Abstract:
An apparatus for picking up stacks of bales and moving them into and/or out from a trailer. The trailer has a moving floor and is pivotally attached to the prime mover along a vertical axis and along a horizontal axis. Tandem wheels attached to the frame are moveable between a forward position and a rear position and can be locked in either the forward or rear position. Ground engaging tracks are attached to the trailer for moving the trailer forward or back. A starter conveyor section operatively attached to the rear of the trailer with a forward end being adjacent to the rear of the moving floor. The starter conveyor section tilts with the trailer to have a first elevated position when the frame is in transport position and a second position close to the ground when the trailer is in the tilted loading/unloading position.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0001]    This invention relates generally to a device for loading bales into a trailer for transporting the bales to another place and more particularly to a bale loading trailer that simplifies and speeds up the loading process. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Published U.S. Patent Application No. 2011/0318150 to a Bale Picking Truck by Kelderman shows a method and apparatus for quickly and efficiently picking up and removing biomass bales from a field in which the biomass was baled, compactly stacking the bales after picking the bales off the ground and efficiently depositing the bales on the ground at a staging area for later loading onto a semi trailer, straight truck, or train car, which application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
         [0003]    Published U.S. Patent Application No. 2012/0045310 to a Bale De-Stacker by Kelderman relates to a method and apparatus for efficiently un-stacking square bales from a stack and conveying the square bales in small sets or individually once they arrive from their aforementioned staging area to the place that they are to be used, such as in an ethanol production plant or a plant where the bales are to be burned for fuel. 
         [0004]    Finding an existing device to efficiently load the bales from the ground at the staging area onto a truck or from the aforementioned Bale Picking Truck to move them to a place to be used, such as to a Bale De-Stacker at an ethanol production plant or a plant where the bales are to be burned for fuel, is problematic. 
         [0005]    Accordingly, there is a need for a method and apparatus for efficiently load the bales from the staging area onto a truck to move them to a place to be used. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0006]    The above mentioned problematic situation is at least partially solved through provision of the method and apparatus described in the following detailed description, particularly when studied in conjunction with the drawings, wherein: 
           [0007]      FIG. 1  is a side elevational view of a bale loading trailer constructed in accordance with the present invention and shown in a configuration when it can be driven over public and/or private roads from place to place; 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  is a side elevational view of the bale loading trailer shown in  FIG. 1 , but with a rear set of trailer wheels moved to a forward position after ground engaging tracks have been lowered; 
           [0009]      FIG. 3  is a side elevational view of the bale loading trailer shown in  FIG. 2 , but with the trailer tilted so the tail of the trailer is lowered and the rear end of a loading conveyor is close to the ground; 
           [0010]      FIG. 4  is a side elevational view of the bale loading trailer shown in  FIG. 3  with a portion of the sidewall broken away to show stacks of bales being loaded into the trailer, first by the loading conveyor and then when the stacks enter the trailer, by a moving floor; 
           [0011]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the  FIG. 2  configuration before the trailer is tilted and with the loading conveyor broken away to show the ground engaging tracks engaged to move the trailer rearwardly; 
           [0012]      FIG. 5A  is a cross sectional view taken along line  5 A- 5 A in  FIG. 5 , showing a trunnion mount for a hydraulic cylinder but not showing the hydraulic cylinder itself; 
           [0013]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the  FIG. 3  configuration with the trailer tilted and with the rear end of the loading conveyor close to the ground and showing the ground engaging tracks engaged to move the trailer rearwardly so that when the lowered rear end of the loading conveyor first engages a stack of bales, the stack will begin to move upwardly and forwardly onto the loading conveyor and eventually onto the moving floor as shown in  FIG. 4 ; 
           [0014]      FIG. 7  is a schematic view of a remote control that is used to control the parking brake on the tractor, the air suspension system, the suspension slider, the rear hydraulic cylinder to move the tracks up or down, the starting/loading apron conveyor and the moving floor; 
           [0015]      FIG. 8  is a flow chart showing an example of a sequential operation of the present invention though the invention is not limited to this sequence of operation unless specified to be a certain way in one or more of the independent claims of this document; and 
           [0016]      FIG. 9  is a side elevational view of a bale loading trailer as shown in  FIG. 1  but being backed up to a bale picking truck of the type shown in Published U.S. Patent Application No. 2010/0318150 so that stacks of bales on the bale picking truck can be unloaded directly onto and into the bale loading trailer of the present invention, thereby omitting the steps where the bale picking truck would need to unload the stacks of bales onto the ground and the bale loading truck would need to be tilted and backed into the stack of bales on the ground to load them into the bale loading truck. 
       
    
    
       [0017]    Elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions and/or relative positioning of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention. Certain actions and/or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required. The terms and expressions used herein have the ordinary technical meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions by persons skilled in the technical field as set forth above except where different specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0018]    Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals indicate identical or similar parts throughout the several views,  FIGS. 1-9  show a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0019]    Referring now to  FIG. 1  the bale loading trailer  10  of the present invention is shown in a configuration wherein it can be driven over public and/or private roads from place to place, either empty or loaded. The bale loading trailer  10  has a tractor portion  11 , with a front and rear set of wheels  11  and  12  respectively. A trailer  14  is attached to the tractor  11  in a conventional fashion. 
         [0020]    The trailer  14  has a rear set of wheels  15  that can slide along a beam or beams  16  and pinned through apertures  17  therein to say at the place shown in  FIG. 2 , or moved to the place shown in  FIG. 3 , for example. The rear set of wheels  15  are connected to the frame of the trailer  14  with an air bag suspension system  18  like those available from SAF-Holland Neway such as their ADZ air suspension system, and as illustrated in their patent portfolio, such as shown in their U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,073,946 and 6,398,236, both to Richardson, which patents are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. These air suspension systems are well known to those skilled in the semi-trailer/truck field. 
         [0021]      FIGS. 1 ,  2  and  5  shows how a ground engaging track system  20  is attached to the trailer using a pair of hydraulic cylinders  21  pivotally attached at the rear of the trailer at trunnion joint  22  and to the track system  20  at the bottom at points  23 . Braces  24  are also pivotally attached at pivot point  23  at one end and at pivot point  25  at the other end thereof. The track system can be operated using electric or hydraulic motors (not shown) to run the ground engaging tracks  26  in either the direction. 
         [0022]    To get the tandem wheels  15  from the position shown in  FIG. 1  to the position shown in  FIG. 2 , the brakes on the set of wheels  15  would be locked by setting the air on them, removing the pin or pins (not shown) connected the set of wheels  15  to the beam  16  and then backing up the tractor and trailer using the tractor, or using the tracks  20  to move the trailer and tractor in the direction shown in  FIG. 5  from the position shown in  FIG. 1  to the position shown in  FIG. 2 . By doing that, the set of wheels  15  will slide forward on the beam  16  as the trailer  14  moves backwardly. 
         [0023]    After that, the air in the airbag suspension system  18  in the tandem wheels  15  is released, allowing the weight of the rear of the trailer  14  to move down from the position shown in  FIG. 2  to the tipped position shown in  FIG. 3 . With the trailer  14  tilted and the tail of the trailer lowered, the rear end of a loading conveyor  30  is close to the ground as shown in  FIGS. 3 ,  4  and  6 . 
         [0024]      FIG. 4  is a side elevational view of the bale loading trailer shown in  FIG. 3  with a portion of the sidewall broken away to show stacks  40  of bales  40   b , which could be 6 in a stack, called “six packs”, being loaded into the trailer  14 , first by the loading conveyor  30  and then when the stacks  40  enter the trailer  14  they are moved forwardly by a moving floor  50 . They can be unloaded by reversing the moving floor  50  and loading conveyor  30  as will be explained in more detail below. It is noted that the loading/apron conveyor  30  is shown to be rubber conveyor belts, but a chain conveyor system can be used instead of the rubber conveyor belts. Such chain conveyor system can be like gathering chains  410  shown in FIG. 5 of Published U.S. Patent Application No. 2010/0318150 to a Bale Picking Truck by Kelderman referred to above and incorporated herein by reference. 
         [0025]    The moving floor  50  is well known to those skilled in this art and is available commercially, for example, as a Keith Walking Floor™ such as those shown and disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,006,828, 7,789,218, 7,736,114, 7,604,109, 7,556,141 and 7,398,873, these patents, being hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. In general these patents disclose a “moving floor” to move materials on the floor of a trailer either forward or backward. The phrases “moving floor” and “walking floor” are deemed to be synonymous and are defined as the broad category of devices disclosed in the above identified patents which are used to move the goods forward or rearward on a trailer floor. A “moving floor” is intended to be generic to a “walking floor” and a “power floor”, terms which are commonly used in the trailer field to describe trailer floors that move forwardly or rearwardly to selectively move a load in or out of a trailer. 
         [0026]      FIG. 4A  is a side elevational view of the bale loading trailer shown in  FIG. 4  with a portion of the sidewall broken away to show stacks  40  of bales  40   b , in a further/later stage of being loaded into the trailer  14  than in  FIG. 4 . When the rear end (left end as shown in  FIG. 4 ) of the loading conveyor  30  close to the ground hits the stack  40  of bales that is still on the ground the loading conveyor will lift the stack  40  up to the tipped position shown in  FIG. 4A  and ultimately onto the top of the loading conveyor  40  as the stacks  40  in front of that last stack  40  are moved into the trailer  14  by using the moving floor  50 . So when the trailer  14  is eventually tilted back to the position shown in  FIG. 1  the trailer will be full of stacks  40  and one stack  40  will be resting on top of loading conveyor as well. It is anticipated that this stack can then be strapped down for safely driving the entire loaded unit  10  to wherever the stacks of bales  40  are needed for use and unloading. 
         [0027]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the  FIG. 2  configuration before the trailer  14  is tilted and with the loading conveyor  30  broken away to show the ground engaging tracks  20  engaged to move the trailer  14  rearwardly and  FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the  FIG. 3  configuration with the trailer  14  tilted and with the rear end of the loading conveyor  30  close to the ground and showing the ground engaging tracks  20  engaged to move the trailer  14  rearwardly so that when the lowered rear end of the loading conveyor  20  first engages a stack  40  of bales  40   b , the stack  40  will begin to move upwardly and forwardly onto the loading conveyor  30  and eventually onto the moving floor  50  as shown in  FIGS. 4 and 4A . 
         [0028]      FIGS. 5 ,  5 A and  6  also show a simplified trunnion mount  22  for the hydraulic cylinder  21 . A plate  22   a  is bolted to the frame. Circular strap  22   b  encircles the hydraulic cylinder  21  and is frictionally held in place with respect to the cylinder  21 . The circular strap  22   b  is pivotally mounted along the dashed line axis shown in  FIG. 5A  to the plate  22   a  so that the cylinder can pivot between the position shown in  FIG. 5  and the position shown in  FIG. 6 . Other types of trunnion mounts can be used instead of the simplified one  22  that is shown in  FIG. 5A . 
         [0029]      FIG. 7  is a schematic view of a wireless remote control  60  that is used to control the parking brake on the tractor  11 , the air suspension system  12  on the trailer  14 , the suspension slider pins  17   p  that selectively pin the frame  15   f  of the tandem wheels  15  to the trailer frame  16  at holes  17  as shown in  FIGS. 1-3  and  5 , the rear hydraulic cylinder  21  to move the tracks  20  up or down, the starting/loading apron conveyor  30  and the moving floor  50 . Other parts of the operation of the present invention as shown in  FIG. 8 , for example, could optionally be built into the remote control  60 . 
         [0030]      FIG. 8  is a flow chart showing an example of a sequential operation of the present invention though the invention is not limited to this sequence of operation, noting that the speed of the moving floor and the apron starter are synchronized so that the stacks of bales move at the same speed on both the apron starter  30  and the moving floor  50 . The loading process is essentially just reversed in order to unload the stacks of bales, as will be easily appreciated by those skilled in this field. 
         [0031]      FIG. 9  is a side elevational view of a bale loading trailer  10  as shown in  FIG. 1  but being backed up to a bale picking truck  70  of the type shown in Published U.S. Patent Application No. 2010/0318150 so that stacks of bales on the bale picking truck  60  can be unloaded directly onto and into the bale loading trailer  10  of the present invention, thereby omitting the aforementioned steps where the bale picking truck would need to unload the stacks  40  of bales  40   b  onto the ground and the bale loading truck  10  trailer  14  would need to be tilted and backed into the stack of bales  40  on the ground to load them into the bale loading truck  10 . 
         [0032]    Those skilled in the art will recognize that a wide variety of modifications, alterations, and combinations can be made with respect to the above described embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and that such modifications, alterations, and combinations are to be viewed as being within the ambit of the inventive concept as expressed by the attached claims.