Patent ID: 8261524

Claim:
A tine reel for a crop pickup apparatus for a round baler, the baler having a bale chamber inlet configured to receive crop material from the pickup apparatus, the pickup apparatus being wider than the bale chamber inlet and having a converging apparatus for laterally urging the crop material inwardly toward the bale chamber inlet, said tine reel comprising: a pair of spaced-apart tine bar carriers configured to revolve about a reel axis; an elongate inboard tine bar connected to said tine bar carriers generally parallel to said reel axis, said inboard tine bar being spaced apart from said reel axis by an inboard radius and connected to said tine bar carriers in a manner allowing rotation of said inboard tine bar about a longitudinal axis thereby defining, during revolution of said tine bar carriers, a generally cylindrically-shaped periphery, said inboard tine bar disposed generally forwardly from the bale chamber inlet; at least one elongate outboard tine bar connected to said inboard tine bar and said tine bar carriers, said outboard tine bar aligned generally parallel to said reel axis and spaced apart from said reel axis by an outboard radius, said at least one outboard tine bar being angularly displaced about said reel axis from said inboard tine bar and positioned forwardly of the converging apparatus; a plurality of tines connected to and extending from said inboard tine bar and said at least one outboard tine bar, said plurality of tines having a radial extension that is varied by rotational position of said inboard and outboard tine bars; a cam having a cam profile configured to manage rotation of said inboard tine bar and said at least one outboard tine bar as said tine reel revolves about said reel axis; and a linkage interconnecting said inboard tine bar and said outboard tine bar and synchronizing said inboard tine bar rotation and said outboard tine bar rotation wherein rotation of said tine bars by said cam extends said plurality of tines outwardly from said tine reel, rotation of said tine bars in a second direction opposite from said first direction retracts said plurality of tines inwardly and wherein said angular displacement between said inboard tine bar and said at least one outboard tine bar enables said inboard and said outboard tines to be retracted at different angles of said tine reel revolution such that outboard and inboard tines follow different paths over at least a portion of their travel using a single said cam profile.