Patent ID: 8567169

Claim:
Agricultural bale accumulator comprising: a base module including: a main frame; and a load bed, having a substantially planar bale receiving surface and having a fixed position relative to the main frame, and adapted to receive thereon a plurality of bales, including a leading bale immediately followed by a trailing bale, successively ejected from a bale chamber of an agricultural baler along a bale receiving axis in a bale traveling direction, opposite to a direction of travel of the agricultural bale accumulator, towards a rear side of the agricultural bale accumulator to accumulate the plurality of bales on the load bed, wherein the load bed further includes: a center load bed adapted to successively receive and accumulate on the center load bed along the bale receiving axis at least a first bale of the plurality of bales ejected from the bale chamber of the agricultural baler; a right load bed, located adjacent to a right side of the center load bed, adapted to receive and accumulate on the right load bed at least a second bale of the plurality of bales; and a left load bed, located adjacent to a left side, opposite to the right side, of the center load bed, adapted to receive and accumulate on the left load bed at least a third bale of the plurality of bales; a bale transfer module adapted to alternately transfer the plurality of bales, received by and accumulated on the center load bed, from the center load bed across the load bed to the right load bed or to the left load bed along a bale transfer axis transverse to the bale receiving axis responsive to a bale transfer signal to accumulate at least one of the first bale, the second bale, and the third bale on at least one of the center load bed, the right load bed, and the left load bed, respectively; and a bale discharge module adapted to move between a bale accumulating position and a bale discharging position responsive to a bale discharge signal, wherein the agricultural bale accumulator is adapted to accumulate at least one of the plurality of bales on the load bed when the bale discharge module is located in the bale accumulating position, and wherein the agricultural bale accumulator is adapted to discharge at least the first bale accumulated on the center load bed from the center load bed along a bale discharging axis to the ground surface when the bale discharge module is moved from the bale accumulating position to the bale discharging position, wherein for the center load bed the bale receiving axis and the bale discharging axis form a common longitudinal axis extending between a front side and the rear side of the agricultural bale accumulator to permit the first bale to be received on and discharged from the center load bed along the common longitudinal axis.