use steering arms or joints with which the cutting arrangement along with the guide surface can be pivoted away from the conveying channel and to the side. This pivoting movement need not provide the entire adjustment over the entire positioning path; rather a partial adjustment is sufficient, for example, until it reaches the guide arrangement and then can be brought completely into a maintenance position. 
         [0012]    The conveying channel can be used for cutting arrangement as well as for conveying only, if the knives can be repositioned between an operating position and a non-operating position. This repositioning can be performed manually as well as by means of a motor under remote control. It is also possible to have the knives move under a load from their operating position if spring loaded retainers of known configuration are provided. 
         [0013]    If the cutting arrangement can be immobilized at the guide surface, these two components can be repositioned together, so that a single positioning arrangement can be sufficient under certain circumstances. On the other hand, the immobilization can also be released so that the cutting arrangement can be removed or repositioned for maintenance purposes or the like. 
         [0014]    A positioning arrangement to reposition the knives within the cutting arrangement, for example, by means of a hydraulic cylinder that acts upon all of the knives or a part of the knives, makes it possible to vary length of cut of the crop or to pivot the knives for reversing process or to remove a jam. This pivoting can be triggered manually as desired or controlled by sensors. 
         [0015]    Since the guide surfaces and the cutting arrangement are formed by two modules, that can be brought into a non-operating position away from each other, a cutting arrangement, possibly a very long one, need not be moved to one side, but two halves or one of them can be extracted to such a degree that maintenance or replacement of knives is possible. 
         [0016]    The same advantage as that of telescopic guidance can be attained if the modules in their central region are configured so as to overlap at least partially, so that if they are then extracted over their entire length, they are still controlled by the guidance arrangement. 
         [0017]    While such assemblies can be applied in many cases, for example, also in the industrial processing of goods to be baled, nevertheless the use in a baler, particularly for agricultural products is highly advantageous if they are arranged between a crop take-up arrangement and a baling chamber, since there malfunction in the flow of crop or damage to the knives can occur that must be remedied rapidly. 
         [0018]    In the case of a baler in which the cutting arrangement is wider than the baling chamber, it is not necessary to initially deflect long or troublesome crop and then to cut it, but it can be cut into small pieces initially and then it can be conveyed considerably more easily, which in turn increases the service life of the cutting arrangement. 
     
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0019]    The drawings show an embodiment of the invention that shall be described in greater detail in the following. 
           [0020]      FIG. 1  shows a schematic side view of a baler with a crop gathering arrangement including an assembly of a guide surface, a conveying channel of a cutting arrangement and a positioning arrangement. 
           [0021]      FIG. 2  shows a plan view of the baler of  FIG. 1  in an operating position, with an upper forward portion of the baler being omitted and a central portion of the crop feed rotor being broken away so as to reveal an inner end region of a guide arrangement for a pair of cutting arrangement modules. 
           [0022]      FIG. 3  shows the baler of  FIG. 2  in a non-operating or maintenance position. 
           [0023]      FIG. 4  shows an enlarged side view of the assembly in its operating position. 
           [0024]      FIG. 5  shows the assembly of  FIG. 4 , but with knives in a non-operating position. 
           [0025]      FIG. 6  shows the assembly as it is pivoted as a unit away from the conveying surface. 
           [0026]      FIG. 7  shows the assembly as it is pivoted downward with the conveying surface. 
           [0027]      FIG. 8  shows an enlarged plan view of the guide arrangement with partially overlapping modules of the cutting arrangement, shown in  FIG. 2 . 
           [0028]      FIG. 9  shows a second embodiment of the invention in which the cutting arrangement is in a non-operating position. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0029]    A baler  10 , shown in  FIG. 1 , is generally provided with a baler housing  12  defining opposite sides of baling chamber  14  to which is attached to towbar  16 , running gear  18 , a crop take-up arrangement  20  and a conveyor assembly  22  constructed in accordance with the present invention. 
         [0030]    In this embodiment, the baler  10  is configured as a rotobaler, with the baling chamber  14  being variable. The baler  10  could alternatively be provided with a baling chamber  14  of constant size, or the baler could be configured as a piston baler for producing parallelepiped bales. In the same sense, the configuration as a baler  10  is not necessarily significant; rather the conveyor assembly, according to the invention, can also be applied to a self-loading forage box or the like. 
         [0031]    Depending on the configuration of the baler  10 , the baler housing  12  is equipped with walls, not shown or characterized, and baling elements also not shown, which form the baling chamber  14  in themselves and between themselves, are supported on the running gear  18  and can be attached to a towing vehicle by means of the towbar  16 . 
         [0032]    The baling chamber accepts crop to be baled, for example, hay, straw or silage, or the product to be baled may be industrial garbage or the like, from the conveyor assembly  22  and lets a bale to be formed in its interior. 
         [0033]    The crop take-up arrangement  20  is configured as a so-called pick-up that takes crop directly from the ground and conducts it to the conveyor assembly  22  in an overshot manner. Other crop take-up devices or crop supply arrangements in general, for example, conveyor belts or conveyor shafts, could also be used. 
         [0034]    The conveyor assembly  22  is located between the crop take-up arrangement  20  and the baling chamber  14  in a conveyor channel  24  that is open upwards with a guide surface  26  towards the bottom and includes a cutting arrangement  28  and a positioning arrangement  30 . 
         [0035]    The conveyor assembly  22  can be configured as a single unit and be connected interchangeably at corresponding interface locations to the crop take-up arrangement  20  and the baler housing  12 , or it may be an integral component of these. 
         [0036]    As can be seen particularly in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , in this embodiment the conveyor assembly  22  is as wide as the crop take-up arrangement  20  but narrower than the baling chamber  14 ; however, for the purposes of the invention, this is not a requirement. 
         [0037]    The conveying channel  24  is bordered at its bottom by the guide surface  26  and at its sides by walls, not shown. At its upper side, the conveying channel  24  is bordered by a rotor  32 , which is driven and conveys in an undershot manner. This rotor  32  would also be provided if the assembly  22  does not include a cutting arrangement  28 . 
         [0038]    The guide surface  26  is configured as a sheet metal component that is stiff in bending and is provided with a multitude of slots extending in the direction of conveying, it generally follows a part of the circumference of the rotor  32 . The forward, upstream end of the guide surface  26  is supported in bearings, free to pivot, on the crop take-up arrangement  20 , and on its rear side, located downstream, it is retained by the repositioning arrangement  30 . The downstream edge of the guide surface  26  reaches up to the baling chamber  14 , in order to permit a perfect transfer of the crop. On the bottom of the guide surface  2 , a guide arrangement  34  is provided at the front and a lock  36  at the rear. At its upstream end, the guide surface  26  can be attached to the crop take-up arrangement  20  so as to pivot simply or as well as in its height, movably supported in bearings and spring loaded and/or controlled towards the circumference of the rotor  32  or away from it, as this is known in itself but is not shown here. 
         [0039]    The guide arrangement  34  contains a U-shaped rail  38  that is open to the rear and is rigidly attached to the underside of the guide surface  26 . A complementary guide part (slide  48 , carrier  54 ,  56 ) engages in this guide arrangement  34 , and is located on the cutting arrangement  28  and shall be described further in the following. 
         [0040]    In the embodiment shown, the lock arrangement  36  contains a hook  40  that can be actuated manually or remotely controlled by a motor. In place of the hook  40 , a pin connection or another lock could also be provided. Here, too, there is a complementary component on the cutting arrangement  28 . 
         [0041]    Basically, the cutting arrangement  28  is configured in a kknown manner and includes a frame  42  in which a multitude of knives  44  are retained so that they can be repositioned, where the repositioning is performed, on the one hand, against the force of mechanical or hydraulic springs, in order to deflect in the case of an overload and that is triggered, on the other hand, by a positioning arrangement  46  in order to move all knives  44  out of the conveying channel  24  so that the crop can be conveyed through it without being cut. In the operating condition of the cutting arrangement  28 , the knives  44  extend through the slots in the guide surface  26  up to a position close to the rotor  32 ; in the non-operating condition they are retracted up to or below the guide surface  26 . Finally, strippers  47  are associated with the cutting arrangement  28 , they extend into the gaps between the drivers of the rotor  32  and are attached to the baler housing  12 . 
         [0042]    According to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the cutting arrangement  28  is subdivided into two modules  49  that are divided in the area of the longitudinal center plane of the baler  10  underneath the rotor  32  and come into contact with each other at that point. 
         [0043]    On its side facing the guide arrangement  34 , the frame  42  is attached to a slide  48  that is engaged in the U-shaped rail  38  (see  FIGS. 3 and 8 ). This slide  48  is configured in a known manner and permits the cutting arrangement  28  to move over a distance that corresponds approximately to its length. For easier repositioning that can be performed manually as well as by means of a motor, the slide  48  contains rollers  50  oriented approximately vertically and rollers  52  oriented approximately horizontally, each of which is supported in the U-shaped rail  38  and, according to  FIG. 3 , support in bearings, free to roll, a carrier  54  on the one hand and a carrier  56  on the other hand, which is connected to the frame  42  in a joint  68 , so as to pivot vertically. In the region facing the center of the baler  10 , the carriers  54 ,  56  overlap transverse to the direction of operation so that they are actually wider than the frame  42  and are still retained in the U-shaped rail  38  in their fully extended condition. the U-shaped rail  38 , the rollers  50  and  52  and the carriers  54 ,  56  are dimensioned in such a way that in the case of the configuration according to  FIGS. 1 through 8 , they can carry freely and retain the cutting arrangement  28 , whereas according to the second embodiment they are conducted upstream as well as downstream. 
         [0044]    In the embodiment shown, the positioning arrangement  30  is configured as a double-acting linear hydraulic motor that is connected to a conventionally configured hydraulic system which contains a gas pressure accumulator  58 , that operates only on the rod side of the positioning arrangement  30 , that is along the path of the cutting arrangement  28  away from the rotor  32 . The positioning arrangement  30  is attached at the top to the baler housing  12  and at the bottom to the guide surface  26 , in each case free to pivot. Although it is not shown, the positioning arrangement  30  can nevertheless be extended or retracted so that, for example, the cross section of the conveying channel  24  can be varied or it can move downward depending upon the supply of crop. In place of the hydraulic motor, an electric motor could be used or in the simplest case, a lever, a rope pull or the like could be used. The control or regulation of the positioning arrangement  30  can be performed automatically by means of sensors, not shown, as well as manually from a towing vehicle, also not shown. 
         [0045]    The rotor  32  accepts harvested crop from the crop take-up arrangement  20  and conveys it to the baling chamber  14 , where it is pressed against the knives  44  and is cut by these, unless these are in a non-operating condition. The rotor  32  can also be operated in reverse in order to remove a possible jam. 
         [0046]    The locking arrangement  36  includes the hook  40  that reaches over the frame  42  or a projection  60  attached to it. The hook  40  is attached to the guide surface  26  and can be repositioned manually or by means of a motor. If the hook  40  has been moved out of its position retaining the frame  42 , the frame  42  can pivot vertically downward so that the access to the knives  44  from above is opened up. If necessary, the frame  42  can be lowered and possibly raised again by means of a mechanical positioning arrangement or by a motor, not shown. In case that such a positioning arrangement is not available, the guide surface  26  is lowered by means of the positioning arrangement  30 , so that the frame  42  comes into contact with the guide surface  26  and the hook  40 , and the hook  40  can again be brought into engagement with the frame  42  or the projection  60 . 
         [0047]    The knives  44  are of conventional configuration and are supported under spring load in such a say that they project vertically out of the flow of the crop and can again be moved into it on the basis of the spring load. The springs, not shown but known in themselves, can be unloaded by means of the positioning arrangement  46 , so that the knives  44  can be moved into a non-operating position either on the basis of the force of gravity or on the basis of levers engaging it. In the non-operating position, the forward edge of each of the knives  44  is located at or behind the guide surface  26  and is no longer in engagement with the rotor  32 . If, in addition, the frame  42  is also unlocked and is pivoted along with the knives  44  and the guide surface  26 , then the cutting arrangement  28  can be slid to the side along with the slide  48 , that is, in the plane of the guide surface  26  or in the axial direction of the rotor  32 , and then be maintained in the extended position (see  FIG. 6 ). 
         [0048]    The assembly  22 , shown in  FIG. 8  and the following figures, according to the second embodiment, differs from the first embodiment in such a way that the frame  42  is replaced by a double frame  62 , of which the inner frame corresponds to the previous frame  42  which is retained in an outer frame  64  and can pivot vertically and can be repositioned in the same way as the frame  42 , and while the outer frame  64  is guided in a lower guide arrangement  34  and an upper guide arrangement  66  so as to move sideways. In this case, the locking arrangement  36  operates between the outer and the inner frame  64 ,  42  instead of operating between the guide surface  26  and the frame  42 . Finally, the frame  42  is supported in bearings, free to pivot vertically, not on the carrier  54  or  56 , but on the outer frame  64 . 
         [0049]    Having described the preferred embodiment, it will become apparent that various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the accompanying claims.