Patent Publication Number: US-2022232778-A1

Title: Feeding mechanism for continuous square baler

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application 63/141,616, which was filed on Jan. 26, 2021, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention pertains to a baler for collecting and baling crops. More particularly, the present invention pertains to a feed mechanism for a baler for collecting and baling crops. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     The operation of the baler described in U.S. Pat. No. 9,591,807 B  1  proved the quick feed device could not be operated efficiently at a high speed and was difficult to make in comparison to the new quick feed design. The leaf cutter was also difficult to operate at a high speed and was difficult to maintain as compared to a divider drum. The hay guides could not be operated at a high speed being positioned by the compression roller. Therefore, there was a need to reduce the impact caused by the starting and stopping due to the contact and movement of the compression roller. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A quick feed mechanism has been created to perform the same function as the previous quick feed mechanism as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 9,591,807. The new quick feed mechanism only uses pivoting mechanisms and no sliding mechanisms. A crank is located below the gathering chute. The distal ends of the crank are pivotally mounted to arms which extend upward from the pivot toward the gathering chute and downwards from the pivot towards the ground. The upward extension of the arms are connected by a beam which houses elongated teeth to engage the crop in the leaf forming chute to move it to the compression area as the crank is rotated. The bottom extension is pivotally connected to a link. The opposing end of the link is pivotally connected to the frame. The distance of the crank pivot on the arm to the bottom extension pivot being somewhat longer than the crank arm. This will cause the elongated teeth to engage the crop in the leaf forming chute and then move the crop to the compression area and then disengage the elongated teeth from the leaf forming chute and then return the elongated teeth to the front of chute to reengage the crop as the crank rotates. 
     A dividing drum is provided to segment the continuous leaf in the leaf forming chute. The dividing drum having three rows of elongated teeth. Each row containing enough teeth to move the crop forward and to stop the crop from moving forward when the drum is not rotated. The three rows are spaced in thirds around the drum. Each third space wide enough to hold a half a leaf to be compressed into the top or bottom of the bale. The drum is rotated in synchronicity with the quick feed device to allow a segment of crop between two rows of teeth to be moved to the compression area for each stroke of the quick feed device. 
     The dividing drum is rotated at a continuous speed equal to one third the speed of the quick feed crank. The dividing drum has a clutching mechanism attached to its drive shaft. This clutching mechanism disengages the rotation of the dividing drum at the exact time a row of teeth are full engaged in the leaf forming chute. The clutch then engages a third rotation later. This stoppage causes the quick feed devise to not place a segment of crop below or above the compression cylinder depending on the time the divider drum stops. The divider drum stops the feeding of a segment of hay during the tying cycle to allow the needles to retract without hay being compress into the bottom of the bale. The engagement and disengagement of the dividing drum controlled by a computer program as it reads signals received from rotating star wheels. 
     Hay guides have been created to guide the hay into the bale chamber as the compression roller moves up and down. There is one hay guide for the upward motion of the compression roller and one hay guide for the downward motion of the compression roller. The hay guides are rotated around a point to allow the guides to clear the pivot of the hay gates and move away from the compression roller as it moves up and down. The hay guides return to the guiding position once the compression roller is move out of the way. The hay guides are connected to each other in such a way as to allow the opposing guide to remain in place to guide the hay into the bale chamber as the compression roller moves up or down. The hay guides motion is controlled by a cam which forces the hay guides to move up and down at the precise time needed. The curve which guides the crop into the bale chamber is modified to allow the hay guide to be moved upward as the compression roller passes the midpoint of its stroke. This allows for the gradual acceleration of the hay guides while maintaining a small gap between the hay guides and the leading edge of the compression roller. 
     Air actuators are placed between the frame and hay guide arms and hay gate arms to create enough force on the cam followers to maintain the contact between the cam followers and the cams. The pressure in these can be increased as the speed is increased to maintain the contact between the cams and the cam followers. 
     For a more complete understanding of the present invention, reference is made to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the views in which: 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an isometric view of the left side according to an embodiment of the present invention hereof; 
         FIG. 2  is an isometric view of the right side of the baler; 
         FIG. 3  is an isometric view with the left side panel removed from the front of baler; 
         FIG. 4  is a side view of the left side of baler with most stationary parts removed from the left side to reveal the moving parts in their position when the compression roller is down; 
         FIG. 5  is a side view of the left side of the baler with all stationary parts removed from the left side to reveal the moving parts in their position when the compression roller is approximately one quarter up; 
         FIG. 6  is a side view of the left side of the baler with all stationary parts removed from the left side to reveal the moving parts in their position when the compression roller is approximately one half up; 
         FIG. 7  is a side view of the left side of the baler with all stationary parts removed from the left side to reveal the moving parts in their position when the compression roller is approximately three quarters up; 
         FIG. 8  is a side view of the left side of the baler with all stationary parts removed from the left side to reveal the moving parts in their position when the compression roller is all the way up; 
         FIG. 9  is the clutching mechanism for the divider drum and the divider drum; 
         FIG. 10  is an isometric of the quick feed mechanism; 
         FIG. 11  is an isometric of the upper and lower hay guides; 
         FIG. 12  is an isometric of the bottom right side of baler; and 
         FIG. 13  is a detail of the divider drum clutch. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     In accordance with the present invention,  FIGS. 1 and 2 and 3  show the arrangement of the drive shafts, drive chains and gear boxes to operate the mechanisms. Power from the tractor is connected to input gear box  28 . Input gear box  28  takes the inline power and transfers the power to shaft  21  at a speed which the components of the baler will function at a maximum speed with minimum repair. Quick feed gear box  29  takes the power from shaft  21  and transfers the power to shaft  30  at the same rotational speed as shaft  21 . Quick feed gear box  31  takes the power from shaft  30  and transfers the power to quick feed shaft  32  with half the rotational speed of quick feed shaft  30  and in the opposite rotating direction of shaft  21 . The quick feed drive chain  15  transfers the power of quick feed drive shaft  32  to quick feed crank shaft  26  with the same rotational speed as quick feed drive shaft  32 . Quick feed crank shaft  26  drives the quick feed crank arms  33  which operate the quick feed mechanism. 
     The quick feed mechanism is in  FIG. 10 . The quick feed mechanism is moved by arms  7  rotated about point  43  by the quick feed crank shaft arms  33 . Pivot point  44  is connected to link  45 . The opposite end of link  45  is pivotally connected to the frame. The quick feed arms  7  are bolted to the quick feed arms connecting member  51 . Protruding from the arms connecting member  51  are elongated teeth  46 . Teeth  46  protrude through slots in the leaf forming chute  5  to move the crop from the dividing drum  6  to the compression area. The distance between pivot  43  and  44  being longer than the quick feed crank arms  33  to create the motion needed to move the crop from the dividing drum  6  to the compression area and return without engaging the teeth in the leaf forming chute. 
     Power is transferred from input drive shaft  21  to middle drive shaft  22  with roller chain  34 . The speed of middle drive shaft  22  is reduce to half the speed of input drive shaft  21 . Input drive shaft  21  has sprocket  35  to drive the packer crank  2  and the pickup  1  through roller chain  36 . Middle drive shaft  22  transfers power to compression roller crank shaft  23  through roller chain  20 . The speed of compression roller crank shaft  23  is half the speed of middle drive shaft  22 . Compression roller crank shaft  23  rotates the compression roller crank arms  36  which move the compression roller  13  up and down through connecting links  50 . Middle drive shaft  22  turns the dividing drum  6  through roller chain  37  and divider drum clutch  14 . The dividing drum  6  rotates at one third the speed of middle drive shaft  22 . Middle drive shaft  22  turns hay guides cams driving shaft  25  in the opposite direction and at half the speed of Middle drive shaft  22  transferring the power through roller chain  16 . Hay guides cams driving shaft  25  turns the hay guides cams  27  to move the hay guides  10  &amp;  11  up and down through cams  27 . 
     Compression roller crank shaft  23  turns cams  38 ,  39 . Cam  38  opens and closes the upper hay gate through linkage  18 . Cam  39  opens and closes lower hay gate through linkage  19 . The cam followers are held to the cams by air bags  40 ,  41 . 
     The upper hay guide is pivotally connected to shaft  24  at pivot point  52 . The lower hay guide is pivotally connected to the frame at pivot point  53 . The upper and lower hay guides are pivotally connect to each other at pivots point  54  and  55  by connecting links  17 . One connecting link on the right side and one on the left side of the hay guides. Cam followers are place at pivot points  59  to engage the hay guide cams  27 . The hay guide cams  27  are identical and raise and lower the hay guides  57 ,  58  to maintain a small gap between the leading edge of the compression roller and the curved shape of the hay guides  57 ,  58  to force hay into the bale chamber  3  as compression roller moves up and down. 
     The divider drum  6  is almost as wide as the bale chamber  3  and large enough in diameter to hold a half a leaf in between the two rows of teeth  60 . Teeth  60  are protruding from the drum in three rows one third the diameter from each other and the teeth  60  are spaced apart to allow the quick feed teeth  47  to go between each set of teeth  60  on the row. The teeth  60  are long enough to fully engage the crop in the leaf forming chute  5 . The divider drum  6  is placed in the baler far enough from the compression roller  13  to allow for a half a leaf to be delivered to the compression area by the quick feed mechanism  7  without pushing hay into the compression roller  13  or out of the baler. 
     The divider drum shaft  61  having a pivoting lever  62  attached near the end to engage the clutch rotating drum  63  driven by chain  37 . The pivoting lever  62  being spring loaded to force it away from shaft  61 . The lever  62  being able to engage the stops  64  on the rotating drum  63  to force shaft  61  to rotate as long as the pivoting lever  62  is against one of three stops placed in thirds inside rotating drum  63 . The pivoting lever  62  having member  65  protruding outside the rotating drum  63  long enough to engage one of the three tabs  67  spaced in thirds around the outside of the sliding stop mechanism  66 . When the sliding stop mechanism  66  is moved towards the rotating drum one of the tabs  67  will engage the pivoting lever member  65  and release it from the rotating drum stop  64 . This will cause the rotation of shaft  61  to stop because the pivoting lever  62  is against the tab  67  of the sliding stop mechanism  66 . When the sliding stop mechanism  66  is move away from the rotating drum  63  the pivoting lever  62  is then allowed to engage the next stop on the rotating drum. The spacing of the tabs  67  and  64  are orientated to stop the movement of the divider drum  6  when a row of teeth  60  are fully engaged in the leaf form chute  30 . 
     The sliding stop mechanism  66  is moved in and out by the linear air actuating cylinders  68  through linkage  69 . Tabs  70  slide in the slots  71  in the slider stop. This keeps the slider stop from rotating on the divider drum shaft  72 . 
       FIGS. 4-8  show how the preferred embodiments need to be synchronized to move a half a leaf into the compression area and allow the compression roller to compress the crop into the bale chamber without any crop being ejected out of the baler.  FIGS. 4-8  show the motion as the compression roller is moving up. The reverse operation occurs when the compression roller moves down. 
     Leaf forming chute  5  is as wide as the bale chamber and curved to move hay from the packer crank  2  to the center of the bale chamber  3 . The height of the leaf forming chute to be approximately equal to the length of the elongated teeth  47  on the quick feed mechanism  7 . The leaf forming chute  5  also having cylinder  73  to enclose the divider drum  6 . The cylinder to be open the width of the bale chamber to allow the drum teeth  60  to engage the crop in the chute  5  and move the crop forward. The leaf forming chute  5  to also have tabs  74  to stop the crop from going around the divider drum  6 , but forcing the crop to continue to move towards the baler chamber  3 . The leaf forming chute  5  to have slots in the bottom of chute  5  to allow for the teeth  47  of the quick feed mechanism  7  to engage the crop and move it from the divider drum  6  to the compression area. 
     Star wheels  75  are placed in the leaf forming chute  5  to rotate as the crop is moved through the leaf forming chute  5  to the bale chamber  3 . A measuring device is placed on the star wheels  75  to send a signal to the computer. The computer than monitors the amount of crop moved through the chute and controls the divider drum clutch to place equal amounts of hay in the top and bottom of the bale. 
     It should be understood that the foregoing description is only illustrative of the aspects of the disclosed embodiments. Various alternatives and modifications can be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the aspects of the disclosed embodiments. Accordingly, the aspects of the disclosed embodiments are intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications, and variances that fall within the scope of the appended claims. Further, the mere fact that different features are recited in mutually different dependent or independent claims does not indicate that a combination of these features cannot be advantageously used, such as a combination remaining within the scope of the aspects of the disclosed embodiments.