Patent ID: 6862876

Claim:
A piston press for bales of harvested material comprising: a plunger piston movable forwards and backwards in a baling channel; a feed channel merging into the bailing channel; a reel driven by a crank mechanism and movable in the feeding channel, said reel having reel levers for transporting harvested material in the feeding channel into the bailing channel, by means of reel tips on the reel levers; a crankshaft journal linking each reel lever to the crank mechanism; and a control drive having a switching device for changing a path of movement of the reel tips between loading and feeding strokes; wherein the crank mechanism includes a control arm connected to each reel lever via the crankshaft journal and pivotably coupled to a control rod by a joint; the control rod is supported in a displaceable control joint, which can be fixed by the switching device in at least one position corresponding to the path of movement of the feeding stroke; wherein the control joint is fixed only in the position for the feeding stroke and remains freely movable during each loading stroke; and wherein the control joint is movable by the reel during the loading stroke to the position for the feeding stroke where it can be fixed by the switching device.