Patent ID: 7222566

Claim:
A rotary baler for forming cylindrical bales comprising: a variable sized baling chamber defined by a housing and at least one conveying element, the at least one conveying member receiving material and forming the material into a generally cylindrical bale; at least three non-contact distance sensors located adjacent the baling chamber and being positioned to detect on a non-contacting basis a position of one of said conveying element or bale correlating to the diameter of the bale being formed in the baling chamber and being constructed to generate a signal correlating to the diameter of the bale, wherein the at least three non-contact distance sensors are respectively positioned at three different locations across a width of the baling chamber and are operable for generating three separate signals representing respective diameters of said bale at three locations of said bale corresponding to said three different locations; and a computer system in communication with the at least three sensors, the computer system being configured to receive said three signals from the at least three sensors and determine whether a shape of the bale is convex or concave.