Patent ID: 7111547

Claim:
A baling wire tying device to facilitate guiding a wire tie around a bale of material being compressed between upper and lower platens of a baling press wherein the wire tie has pre-formed looped ends being engageable with each other to form a knot by moving one looped end relative to an opposite looped end, the tying device comprising: a. a wire guide member adapted to be mounted on the upper platen of the baling press, the wire guide member including a top wall and side walls depending laterally from the top wall to form an elongated, longitudinally extending generally U-shaped channel, the channel having forward and rearward end portions, and a bottom wall intersecting one of the side walls to form a longitudinally extending wire discharge passage contiguous with the channel; b. a door pivotally mounted proximate to one of the side walls at the forward end portion of the channel, the door in a closed position having an unobstructed inner surface substantially parallel to the top wall and extending across the discharge passage to form a portion of the bottom wall, and the door having an inner, forward edge extending generally perpendicular to the side walls for guiding the wire tie into the channel; and c. a removable wear insert mounted to one of said side walls at the forward end portion of the channel and having a cutout adapted to receive at least a portion of the door.