Patent ID: 7610851

Claim:
A bale stacker for consolidating a plurality of bales into a bale bundle, each said bale having top and bottom walls, two sidewalls, and two endwalls, the bale stacker comprising: a compression chamber at least partially defined by a floor, two substantially parallel chamber sidewalls spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance, and a ceiling; the compression chamber extending between an upstream opening and a downstream opening thereof, the bales being receivable in the compression chamber via the upstream opening and the bale bundle being configured to exit the compression chamber via the downstream opening; the compression chamber ceiling comprising a substantially planar rear portion positioned substantially parallel to the floor; the compression chamber ceiling additionally comprising a front portion positioned upstream from the rear portion, the front portion being positioned in a non-parallel relationship relative to the floor for engaging said bales as said bales are moved past the front portion in a downstream direction of travel toward the downstream opening, such that said bales are compressed between the front portion and the floor; a loading chamber in which said bales are positionable in columns; front doors are positionable between the loading chamber and the compression chamber; a transfer assembly for moving said columns of said bales from the loading chamber into the compression chamber; an injector assembly for moving said bales into the loading chamber, such that said bales are formed into said columns in the loading chamber; the injector assembly comprising a pivotable blade for engaging each said bale respectively, said blade being movable between a retracted position, in which one of said bales is positionable in front of the blade, and an extended position, in which the bale is loadable into the loading chamber; and the injector assembly being configured to move each said bale substantially horizontally into a position underneath the loading chamber, and then rotate each said bale to move each said bale at least partially upwardly into the loading chamber.